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John Prine has died.
We've lost perhaps the greatest songwriter of our time.
It's time to reflect on his incredible body of work.
Here's the opening to SAM STONE - the story of a drug-addicted returned-soldier.
What a devastating final line at 52 sec mark...
John Prine has died.
We've lost perhaps the greatest songwriter of our time.
It's time to reflect on his incredible body of work.
Here's the opening to SAM STONE - the story of a drug-addicted returned-soldier.
What a devastating final line at 52 sec mark...
2/
Here's the opening minute of ANGEL FROM MONTGOMERY, about a middle-aged woman who feels older than she actually is.
An incredible opening line. Incredible...
Here's the opening minute of ANGEL FROM MONTGOMERY, about a middle-aged woman who feels older than she actually is.
An incredible opening line. Incredible...
3/
In the space of 49 seconds, John Prine absolutely destroys phony patriotism and the folly of War in YOUR FLAG DECAL WON'T GET YOU INTO HEAVEN ANYMORE
In the space of 49 seconds, John Prine absolutely destroys phony patriotism and the folly of War in YOUR FLAG DECAL WON'T GET YOU INTO HEAVEN ANYMORE
4/
In his youth Prine helped deliver newspapers room by room in a retirement home, and was taken back by how many elderly people pretended that he was their grandchild or nephew visiting.
And so he gave us this - HELLO IN THERE.
Incredibly moving...
In his youth Prine helped deliver newspapers room by room in a retirement home, and was taken back by how many elderly people pretended that he was their grandchild or nephew visiting.
And so he gave us this - HELLO IN THERE.
Incredibly moving...
5/
Shyness and day-dreaming collide in Prine's perfectly written ballad DONALD AND LYDIA.
Humorous and bittersweet.
This verse always makes me smiles.
Shyness and day-dreaming collide in Prine's perfectly written ballad DONALD AND LYDIA.
Humorous and bittersweet.
This verse always makes me smiles.
6/
In ILLEGAL SMILE, Prine reflects on his ability to laugh and smile at the most random things that no one else was smiling at...
In ILLEGAL SMILE, Prine reflects on his ability to laugh and smile at the most random things that no one else was smiling at...
7/
No one could paint a picture like Prine.
CRAZY AS A LOON has everything, yet it feels effortless. How can someone write a verse like this that flows so naturally from one's voice...
No one could paint a picture like Prine.
CRAZY AS A LOON has everything, yet it feels effortless. How can someone write a verse like this that flows so naturally from one's voice...
8/
Prine said he once kept a bowl of pebbles by the tv and would throw it at the screen whenever someone said something really stupid.
SPANISH PIPEDREAM has this intoxicating chorus about simple living.
Prine said he once kept a bowl of pebbles by the tv and would throw it at the screen whenever someone said something really stupid.
SPANISH PIPEDREAM has this intoxicating chorus about simple living.
9/
For PICTURE SHOW, John Prine namechecks Hollywood's James Dean, John Garfield, Montgomery Clift, all even had Tom Petty singing background vocals...
Another effortless gem..
For PICTURE SHOW, John Prine namechecks Hollywood's James Dean, John Garfield, Montgomery Clift, all even had Tom Petty singing background vocals...
Another effortless gem..
10/
There's something incredibly comforting when Prine sings STORM WINDOW. A feeling of resignation, looking back at his childhood where he felt he was in another world looking out over the traffic and sounds and movement from his bedroom window..
There's something incredibly comforting when Prine sings STORM WINDOW. A feeling of resignation, looking back at his childhood where he felt he was in another world looking out over the traffic and sounds and movement from his bedroom window..
11/
With his death, I can't helped but be moved by his beautiful lyric in the marriage song IN SPITE OF OURSELVES, where he sings "there won't be nothing but big old hearts dancing in our eyes".
With his death, I can't helped but be moved by his beautiful lyric in the marriage song IN SPITE OF OURSELVES, where he sings "there won't be nothing but big old hearts dancing in our eyes".
12/
And so I end this John Prine thread with his incredible song PARADISE, that he wrote for his father.
Based on the true story of a Kentucky town destroyed by strip mining.
No song before or since has painted the aching heartbreak of nostalgia.
RIP John Prine.
And so I end this John Prine thread with his incredible song PARADISE, that he wrote for his father.
Based on the true story of a Kentucky town destroyed by strip mining.
No song before or since has painted the aching heartbreak of nostalgia.
RIP John Prine.
