Favorite John Prine / or any love song

I have never heard of him. What kind of music is it? I live under a rock. Beneath a big tree. Where no sunlight comes. Apologies.

John Prine is like a Poet Laureate of our country except he adds tunes to his poems.

Not a love song but Bella, look how he paints a picture with a few stanzas

Sam Stone came home,
To his wife and family
After serving in the conflict overseas.
And the time that he served,
Had shattered all his nerves,
And left a little shrapnel in his knee.
But the morphine eased the pain,
And the grass grew round his brain,
And gave him all the confidence he lacked,
With a Purple Heart and a monkey on his back.

Chorus:
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose.
Little pitchers have big ears,
Don't stop to count the years,
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.
Mmm....

Sam Stone's welcome home
Didn't last too long.
He went to work when he'd spent his last dime
And Sammy took to stealing
When he got that empty feeling
For a hundred dollar habit without overtime.
And the gold rolled through his veins
Like a thousand railroad trains,
And eased his mind in the hours that he chose,
While the kids ran around wearin' other peoples' clothes...

I do appreciate a good poet.
I might have to look him up tonight.

Panzade - I love that one.
Bella - you'd like him - yeah she says- but no, really- he's got a really distinctive voice, great melodies and he's incredibly funny, but poignant at the same time. I'll try to think of who he reminds me of that you may have heard - but until I do here's another one- this one really showcases his humor:
We are the Lonely
Down the hall upstairs from me
There's a girl I swear I never see
I hear the ringing of her phone
She must live up there all alone
She hangs her clothes out on the line
They're hanging there right next to mine
And if the wind should blow just right
She could be in my arms tonight

We are the lonely all together
All together, we're all alone
We are the lonely all together
All together we're all alone

The cashier at the pump and pay
Knows everything's gonna be okay
The all night all right rent-a-cop
Is across the street at the donut shop
The waitress waits with whiskey sour
At the single mingle happy hour
The one man band begins to sing
Accompanied by the drum machine

We are the lonely all together....

White divorced swinging male
Seeks company to no avail
Worthless, ruthless, toothless man
Wants wealthy woman with a plan
SWF with a PHD
Seeks TLC at the A&P
GWM nice and trim
Seeks S-E-X and the G-Y-M
Ugly man treats girls like dirt
Wants buttons sewn upon his shirt
DUI at the B-A-R
Seeks M-A-N with C-A-R

We are the lonely all together....

That's The Way That The World Goes 'Round
(written by: John Prine)

I know a man who's got a lot to lose
A pretty nice fella, kinda confused
Got muscles in his head that've never been used
He thinks he owns half of this town
He goes out drinkin' gets a big red nose
Beats his old lady with a rubber hose
Then he takes her out to dinner Buys her new clothes
That's the way that the world goes 'round

That's the way that the world goes 'round
You're up one day, the next you're down
It's a half-an-inch of water and you think you're gonna drown
That's the way that the world goes 'round

I was sittin' in the bathtub just countin' my toes
When the radiator broke, water all froze
I was stuck in the ice without my clothes
Naked as the eyes of a clown
I was cryin' ice cubes, hopin' I'd croak
When the sun came through the window, the ice all broke
I stood up and laughed, I thought it was a joke
That's the way that the world goes 'round

That's the way that the world goes 'round
You're up one day, the next you're down
It's a half-an-inch of water and you think you're gonna drown
That's the way that the world goes 'round

That's the way that the world goes 'round
You're up one day, the next you're down
It's a half-an-inch of water and you think you're gonna drown
That's the way that the world goes 'round

Grandpa Was A Carpenter
John Prine

Grandpa wore his suit to dinner
Nearly every day
No particular reason
He just dressed that way
Brown necktie and a matching vest
And both his wingtip shoes
He built a closet on our back porch
And put a penny in a burned out fuse.

Chorus:
Grandpa was a carpenter
He built houses stores and banks
Chain smoked Camel cigarettes
And hammered nails in planks
He was level on the level
And shaved even every door
And voted for Eisenhower
'Cause Lincoln won the war.

Well, he used to sing me "Blood on the Saddle"
And rock me on his knee
And let me listen to radio
Before we got T.V.
Well, he'd drive to church on Sunday
And take me with him too!
Stained glass in every window
Hearing aids in every pew.

Repeat Chorus:

Now my grandma was a teacher
Went to school in Bowling Green
Traded in a milking cow
For a Singer sewing machine
She called her husband "Mister"
And walked real tall and pride
And used to buy me comic books
After grandpa died.

Repeat Chorus:

Come Back to Us Barbara Lewis Hare Krishna Beauregard
John Prine

The last time that I saw her
She was standing in the rain
With her overcoat under her arm
Leaning on a horsehead cane
She said "Carl, take all the money"
She called everybody Carl
"My spirit's broke"
"My mind's a joke,"
"And getting up's real hard"

Chorus
Don't you know her
When you see her?
She grew up
In your back yard
Come back to us
Barbara Lewis
Hare Krishna
Beauregard

Selling bibles at the airports
Buying quayludes on the phone
Hey, you talk about
A paper route
She's a shut in without a home
God save her, please
She's nailed her knees
To some drugstore parking lot
Hey, Mr. Brown
Turn the volume down
I believe this evening's shot

Repeat Chorus

Can't you picture her next Thursday?
Can you picture her at all?
In the Hotel Boulderado
At the dark end of the hall
I gotta shake myself and wonder
Why she even bothers me
For if heartaches were commercials
We'd all be on T.V.

Repeat Chorus

Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore
John Prine

While digesting Reader's Digest
In the back of a dirty book store,
A plastic flag, with gum on the back,
Fell out on the floor.
Well, I picked it up and I ran outside
Slapped it on my window shield,
And if I could see old Betsy Ross
I'd tell her how good I feel.

Chorus:
But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
They're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.

Well, I went to the bank this morning
And the cashier he said to me,
"If you join the Christmas club
We'll give you ten of them flags for free."
Well, I didn't mess around a bit
I took him up on what he said.
And I stuck them stickers all over my car
And one on my wife's forehead.

Repeat Chorus:

Well, I got my window shield so filled
With flags I couldn't see.
So, I ran the car upside a curb
And right into a tree.
By the time they got a doctor down
I was already dead.
And I'll never understand why the man
Standing in the Pearly Gates said...

"But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
We're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more."

I've liked John Prine's music since I was 7 years old. My mom used to listed to him. She used to play Storm Windows over and over. I like every song on that record.

Just read your profile - you're a hoot! Yeah - I like Portland (Oregon) too - and for many of the same reasons. Love John Prine too - I'm really showing my age here (40's) but I first heard him when I checked one of his LP's out of the public library. We used to be able to check vinyl albums out of our public library and I first heard Bruised Orange that way. Turned me on to him for life.

Oh yeah - did hear that he had surgery for his cancer - and though they had to remove a sizeable chunk of his neck - he looks to be doing okay.
Enjoy your day in Oregon!

I have posted this one numerous times but it's my fave.
"All the snow has turned to water" is a brilliant opening line.

All the snow has turned to water
Christmas day has come and gone
Broken toys and faded colors
Are all that's left to linger on
I hate graveyards and old pawnshops
For they always bring me tears
Can't forgive the way they rob me
Of my childhood souvenirs

{Refrain}
Memories, they can't be bought'n
They can't be won at carnivals for free
It took me years, to get those souvenirs
And I don't know how they slipped away from me


Broken hearts and dirty windows
Make life difficult to see
That's why last night and this morning
Always look the same to me
I hate reading old love letters
For they always bring me tears
Can't forgive the way they rob me
Of my sweetheart souvenirs

The loss of youth, the passing of time and the fear of impending old age are all included in a neat bundle. Superb.

Panzade - that's a beautiful one. I hadn't heard that before - Thanks.

I love John Prine's music. I have several to contribute. Here's the first:
I am an old woman named after my mother
My old man is another child that's grown old
If dreams were lightning thunder was desire
This old house would have burnt down a long time ago

Chorus:
Make me an angel that flies from montgom'ry
Make me a poster of an old rodeo
Just give me one thing that I can hold on to
To believe in this living is just a hard way to go

When I was a young girl well, I had me a cowboy
He weren't much to look at, just free rambling man
But that was a long time and no matter how I try
The years just flow by like a broken down dam.

Repeat chorus:

There's flies in the kitchen I can hear 'em there buzzing
And I ain't done nothing since I woke up today.
How the hell can a person go to work in the morning
And come home in the evening and have nothing to say.

Repeat chorus:

Angel From Montgomery

Linda Goes to Mars
I just found out yesterday that Linda goes to Mars
Every time I sit and look at pictures of used cars
She'll turn on her radio and sit down in her chair
And look at me across the room, as if I wasn't there

Chorus:
Oh My stars! My Linda's gone to Mars
Well I wish she wouldn't leave me here alone
Oh My stars! My Linda's gone to Mars
Well, I wonder if she'd bring me something home.

Something, somewhere, somehow took my Linda by the hand
And secretly decoded our sacred wedding band
For when the moon shines down up on our happy, humble home
Her inner space gets tortured by some outer space unknown.

Repeat Chorus:

Now I ain't seen no saucers 'cept the ones upon the shelf
And if I ever seen one I'd keep it to myself
For if there's life out there somewhere beyond this life on earth
Then Linda must have gone out there and got her money's worth.

Repeat Chorus:

Yeah, I wonder if she'd bring me something home.


This one cracks me up!

This is one of my all-time favorite songs of any genre.

Paradise
When I was a child my family would travel
Down to Western Kentucky where my parents were born
And there's a backwards old town that's often remembered
So many times that my memories are worn.

Chorus:
And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay
Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking
Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away

Well, sometimes we'd travel right down the Green River
To the abandoned old prison down by Adrie Hill
Where the air smelled like snakes and we'd shoot with our pistols
But empty pop bottles was all we would kill.

Repeat Chorus:

Then the coal company came with the world's largest shovel
And they tortured the timber and stripped all the land
Well, they dug for their coal till the land was forsaken
Then they wrote it all down as the progress of man.

Repeat Chorus:

When I die let my ashes float down the Green River
Let my soul roll on up to the Rochester dam
I'll be halfway to Heaven with Paradise waitin'
Just five miles away from wherever I am.

Repeat Chorus:

Yeah! Another John Prine enthusiast. Thanks for contributing Vicki - I love those two - have you heard Bonnie Raitt do Angel from Montgomery? I think hers is my favorite version.

no, but I bet she does a wonderful job of it. I know the John Denver version. Do you know who wrote Sweet Misery? I was thinking it was John Prine, but I can't remember. That's a family favorite around here..with slight lyric changes initiated by my dh when we were courting..too much fun!

I love John! I first saw him on CMT Jammin Country!

D you have a favorite song by him? Feel free to post some lyrics!