The Music Of John Prine

Discussion in 'Music' started by Joe Riley, Dec 30, 2018.

  1. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    The singing mailman delivers
    John Prine was born in 1946 in Maywood, Ill. He grew up listening to the country music his dad dialed in on the family's Zenith radio and began playing guitar in his early teens. After a stint in the Army in his 20s, Prine returned to Illinois and got a job as a mailman. He wrote songs on his route and eventually began performing them at Chicago clubs.
    [​IMG]
     
    #16
  2. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    John Prine - It's A Big Old Goofy World
     
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  3. Nancy Hart

    Nancy Hart Veteran Member
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    John Prine was one of Bob Dylan's 25 musical heroes

    "Prine's stuff is pure Proustian existentialism. Midwestern mindtrips to the nth degree. And he writes beautiful songs. I remember when Kris Kristofferson first brought him on the scene. All that stuff about Sam Stone the soldier junky daddy and Donald and Lydia, where people make love from ten miles away. Nobody but Prine could write like that. If I had to pick one song of his, it might be Lake Marie. I don't remember what album that's on," Dylan told MTV producer Bill Flanagan.

    The song is almost entirely narrated.
    -------------------------------
    Lake Marie

    CHORUS:
    We were standing
    Standing by peaceful waters
    Standing by peaceful waters
    Whoa wah oh wha oh

    Many years ago along the Illinois-Wisconsin border
    There was this Indian tribe
    They found two babies in the woods, white babies
    One of them was named Elizabeth
    She was the fairer of the two
    While the smaller and more fragile one was named Marie
    Having never seen white girls before
    And living on the two lakes known as the Twin Lakes
    They named the larger and more beautiful Lake, Lake Elizabeth
    And thus the smaller lake that was hidden from the highway
    Became known forever as Lake Marie

    CHORUS

    Many years later I found myself talking to this girl
    Who was standing there with her back turned to Lake Marie
    The wind was blowing especially through her hair
    There was four Italian sausages cooking on the outdoor grill
    And they was sssizzlin'
    Many years later we found ourselves in Canada
    Trying to save our marriage, and perhaps catch a few fish
    Whatever came first
    That night she fell asleep in my arms
    Humming the tune to 'Louie Louie'
    Aah baby, we gotta go now

    CHORUS

    The dogs were barking as the cars were parking
    The loan sharks were sharking the narcs were narcing
    Practically everyone was there
    In the parking lot by the forest preserve
    The police had found two bodies
    Nay, naked bodies
    Their faces had been horribly disfigured by some sharp object
    I saw it on the news
    The TV news
    In a black and white video
    You know what blood looks like in a black and white video?
    Shadows, shadows that's what it looks like
    All the love we shared between her and me was slammed
    Slammed up against the banks of old Lake Marie, Marie
     
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  4. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    Thanks, Nancy, here's the video.....WOW!
     
    #19
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2019
  5. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    John Prine and Iris DeMent - In Spite of Ourselves (Live From Sessions at West 54th)
     
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  6. Nancy Hart

    Nancy Hart Veteran Member
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    Same thing happened to me...

     
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  7. Nancy Hart

    Nancy Hart Veteran Member
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    A real oldie, from the album, Standard Songs for Average People, 2007

     
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  8. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    That was great, Nancy! Thanks!

    John Prine and Mac Wiseman - Where the Blue Of The Night (2007)
     
    #23
  9. Nancy Hart

    Nancy Hart Veteran Member
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    Dallas Austin, Cat Stevens, John Prine, Jack Tempchin, Tom T. Hall, and Missy Elliott, will become the latest inductees into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, at the organization’s 50th Annual Induction and Awards Dinner, on June 13, 2019 in New York City.

    Inductees_1.jpg
     
    #24
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2019
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  10. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    John Prine: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
     
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  11. Nancy Hart

    Nancy Hart Veteran Member
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    This is a very pretty song, but the lyrics bother me. Not because they are sad, but because of the conclusion. Many comments praise Mr. Prine for being able to understand old people so well at only 25. I'm not so sure he, or those who commented, do.



    If I went to the park with hollow eyes, and strangers stopped by to say, "Hello, in there," I'm afraid it might seem like simply noise to me. . Maybe the most important message is hidden in these lines:

    Someday I'll go and call up Rudy.
    We worked together at the factory.
    But what could I say if he asks, "What's new?"
    "Nothing, what's with you? Nothing much to do."
     
    #26
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  12. Tim Burr

    Tim Burr Veteran Member
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    I remember seeing those 'hollow eyes' working in the heart of the city
    for 8 years. Sitting on benches, under trees or just sitting waiting for something.

    His imagery in a song is what first drew me to his music.

    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. -
    Angel from Montgomery

    And the sky is black and still now
    On the hill where the angels sing
    Ain't it funny how an old broken bottle
    Looks just like a diamond ring
    But it's far, far from me -
    Far From Me

    and a very personal song mirroring the life of a friend of mine.

    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 -
    Sam Stone
     
    #27
  13. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    Thank you, Tim for your great post! I first heard "Sam Stone" when John Cash sang it in Austin City Limits. I later heard how he asked John Prine about changing a line in the lyrics.
     
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  14. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    I liked the song, Nancy, thanks. People can become vulnerable and lonely at any age.
     
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  15. Tim Burr

    Tim Burr Veteran Member
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    @Joe Riley I knew the line that was referred to in the article without reading it.
    I did not post the chorus of Sam Stone because of the line.
    It is very important to the whole song, I just didn't want to have it as a
    a center for misunderstanding.

    " There's a hole in Daddy's arm, where all the money goes..."
    " Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios..." hits me so hard in that song.
     
    #30
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