John Prine

John Edward Prine (10 October 1946 – 7 April 2020) was an American country folk singer-songwriter, known for an often humorous style of folk/country music with elements of protest and social commentary.

The Missing Years (1991)

 * All songs by John Prine unless otherwise noted.


 * I wish you love - and happiness I guess I wish - you all the bestI wish you don't - do like I doAnd never fall in love with someone like youCause if you fell - just like I didYou'd probably walk around the block like a little kidBut kids don't know - they can only guess...
 * "All the Best"


 * Kiss a little baby Give the world a smile If you take an inchGive 'em back a mileCause if you lie like a rugAnd you don't give a damnYou're never gonna beAs happy as a clamSo I'm sitting in a hotelTrying to write a songMy head is just as empty <BR>As the day is long.
 * "It’s a Big Old Goofy World"


 * I can see the fire burning<BR>Burning right behind your eyes<BR>I can see the fire burning, baby<BR>Burning right behind your eyes<BR>You must've swallowed a candle<BR>Or some other kind of surprise.
 * "Daddy’s Little Pumpkin" (Prine, Pat McLaughlin)


 * It's a measure of treasure that gives me the pleasure<BR>Of loving you the way I do<BR>And you know I would gladly say I need your love badly<BR>And bring these little things to you. <BR>Cause you got gold<BR>Gold inside of you<BR>You got gold<BR>Gold inside of you<BR>Well I got some Gold inside me too
 * "You Got Gold" (Prine, Keith Sykes)
 * Why just before last Christmas<BR>My baby went away<BR>And I find it real surprising<BR>For myself to hear me say<BR>That everything is cool<BR>Everything's okay
 * "Everything is Cool"


 * Oh my God, what have I gotten myself into?<BR>I'm a human corkscrew and all my wine is blood<BR>They're gonna kill me Mama. They don't like me Bud.<BR>So Jesus went to Heaven and he went there awful quick<BR> All them people killed him and he wasn't even sick<BR>So come and gather around me my contemporary peers<BR>And I'll tell you all the story of Jesus, the missing years
 * "Jesus the Missing Years"

Great Days: The John Prine Anthology (1993)

 * All lyrics written by John Prine unless otherwise noted.


 * Ya' know that old trees just grow stronger<BR>And old rivers grow wilder every day<BR>Old people just grow lonesome<BR>Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello"...<BR>So if you're walking down the street sometime<BR>And spot some hollow ancient eyes<BR>Please don't just pass 'em by and stare<BR>As if you didn't care, say, "Hello in there, hello"
 * Hello in there


 * Sam Stone came home<BR>To the wife and family<BR>After serving in the conflict overseas.<BR>And the time that he served,<BR>Had shattered all his nerves,<BR>And left a little shrapnel in his knees.<BR> But the morphine eased the pain,<BR>And the grass grew round his brain,<BR>And gave him all the confidence he lacked,<BR>With a purple heart and a monkey on his back.<BR>There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,<BR>Jesus Christ died for nothin I suppose,<BR>Little pitchers have big ears,<BR>Don't stop and count the years,<BR>Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.
 * "Sam Stone"


 * Well, sometimes we'd travel right down the Green River To the abandoned old prison down by Airdrie Hill Where the air smelled like snakes and we'd shoot with our pistols But empty pop bottles was all we would kill. Then the coal company came with the world's largest shovel<BR>And they tortured the timber and stripped all the land<BR>Well, they dug for their coal till the land was forsaken<BR>Then they wrote it all down as the progress of man.
 * Paradise


 * I know a man who's got a lot to lose<BR>A pretty nice fella, kinda confused<BR>Got muscles in his head that've never been used <BR>He thinks he owns half of this town <BR>He goes out drinkin' gets a big red nose<BR>Beats his old lady with a rubber hose<BR> Then he takes her out to dinner Buys her new clothes<BR>That's the way that the world goes 'round<BR> You're up one day, the next you're down<BR> It's a half-an-inch of water and you think you're gonna drown<BR>That's the way that the world goes 'round
 * "That's the Way That the World Goes Round"

Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings (1995)

 * Lyrics by John Prine unless otherwise noted.


 * Many years later I found myself talking to this girl<BR>Who was standing there with her back turned to Lake Marie <BR>The wind was blowing especially through her hair<BR>...Many years later we found ourselves in Canada<BR>Trying to save our marriage and perhaps catch a few fish<BR>Whatever seemed easier, that night she fell asleep in my arms<BR>Humming the tune to, "Louie Louie"<BR>Aah baby, we gotta go now
 * We were standing, Standing by peaceful waters<BR>Standing by peaceful waters<BR>Whoa, wah, oh wha, oh Whoa, wah, oh wha, oh
 * Peaceful Waters


 * And the old men sit round the cracker barrels<BR> The children hum their Christmas carols<BR>The train tracks all run parallel<BR>But they'll all meet up one day<BR>
 * On a dusty pew in a vestibule<BR>Sits the Devil playing pocket pool<BR>He's waiting for the next poor fool<BR>Who forgot that it was Sunday
 * Who forgot that it was Sunday


 * We are the lonely all together<BR>All together we're all alone<BR>We are the lonely all together<BR> All together we're all alone<BR>
 * The cashier at the pump & pay<BR>Knows everything's gonna be okay<BR>The all night all right rent-a-cop<BR>Is across the street at the donut shop<BR>The waitress waits with whiskey sour<BR>At the single mingle happy hour<BR>The one man band begins to sing Accompanied by a drum machine
 * We Are the Lonely

Souvenirs (2000)

 * I am an old woman named after my mother<BR>My old man is another child that's grown old<BR>If dreams were lightning thunder was desire<BR>This old house would have burnt down a long time ago<BR>Make me an angel that flies from Montgom'ry<BR>Make me a poster of an old rodeo<BR>Just give me one thing that I can hold on to<BR>To believe in this living is just a hard way to go<BR> When I was a young girl well, I had me a cowboy<BR>He weren't much to look at, just free rambling man<BR>But that was a long time and no matter how I try<BR>The years just flow by like a broken down dam.
 * "Angel from Montgomery"


 * God bless this kitchen said the knick-knack chef<BR> The dinner's almost ready Go and wash yourself<BR>Jimmy's growing up now and Wanda's growing old <BR>The time is growin' shorter the nights are long and cold<BR>C'mon, baby, spend the night with me.<BR>Sneaking in the closet and through the diary<BR>Now, don't you know all he saw was all there was to see<BR>The whole town saw Jimmy on the six o'clock news<BR>His brains were on the sidewalk and blood was on his shoes
 * "The Six O'clock news"

Fair & Square (2005)
All lyrics written by John Prine unless otherwise noted.


 * Caught a train from Alexandria <BR>Just a broken man in flight<BR>Running scared with his devils <BR>Saying prayers all through the night<BR>Oh but mercy can't find him<BR>Not in the shadows where he calls<BR>Forsaking all his better angels<BR> That's how every empire falls
 * That's How Every Empire Falls (R.B. Morris)
 * Padlock the door and board the windows<BR>Put the people in the street<BR>"It's just my job," he says "I'm sorry." <BR>And draws a check, goes home to eat<BR>But at night he tells his woman<BR>"I know I hide behind the laws."<BR>She says, "You're only taking orders."<BR>That's how every empire falls.
 * That's How Every Empire Falls (R.B. Morris)


 * A bitter wind blows through the country<BR>A hard rain falls on the sea<BR>If terror comes without a warning<BR>There must be something we don't see<BR>What fire begets this fire?<BR>Like torches thrown into the straw<BR>If no one asks, then no one answers<BR>That's how every empire falls.
 * That's How Every Empire Falls (R.B. Morris)


 * We made love In every way love can be made<BR>And we made time Look like time Could never fade<BR>Friday Night We both made the guitars hum<BR> Saturday made Sunday feel Like it would never come<BR>Gonna be a long Monday<BR>Sittin' all alone on a mountain By a river that has no end
 * "Long Monday"(Prine, Keith Sykes)


 * There's a girl in the white house<BR>I don't even know her name<BR>Her disheveled appearance<BR>Speaks volumes of shame<BR>It's an embarrassing situation<BR>But a situation just the same<BR>The way she walks on others<BR>And never takes the blame<BR>Upsets my constitution<BR>Beyond its mortal frame.
 * "Taking a Walk" (Prine, Pat McLaughlin)
 * Some humans ain't human<BR>Some people ain't kind<BR>You open up their hearts<BR>And here's what you'll find<BR>A few frozen pizzas<BR>Some ice cubes with hair<BR>A broken Popsicle<BR>You don't want to go there...
 * You're feeling your freedom And the world's off your back<BR>Some cowboy from Texas<BR>Starts his own war in Iraq]]<BR>Some humans ain't human<BR>Some people ain't kind
 * Some Humans Ain't Human

The Tree of Forgiveness (2018)

 * The dark and distant drumming<BR>The pounding of the hooves<BR>The silence of everything that moves<BR>Late at night you'll see them<BR>decked out in shiny jewels<BR>the coming of the caravan of fools
 * Caravan of Fools (co-written with Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin)


 * Love and devotion, deep as any ocean<BR> don't play by anybody's rules<BR>With your carousel of horses <BR> and your unforeseen forces,<BR>you're running with the caravan of fools<BR>Caravan of fools, caravan of fools<BR>You're running with the caravan of fools
 * Caravan of Fools (co-written with Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin)


 * I woke up this morning to a garbage truck<BR>Looks like this ol' horseshoe's done run out of luck<BR>If I came home, would you let me in?<BR>Fry me some pork chops and forgive my sin?
 * Boundless Love (co-written with Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin)


 * Surround me with your boundless love <BR> Confound me with your boundless love<BR>I was drowning in the sea, <BR>Lost as I could be<BR>When you found me <BR>With your boundless love
 * Boundless Love (co-written with Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin)


 * Sometimes my old heart is like a washing machine<BR> It bounces around 'til my Soul comes clean<BR>And when I'm clean and hung out to dry<BR>I'm gonna make you laugh until you cry
 * Boundless Love (co-written with Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin)


 * If by chance I should find myself at risk of falling from this jagged cliff<BR>I look below, and I look above<BR>I'm surrounded by your boundless love
 * Boundless Love (co-written with Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin)
 * Summer's end's around the bend just flyin'<BR>The swimmin' suits are on the line just dryin'<BR>I'll meet you there for our conversation<BR>I hope I didn't ruin your whole vacation Well you never know how far from home you're feelin'<BR>Until you've watched the shadows cross the ceilin'<BR>Well I don't know, but I can see it snowin'<BR>In your car the windows are wide open
 * Summer's End (co-written with Pat McLaughlin)

Thank him for more blessings than one man can stand Then I'm gonna get a guitar and start a rock-n-roll band Check into a swell hotel, ain't the afterlife grand?
 * When I get to heaven, I'm gonna shake God's hand
 * "When I Get to Heaven" · Live performance on Austin City Limits · Lyric video

I Remember Everything (2020)
(John's last recording before he died) (Youtube recording)
 * I've been down this road before<BR>I remember every tree<BR>Every single blade of grass<BR>Holds a special place for me<BR>And I remember every town<BR>And every hotel room<BR> Every song I ever sang<BR>On a guitar out of tune


 * I remember everything<BR>Things I can't forget<BR>The way you turned and smiled on me<BR>On the night that we first met<BR>And I remember every night<BR>Your ocean eyes of blue<BR>How I miss you in the morning light<BR>Like roses miss the dew<BR>