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John Prine Quotes

John Edward Prine was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. Widely cited as one of the most influential songwriters of his generation, Prine was known for his signature blend of humorous lyrics about love, life, and current events, as well as serious songs about melancholy tales from his life. His songs would often have elements of social commentary and satire. He was active as a composer, recording artist, live performer, and occasional actor from the early 1970s until his death.

Born and raised in Maywood, Illinois, Prine learned to play the guitar at age 14. He attended classes at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music. After serving in West Germany with the U.S. Army, he returned to Chicago in the late 1960s, where he worked as a mailman, writing and singing songs first as a hobby and then as a club performer. A member of Chicago's folk revival, a laudatory review by critic Roger Ebert built Prine's popularity. Singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson heard Prine at Steve Goodman's insistence, and Kristofferson invited Prine to be his opening act. Prine released his eponymous debut album with Atlantic Records in 1971, which was widely acclaimed. The album is today hailed as one of the best singer-songwriter albums of all time.The acclaim Prine earned from his first LP led to three more albums for Atlantic. His 1975 record Common Sense was his first to chart on the Billboard U.S. Top 100. He then recorded three albums with Asylum Records. In 1981, he co-founded Oh Boy Records, an independent label which released all of his music up until his death. His final album, 2018's The Tree of Forgiveness, debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200, his highest ranking on the charts.

Prine struggled with health issues throughout his life, surviving cancer twice. He died from complications caused by COVID-19 in 2020. Earlier the same year, Prine received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.



Wikipedia  

✵ 10. October 1946 – 7. April 2020
John Prine photo
John Prine: 14   quotes 0   likes

Famous John Prine Quotes

“Kiss a little baby
Give the world a smile
If you take an inch
Give 'em back a mile
Cause if you lie like a rug
And you don't give a damn
You're never gonna be
As happy as a clam
So I'm sitting in a hotel
Trying to write a song
My head is just as empty
As the day is long.”

John Prine

"It’s a Big Old Goofy World"
Song lyrics, The Missing Years (1991)

“I wish you love - and happiness
I guess I wish - you all the best
I wish you don't - do like I do
And never fall in love with someone like you
Cause if you fell - just like I did
You'd probably walk around the block like a little kid
But kids don't know - they can only guess...”

John Prine

"All the Best"
Song lyrics, The Missing Years (1991)

“When I get to heaven, I'm gonna shake God's hand
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?”

John Prine

"When I Get to Heaven" · Live performance on Austin City Limits https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKPDFQRmG_M · Lyric video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0EiV423j0M
Song lyrics, The Tree of Forgiveness (2018)

“If by chance I should find myself at risk of falling from this jagged cliff
I look below, and I look above
I'm surrounded by your boundless love”

John Prine

Boundless Love (co-written with Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin)
Song lyrics, The Tree of Forgiveness (2018)

“Sometimes my old heart is like a washing machine
It bounces around 'til my Soul comes clean
And when I'm clean and hung out to dry
I'm gonna make you laugh until you cry”

John Prine

Boundless Love (co-written with Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin)
Song lyrics, The Tree of Forgiveness (2018)

“Surround me with your boundless love
Confound me with your boundless love
I was drowning in the sea,
Lost as I could be
When you found me
With your boundless love”

John Prine

Boundless Love (co-written with Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin)
Song lyrics, The Tree of Forgiveness (2018)

John Prine Quotes

“I woke up this morning to a garbage truck
Looks like this ol' horseshoe's done run out of luck
If I came home, would you let me in?
Fry me some pork chops and forgive my sin?”

John Prine

Boundless Love (co-written with Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin)
Song lyrics, The Tree of Forgiveness (2018)

Forgiveness , Home , Bad luck

“Love and devotion, deep as any ocean
don't play by anybody's rules
With your carousel of horses
and your unforeseen forces,
you're running with the caravan of fools
Caravan of fools, caravan of fools
You're running with the caravan of fools”

John Prine

Caravan of Fools (co-written with Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin)
Song lyrics, The Tree of Forgiveness (2018)

Horse , Love , Making love , Fools

“The dark and distant drumming
The pounding of the hooves
The silence of everything that moves
Late at night you'll see them
decked out in shiny jewels
the coming of the caravan of fools”

John Prine

Caravan of Fools (co-written with Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin)
Song lyrics, The Tree of Forgiveness (2018)

Silence , Distant , Night , Fools

“Why just before last Christmas
My baby went away
And I find it real surprising
For myself to hear me say
That everything is cool
Everything's okay”

John Prine

"Everything is Cool"
Song lyrics, The Missing Years (1991)

Baby , Christmas

“It's a measure of treasure that gives me the pleasure
Of loving you the way I do
And you know I would gladly say I need your love badly
And bring these little things to you.
Cause you got gold
Gold inside of you
You got gold
Gold inside of you
Well I got some Gold inside me too”

John Prine

"You Got Gold" (Prine, Keith Sykes)
Song lyrics, The Missing Years (1991)

Pleasure , Love , Making love , Way

“I can see the fire burning
Burning right behind your eyes
I can see the fire burning, baby
Burning right behind your eyes
You must've swallowed a candle
Or some other kind of surprise.”

John Prine

"Daddy’s Little Pumpkin" (Prine, Pat McLaughlin)
Song lyrics, The Missing Years (1991)

Baby

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

John Prine

Song lyrics, I Remember Everything (2020)

Light , Night , Forgetting , Smile

“I've been down this road before
I remember every tree
Every single blade of grass
Holds a special place for me
And I remember every town
And every hotel room
Every song I ever sang
On a guitar out of tune”

John Prine

Song lyrics, I Remember Everything (2020)

Tree , Grass

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