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.

You got gold, gold inside of you. Well I got some Gold inside me too

Song lyrics

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 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...
  • "All the Best"

• 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.
  • "It’s a Big Old Goofy World"

• 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.
  • "Daddy’s Little Pumpkin" (Prine, Pat McLaughlin)

• 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
  • "You Got Gold" (Prine, Keith Sykes)

So Jesus went to Heaven and he went there awful quick
All them people killed him and he wasn't even sick
So come and gather around me my contemporary peers
And I'll tell you all the story of Jesus, the missing years

• 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
  • "Everything is Cool"

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

So if you're walking down the street sometime
And spot some hollow ancient eyes
Please don't just pass 'em by and stare
As if you didn't care, say, "Hello in there, hello"

Sam Stone came home
To the 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 knees.
But the morphine eased the pain,

Great Days: The John Prine Anthology (1993)

All lyrics written by John Prine unless otherwise noted.

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

• Sam Stone came home
  To the 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 knees.
  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.
  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 and count the years,
  Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.
  • "Sam Stone"

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.

• 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
  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.
  • Paradise

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

• 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
  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"

Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings (1995)

Lyrics by John Prine unless otherwise noted.

• 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
  ...Many years later we found ourselves in Canada
  Trying to save our marriage and perhaps catch a few fish
  Whatever seemed easier, that night she fell asleep in my arms
  Humming the tune to, "Louie Louie"
  Aah baby, we gotta go now
• We were standing, Standing by peaceful waters
  Standing by peaceful waters
  Whoa, wah, oh wha, oh Whoa, wah, oh wha, oh
  • Peaceful Waters

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

• 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 & 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 a drum machine
  • We Are the Lonely

Make me a poster of an old rodeo. Just give me one thing that I can hold on to...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.

Souvenirs (2000)

• 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
  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.
  • "Angel from Montgomery"

• God bless this kitchen said the knick-knack chef
  The dinner's almost ready Go and wash yourself
  Jimmy's growing up now and Wanda's growing old
  The time is growin' shorter the nights are long and cold
  C'mon, baby, spend the night with me.
  Sneaking in the closet and through the diary
  Now, don't you know all he saw was all there was to see
  The whole town saw Jimmy on the six o'clock news
  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
  Just a broken man in flight
  Running scared with his devils
  Saying prayers all through the night
  Oh but mercy can't find him
  Not in the shadows where he calls
  Forsaking all his better angels
  That's how every empire falls
  • That's How Every Empire Falls (R.B. Morris)

A bitter wind blows through the country A hard rain falls on the sea If terror comes without a warning There must be something we don't see What fire begets this fire? Like torches thrown into the straw If no one asks, then no one answers That's how every empire falls.

• Padlock the door and board the windows
  Put the people in the street
  "It's just my job," he says "I'm sorry."
  And draws a check, goes home to eat
  But at night he tells his woman
  "I know I hide behind the laws."
  She says, "You're only taking orders."
  That's how every empire falls.
  • That's How Every Empire Falls (R.B. Morris)

• A bitter wind blows through the country
  A hard rain falls on the sea
  If terror comes without a warning
  There must be something we don't see
  What fire begets this fire?
  Like torches thrown into the straw
  If no one asks, then no one answers
  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
  And we made time Look like time Could never fade
  Friday Night We both made the guitars hum
  Saturday made Sunday feel Like it would never come
  Gonna be a long Monday
  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
  I don't even know her name
  Her disheveled appearance
  Speaks volumes of shame
  It's an embarrassing situation
  But a situation just the same
  The way she walks on others
  And never takes the blame
  Upsets my constitution
  Beyond its mortal frame.
  • "Taking a Walk" (Prine, Pat McLaughlin)

You're feeling your freedom
And the world's off your back
Some cowboy from Texas
Starts his own war in Iraq

• Some humans ain't human
  Some people ain't kind
  You open up their hearts
  And here's what you'll find
  A few frozen pizzas
  Some ice cubes with hair
  A broken Popsicle
  You don't want to go there...
• You're feeling your freedom
  And the world's off your back
  Some cowboy from Texas
  Starts his own war in Iraq]]
  Some humans ain't human
  Some people ain't kind
  • Some Humans Ain't Human

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

The Tree of Forgiveness (2018)

• 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
  • Caravan of Fools (co-written with Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin)

• 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
  • Caravan of Fools (co-written with Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin)

• 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?
  • Boundless Love (co-written with Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin)

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

• 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
  • Boundless Love (co-written with Dan Auerbach and Pat McLaughlin)

• 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
  • 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
  I look below, and I look above
  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', The swimmin' suits are on the line just dryin', I'll meet you there for our conversation, I hope I didn't ruin your whole vacation

• Summer's end's around the bend just flyin'
  The swimmin' suits are on the line just dryin'
  I'll meet you there for our conversation
  I hope I didn't ruin your whole vacation

  Well you never know how far from home you're feelin'
  Until you've watched the shadows cross the ceilin'
  Well I don't know, but I can see it snowin'
  In your car the windows are wide open

  • Summer's End (co-written with Pat McLaughlin)

• 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?
  • "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
  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

• 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