I really don't always understand what is happening. It is so interesting that when I was in the early part of my life I was not interested in trying to understand everything. I just was living the experiences tasting the flavor and texture of each event.
This then made me realize what a precious gift we had to experience John Prine. I loved the fact that John did not put on airs - he always told it like it was and did so in a blue collar kind of way. He reminded people often he was a mailman. I heard the story of someone on a weekday afternoon having a beer in a neighborhood bar and a guy sat down next to him. They talked and drank for a couple hours and in the end the man realized he was drinking with John Prine. In the end, John said he enjoyed the time together and could they do it the following week - and he showed up! The lyrics of his music cut across all the figuring it out and just lay it out plainly.
I've lived and loved his lyrics. My band have played some of his music. Here are a few of my favorites as he doesn't try to figure it out. He just points out what it's all about.
1971 - "Blow Up Your TV" - Blow up your TV, throw away you paper/go to the country, build you a home/plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches/try to find Jesus on your own.
1971 - "Hello In There" - You 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."
1986 - "Speed of the Sound of Loneliness" - So what in the world's come over you?/And what in heaven's name have you done?/You've broken the speed of the sound of loneliness/You're out there running just to be on the run.
1999 - "In Spite Of Ourselves" - In spite of ourselves/we'll end up a-sittin' on a rainbow/Against all odds Honey, we're the big door prize/We're gonna spite our noses/Right off of our faces/There won't be nothin' but big old hearts/Dancin' in our eyes.
1978 - "That's The Way The World Goes Round" - That's the way the world goes round/You're up one day and the next you're down/It's half an inch of water and you think you're gonna' drown/That's the way the world goes round.
John would write a set of lyrics and when I heard them I realized how truthful the words rang. We are all on this journey together. We get caught up thinking that in our portion of the life boat we have to take charge and control to make sure everything goes right. But in the end the boat is so much bigger than we imagine and everyone on the boat with us is on the same journey. We are just all on the road home.
Mark Knopfler did an album in which he played with an alter ego band and they sang a number of old spirituals. One of them was "I'm on my way home." We are all on the same journey. Some of us are at the front of the life boat. Some of us are at the back of the life boat. Some of us are in the portion of the life boat that leaks. Some of us are on a portion of the life boat and we don't think anyone else is on the boat.
Trust me - we're all on the life boat together. The more we share the journey the more we support and help each other. Enjoy your life boat ride. Know at times it might feel like a roller coaster ride but such is life.
For as John said, "That's the way the world goes round/You're up one day and the next day your down," Love the journey and realize you won't understand it completely ever.
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