John Prine: his 10 best songs

Martin Chilton 08 April 2020 10:00am BST John Prine, who has passed away aged 73 after suffering from coronavirus, was one of the great modern singer-songwriters. Dozens and dozens of his

songs could realistically have made a top 10. (It was hard to leave out Paradise, Angel From Montgomery, Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Any More, Dear Abbey and many, many

more.) But here is my top 10. Settle down, put them on, and enjoy one of the finest songwriting talents to come out of America. 10. CHRISTMAS IN PRISON (1994) Prine's magnificent

"festive song" has been covered wonderfully by Amos Lee. Prine said of his composition: "It's about a person being in a situation they didn't want to be in, but I

used all the imagery as if it were a prison. And being a sentimental guy, I put it at Christmas." Prine, incidentally, had a Christmas tree up in his office all year round. Talking of a

visit with his children to the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, Prine's wife Fiona Whelan said: "John cried when Santa came out. The colours, the lights, the idea of family,

togetherness, bestowing gifts. It meant a lot to him." 9. SPEED OF THE SOUND OF LONELINESS (1986) This song has been covered by Alabama 3 and Nanci Griffith. Prine wrote: "It was a

song about a break up. I had a picture in my mind of one of the astronauts of the 1950s with his face all contorted by G-forces. I was thinking of somebody's heart being pulled apart

by G-forces like that." 8. ILLEGAL SMILE (1971) About this hit, from his debut album, Prine wrote: "People assumed it was about smoking dope, but it wasn't. Ever since I was a

child, I've had this view of the world where I would find myself smiling at stuff nobody else was smiling at." 7. DONALD AND LYDIA (1971) From the same debut album, Donald and

Lydia, about two lonely hearts, is one of Bob Dylan's favourite songs. Prine said he went through a book of names for babies to pick the identities of the two characters. Steve Goodman

recorded an excellent version. 6. SOUVENIRS (1972) Soul singer Bettye LaVette recorded this song, from Prine's second album, Diamonds in the Rough, of which Prine said chirpily: "I

wrote this song because I thought I needed a new one each week for the crowd at Chicago's Fifth Peg club. I wrote it in my 65 Malibu on my way to the club on a Thursday night." 5.

THAT'S THE WAY THE WORLD GOES ROUND (1978) This song appeared on one of Prine's finest albums, Bruised Orange. Prine later said, looking back at it: "I was fed up with a lot

of cynicism I saw. It was a fairly sad song when I wrote it, but sounds more uplifting live." Jeffrey Foucault recorded a version on his album of John Prine songs. 4. FAR FROM ME (1971)

This lonely waltz about lost love for a waitress, another cut from that great debut album, was (so Prine later said) one of the musician's favourites among all his songs. Justin Townes

Earle has recorded a very good version, too. 3. MEXICAN HOME (1973) Prine had plenty to say about this one, from his third album, Sweet Revenge. In an interview, he told me: "It meant

a lot. It culminates in the death of my father. When we were growing up we lived off a four-lane highway and you could always hear cars, especially the sound they make in the rain. And I

would lie in my bedroom and watch the light of the headlights track across my ceiling. My Dad would sit on the front porch drinking beer and talking about everything, politics, baseball.

"They were special nights on warm summer evenings. I had a Mexican girlfriend once but I'm not sure that's why I set it in Mexico. I think it was a more realistic setting for

the storm coming in." 2. SAM STONE (1971) Yet another superb piece from Prine's debut. Sam Stone, about a junkie former soldier whose life is disintegrating, contains the memorable

line: "There's a hole in Daddy's arm / where all the money goes". Prine, who served in the US armed forces in Germany during the 1960s, had lots of friends who'd

suffered after returning from the Vietnam War. Laura Cantrell has recorded a version of this song. 1. HELLO IN THERE (1971) Prine says that his song about elderly life, from (where else?)

his debut, is one that never wears on him. "I'd heard the John Lennon song Across The Universe and he had a lot of reverb on his voice. I was thinking about hollering into a hollow

log, trying to get through to somebody: _hello in there!_ That was the beginning thought, then it went to old people." Everyone from REM to 10,000 Maniacs and Bette Midler has recorded

it as well.