SOUNDTRACK: JOHN PRINE-Tiny Desk Concert #717 (March 12, 2018).
For all of the legendary status of John Prine, I don’t really know that much about him. I also think I don’t really know much of his music. I didn’t know any of the four songs he played here.
I enjoyed all four songs. The melodies were great, the lyrics were thoughtful and his voice, although wizened, convey the sentiments perfectly.
The blurb sums up things really well
An American treasure came to the Tiny Desk and even premiered a new song. John Prine is a truly legendary songwriter. For more than 45 years the 71-year-old artist has written some of the most powerful lyrics in the American music canon, including “Sam Stone,” “Angel From Montgomery,” “Hello In There” and countless others.
John Prine’s new songs are equally powerful and he opens this Tiny Desk concert with “Caravan of Fools,” a track he wrote with Pat McLaughlin and Dan Auerbach. Prine adds a disclaimer to the song saying, “any likeness to the current administration is purely accidental.”
I thought the song was great (albeit short) with these pointed lyrics:
The dark and distant drumming
The pounding of the hooves
The silence of everything that moves
Late in night you see them
Decked out in shiny jewels
The coming of the caravan of fools
That song, and his second tune, the sweet tearjerker “Summer’s End,” are from John Prine’s first album of new songs in 13 years, The Tree of Forgiveness.
He introduces this song by saying that. This one is a pretty song. It might drive you to tears. He wrote this with Pat McLaughlin. We usually write on Tuesdays in Nashville because that’s the day they serve meatloaf. I love meatloaf. We try to write a song before they serve the meatloaf. And then eat it and record it.
For this Tiny Desk Concert John Prine also reaches back to his great “kiss-off” song from 1991 [“an old song from the 90s (whoo)… a song from the school of kiss off 101”] called “All the Best,” and then plays “Souvenirs,” a song intended for his debut full-length but released the following year on his 1972 album Diamonds in the Rough. It’s just one of the many sentimental ballads Prine has gifted us.
He says he wrote it in 1968…when he was about 3.
Over the years, his voice has become gruffer and deeper, due in part to his battle with squamous cell cancer on the right side of his neck, all of which makes this song about memories slipping by feel all the more powerful and sad.
“Broken hearts and dirty windows
Make life difficult to see
That’s why last night and this mornin’
Always look the same to me
I hate reading old love letters
For they always bring me tears
I can’t forgive the way they rob me
Of my sweetheart’s souvenirs”
The musicians include John Prine, Jason Wilber, David Jacques and Kenneth Blevins.
[READ: December 11, 2017] X
I really enjoyed Klosterman’s last essay book, although I found pretty much every section was a little too long. So this book, which is a collection of essays is perfect because the pieces have already been edited for length.
I wasn’t even aware of this book when my brother-in-law Ben sent it to me with a comment about how much he enjoyed the Nickelback essay.
Because I had been reading Grantland and a few other sources, I have actually read a number of these pieces already, but most of them were far off enough that I enjoyed reading them again.
This book is primarily a look at popular culture. But narrowly defined by sports and music (and some movies). I have never read any of Klosterman’s fiction, but I love his entertainment essays. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 