John Prine Quotes
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There's only two things. There's life, and there's death.
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I grew up in Chicago, but I spent a lot of time down in Kentucky, and Kentucky was about 20 years behind the life that was in Chicago.
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I like doing chores.
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I try to write about things that actually happened so that I know it's real before I put it down on paper.
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When I'm writing a lyric, things can only get so serious before they start becoming humorous.
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After cancer, I ain't scared of nothing.
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You know that first love that leaves you? You never forget that, especially if you're a songwriter. I must have gotten nine songs out of that girl.
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Howie Epstein was a kind, patient, and extremely talented musician. He took two years out of his life and dedicated his undivided attention to the making of two of my records. Those records changed my life thanks to Howie.
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I don't like to see Christmas trees torn down.
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I was a mailman walking in the snow six days a week, 12-hour days. Every two weeks, I'd get a check for $228.
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You get to thinking that because you've written 50 or 100 songs, you think maybe you know how to do it. But when they're not coming along, you're just as in the dark as you ever were. When they're coming along, there's nothing to it. Sometimes it's so easy, it's like you're a court stenographer.
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When I turned 40, I invited Johnny Cash to my party, even though I knew there was gonna be 200 people roasting a pig and wild as can be. He didn't come, but the next day, I got a bowl of chili he'd made and a note that said, 'John, I'd love to come to your party, but that would mean I would have to leave my house.'
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I was in the Army in the 1960s. I didn't go to Vietnam. I went to Germany, where I drank beer. But I did have an empathy with the soldiers in Vietnam.
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I think it shows when you have to work too hard on a song.
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When I'm making my own record, it's real work for me.
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My sense of humor has saved me more than a couple of times in my life.
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When you're singing somebody else's songs, it's just pure joy to me.
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Because of my song 'Sam Stone,' a lot of people thought I was interested in writing protest songs. Writing protest songs always struck me as patting yourself on the back.
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In the Army, I was very good at avoiding my job!
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I used to read a lot of Steinbeck, and I admired Roger Miller and Bob Dylan.
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I think of the Bible as an unauthorized biography.
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I always feel like every song is the last song.
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After a couple bouts with cancer and everything, black cats are nothin', you know?
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I don't concern myself with where I fit in. I just keep my head down and keep doing whatever it is I'm going.