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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.
John Prine -
My sense of humor has saved me more than a couple of times in my life.
John Prine
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I think I've finally, after 72 years, gotten used to my voice, and it sounds like a friend now instead of an enemy.
John Prine -
I was kind of shy as a lad, and a lot of things that made me laugh, I found, did not make other people laugh.
John Prine -
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.
John Prine -
After cancer, I ain't scared of nothing.
John Prine -
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.
John Prine -
I don't like to be caught without a pick.
John Prine
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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.'
John Prine -
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.
John Prine -
I used to read a lot of Steinbeck, and I admired Roger Miller and Bob Dylan.
John Prine -
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.
John Prine -
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.
John Prine -
'Sam Stone' is a song about futility.
John Prine
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In the Army, I was very good at avoiding my job!
John Prine -
I think it shows when you have to work too hard on a song.
John Prine -
When I'm making my own record, it's real work for me.
John Prine -
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.
John Prine -
When you're singing somebody else's songs, it's just pure joy to me.
John Prine -
When I'm writing a lyric, things can only get so serious before they start becoming humorous.
John Prine
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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.
John Prine -
I always feel like every song is the last song.
John Prine -
After a couple bouts with cancer and everything, black cats are nothin', you know?
John Prine -
I found it easier to make up songs than to learn other people's songs.
John Prine