John Prine Quotes
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I've been fortunate enough to always have plenty of work, offers to go out and play shows. The hardest thing I have to do is pick out which one I want. For some reason, there's a great demand out there, whether I've got a new record out or not.
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Writing songs used to be my hobby; it used to be my getaway.
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After cancer, I ain't scared of nothing.
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Johnny Cash was like Abraham Lincoln to me.
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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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My first Grammy nomination? I was 24 - I was nominated for best new artist of the year.
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For me, there's nothing like performing.
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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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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'm making my own record, it's real work for me.
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When you're singing somebody else's songs, it's just pure joy to me.
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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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My sense of humor has saved me more than a couple of times in my life.
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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 don't concern myself with where I fit in. I just keep my head down and keep doing whatever it is I'm going.
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I don't like to see Christmas trees torn down.
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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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I think it shows when you have to work too hard on a song.
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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 was a mailman walking in the snow six days a week, 12-hour days. Every two weeks, I'd get a check for $228.