John Prine got it right

  "I found it easier to make up songs than to learn other people's songs."
John Prine

"And daddy, won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay
Well, I'm sorry, my son, but you're too late in asking
Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away "

John Prine - Paradise

"Sam Stone came home
To his wife and family
After serving in the conflict overseas
And the time that he served
Had shattered all his nerves
And left a little shrapnel in his knees
But the morphine eased the pain
And the grass grew round his brain
And gave him all the confidence he lacked
With a purple heart and a monkey on his back "

John Prine - Sam Stone

"We lost Davy in the Korean war
And I still don't know what for, don't matter anymore 

You know that old trees just grow stronger
And old rivers grow wilder every day
Old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello"  

So if you're walking down the street sometime
And spot some hollow ancient eyes
Please don't just pass 'em by and stare
As if you didn't care, say, "Hello in there, hello" 

John Prine - Hello in There

Yup, John Prine got lot's of things right... and I honour this man for sharing his way of looking at the world with us. 

We can learn a lot listening to these songs:

look around, look behind the scenes, look with compassion, 

look with eyes that see beyond the oversize domes we've built around our own little lives 

and see that the hollow eyes and burnt out shells of the people whose dreams have faded are the reflections of our own eyes

Morphine is not a cure

Building a fortress to hide in is not a cure

The cure is to write your own songs, the ones in your heart

No one can take away our freedom, we give away the freedom that is meaningful 

When we fight for the freedom to profit from each chunk of coal carried away on Mister Peabody's train

As if we can buy paradise by building monuments to our egos

And our dream, like paradise is squandered bit by bit for a little hits of pleasure that leave us wanting more

And the filters on our eyes block the suffering of others

And we end up on our islands of all encompassing self importance

Waiting for someone to say hello in there, hello

So let's take a break from struggling to make the world fit in to what we want it to be and

Listen to John Prine or any music that makes you feel and

live a little, love a little, dance a little, cry a little, sing a little, be a little ... just let go a little

Cheers

Jeanne

http://performingsongwriter.com/john-prine-songs/  

"Noise-maker, noise-maker
You have no complaint
You are what your are and you ain't what you ain't
So listen up buster, and listen up good
Stop wishing for bad luck and knocking on wood"

John Prine - Dear Abby