I'm careful about my opinions of celebrities and I use caution before placing someone on a pedestal. So many times I've been disappointed after assigning too much value on the talent of a writer, athlete or actor only to have the respect diminished by some revelation in the news - often criminal. However, there are instances of special talent leaving an indelible mark on me. Take John Prine for example.
Certainly not qualified to judge anyone's character, I hold the abilities of songwriter-singer Prine in high esteem because of what he has taught me. His messages in songs written back in the Seventies shaped my thought processes over a lifetime. He's deservedly now in the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Today I can add courage to John Prine's credit, too, because he's on tour, sharing the depth of his vision despite battling lung cancer. His voice has weakened compared to the old days, but his messages will ring true long after we're notified he's no longer with us.
A California cousin turned me onto Prine, with his gravelly song about aging and loneliness, called "Hello In There." To this day, when I see someone who may have hollow ancient eyes, I greet the person - knowing they've been through joys and horrors that will never make it into a best seller. But a simple hello may - for just a moment - help ease the state of loss and loneliness.
"Sam Stone" is another deep-reaching ballad. It touches on the futility of war and the false hope of morphine or any fixit drug that goes into that hole in Daddy's arm. I admit that during younger, wilder years the consequences shared in that song helped me consider my own direction. He addresses the difficulty of an average life and the need for a beam of hope in "Angel From Montgomery" that I heard in his remarkable duet with Bonnie Raitt.
He correctly forecast the preferences of today's society - certainly here in Washington as well as Colorado - with "Illegal Smile." Prine pokes fun at the frailty of humanity in "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore" and he can get both chuckles and pauses in the bittersweet humor expressed in such songs as "Christmas In Prison," "Dear Abby," and "Dual Custody." There are innumerable others written during his impressive career.
He's an excellent guitarist and though I cannot read music, can't play a single instrument and should never, ever sing next to you, I can tell you that John Prine has a lot to say.
