Born and raised in Maywood, Illinois, Prine learned to play the guitar at age 14. He attended classes at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music. After serving in West Germany with the U.S. Army, he returned to Chicago in the late 1960s, where he worked as a mailman, writing and singing songs first as a hobby and then as a club performer.
A member of Chicago's folk revival, a laudatory review by critic Roger Ebert built Prine's popularity. Singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson heard Prine at Steve Goodman's insistence, and Kristofferson invited Prine to be his opening act, leading to Prine's eponymous debut album with Atlantic Records in 1971. The acclaim Prine earned from his first LP led to three more albums for Atlantic. He then recorded three albums with Asylum Records. In 1981, he co-founded Oh Boy Records, an independent label where he released most of his subsequent albums.
Widely cited as one of the most influential songwriters of his generation, Prine was known for humorous lyrics about love, life, and current events, as well as serious songs with social commentary and songs that recollect sometimes melancholy tales from his life.
Prine was the son of William Mason Prine, a tool-and-die maker, and Verna Valentine (Hamm), a homemaker, both originally from Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. He was born and raised in the Chicago suburb of Maywood. In summers, they would go back to visit family near Paradise, Kentucky. Prine started playing guitar at age 14, taught by his brother, David. He attended classes at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music, and graduated from Proviso East High School in Maywood, Illinois. He was a U.S. Postal Service mailman for five years and was drafted into the United States Army during the Vietnam War era, serving as a vehicle mechanic in West Germany before beginning his musical career in Chicago.
Prine is widely regarded as one of the most influential songwriters of his generation. He has been referred to as "the Mark Twain of songwriting".
Johnny Cash, in his autobiography Cash, wrote, "I don't listen to music much at the farm, unless I'm going into songwriting mode and looking for inspiration. Then I'll put on something by the writers I've admired and used for years—Rodney Crowell, John Prine, Guy Clark, and the late Steve Goodman are my Big Four ..."
Roger Waters, when asked by Word Magazine in 2008 if he heard Pink Floyd's influence in newer British bands such as Radiohead, replied, "I don't really listen to Radiohead. I listened to the albums and they just didn't move me in the way, say, John Prine does. His is just extraordinarily eloquent music—and he lives on that plane with Neil [Young] and [John] Lennon." He later named Prine as among the five most important songwriters.
Prine's influence is seen in the work of younger artists, whom he often mentored, including Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires, Brandi Carlile, Sturgill Simpson, Kacey Musgraves, Margo Price, Tyler Childers, and Robin Pecknold.
The last song Prine recorded before he died was "I Remember Everything", released on June 12, 2020, alongside a music video. It was released following the two-hour special tribute show, A Tribute Celebrating John Prine aired on June 11, 2020, which featured Sturgill Simpson, Vince Gill, Jason Isbell, Kacey Musgraves, Bonnie Raitt, Rita Wilson, Eric Church, Brandi Carlile and many other country artists and friends.[45] On the first night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Prine singing "I Remember Everything" was the soundtrack to the COVID-19 memorial video.
Souvenirs
John Prine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Christmas days have come and gone
Broken toys and faded colors
Are all that's left to linger on
I hate graveyards and old pawn shops
For they always bring me tears
I can't forgive the way they rob me
Of my childhood souvenirs
[Chorus]
Memories they can't be boughten
They can't be won at carnivals for free
Well it took me years
To get those souvenirs
And I don't know how they slipped away from me
Broken hearts and dirty windows
Make life difficult to see
That's why last night and this mornin'
Always look the same to me
I hate reading old love letters
For they always bring me tears
I can't forgive the way they rob me
Of my sweetheart's souvenirs
[Chorus]
The song "Souvenirs" by John Prine talks about the bittersweet feeling of reminiscing past memories, particularly childhood memories and old love affairs. The first stanza of the song is about the fading of memories, like water in the melting snow, and the remnants of the past that still linger, like broken toys and faded colors, that no longer bring joy but tears. Prine expresses his resentment towards graveyards and old pawnshops because every time he sees them, his childhood souvenirs are robbed from him, and it saddens him.
In the following stanza, Prine shifts to the topic of love, and how memories of past love affairs are as valuable as souvenirs. He mentions the difficulty of moving on and how broken hearts and dirty windows make life difficult to see. He ends the stanza by expressing his disdain for old love letters as they trigger tears and take away his souvenirs.
The chorus of the song emphasizes the importance of memories and how they can't be bought or won at carnivals. Prine sings about how it took him years to gather souvenirs that hold great value to him, and he's not sure how they slipped away.
In a nutshell, the song "Souvenirs" is a contemplative and melancholic reflection of the past, the complexity of human emotions, and the importance of cherishing memories.
Line by Line Meaning
All the snow has turned to water
The winter season has passed and the snow has melted away.
Christmas days have come and gone
The holiday season has ended.
Broken toys and faded colors
All that is left of cherished memories are broken toys and faded colors.
Are all that's left to linger on
There is nothing left to hold onto, just memories that linger on.
I hate graveyards and old pawn shops
The songwriter dislikes seeing reminders of the past, like graveyards and pawn shops.
For they always bring me tears
These reminders of the past bring sadness and tears.
I can't forgive the way they rob me
The songwriter feels like they have lost something of value because of these past reminders.
Of my childhood souvenirs
The songwriter is referring to their childhood memories that were lost.
Memories they can't be boughten
Memories are personal and can't be purchased or replaced.
They can't be won at carnivals for free
Personal memories can't be obtained for free, like a cheap prize won at a carnival.
Well it took me years
It took a long time to accumulate these memories.
To get those souvenirs
The songwriter spent a lot of time collecting memorable items.
And I don't know how they slipped away from me
The songwriter can't understand how their memories were taken away.
Broken hearts and dirty windows
The songwriter is expressing how difficult it is to see clearly through a broken heart or dirty window.
Make life difficult to see
When personal emotions or physical objects are in the way, it becomes hard to see life clearly.
That's why last night and this mornin'
The songwriter is saying that the present looks the same as the past.
Always look the same to me
The songwriter can't see any difference, because their emotions are in the way.
I hate reading old love letters
The songwriter doesn't like reading reminders of past love.
Of my sweetheart's souvenirs
The songwriter is referring to lost memories of an old lover.
For they always bring me tears
The songwriter becomes emotional when reminded of old love letters.
I can't forgive the way they rob me
The songwriter feels like they lost something valuable because of these reminders of past love.
Of my sweetheart's souvenirs
The songwriter is again referring to lost memories of an old lover.
[Chorus]
Refrain from earlier verses.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: John Prine
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@dylanrjohnson
I don’t know the meaning of life but I’m pretty sure it’s in a John Prine song. 🖤
He got old, but he never got old. RIP to the only songwriter that’s inspired me and got me through as much as Bob Dylan.
John Prine has been my beacon of hope through this virus, living in New York, California and just most of the last two decades. He was the one musician who felt like they were there with me through the best and worst moments of my life.
No one else could singularly personify the joys and pain of life in so few words. I had to wipe tears from eyes two days ago listening to Lake Marie (the live session at West 54th obviously, the middle verse of you were wondering) Then I had to question why a song lyric, that wasn’t supposed to be sad, had me weeping dead sober in the middle of the day. Just because it was beautiful.
I would be more shocked and surprised if the writing wasn’t on the wall. He recorded what has to the best last album to grace this world. All in all, I really just feel kinda lucky that we got to spend
time on the same earth as this guy. All the snow has turned to water. RIP
@colinpettit3448
Back in 1976 or so I used to go to a pub in the middle of the Kent countryside on a Sunday evening to see a great band who played every week. I was familiar with most of their material but they played song called Souvenirs a couple of times . I asked the lead singer who wrote it and he said " The best songwriter you've never heard of ,his name is John Prine. The next day I bought an L.P. of his and been a huge fan ever since. Great,great songs and a great man. I saw him at The London Palladium years ago and although it's a pretty big theatre he made it seem like his own front room.
When I get to Heaven
I'm going to shake God's hand
Thank Him for more blessings
Than one man can stand
Then I'm gonna get a guitar
And start a Rock and Roll band
Check into a swell hotel
AIint the Afterlife grand.
Thanks John, for being friend for the last 45 years. RIP
@mocomcpee
Congratulations, John. Although you’re a million miles away (playing for Angels, no doubt), you are still forever in each and every one of our hearts.
In your own special way, you have reached right into us and touched us in a way that we didn’t even know was possible.
You were ‘sangin’ ‘bout something,’ but we (the hip ones!) recognized that deep within those layers, you were really sangin’ ‘bout something else altogether.
And we collectively thought- “Damn! He’s saying EXACTLY what I FEEL! How does he know???”
That gift or talent or where-with-all is something that ‘can’t be boughten.’
You got it, John.
And you gave it to us.
And they’re STILL recognizing you for it.
You must have been a great hang.
@jeanineshiman8228
I didn't know John Prine until the day he passed away, but I know him now , an somehow I miss him as though he were my lifelong friend
@rjh1226
Strange, I knew the name forever. Now I’m playing his Songs and I hadn’t listened to him until two weeks ago. I’m sorry I only decided to check him out so late in life
@gregorycrum4182
Miss John & Steve Goodman. 😢
@nogrey
My experience exactly. Now I don’t go a day without listening to his music, and missing him.
@m.acosta6465
Well welcome to the club....better late than never
@mickdunne8937
He is magic
@michaelmueller8772
Rest in Peace, John. You were the most modest and beautiful of giants.
John wrote songs that captured the genuine, broken beauty of humanity. Leonard Cohen once noted that the cracks in everything are how the lights gets in. John Prine was the light.
@johanesmuylargo
Thanks for writing that.
@patdee9065
That choked me up. May his light shine on.
@jeffgaumond4250
A hundred years from now when the tribal remnants of our civilization huddle around their campfires at night they will be singing songs by Lennon and McCartney, Bob Dylan and John Prine.