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.
Space Monkey
John Prine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What you doing out there?
Why it's dark as a dungeon way up in the air
Come gather round me you little monkeys and a story I'll tell
About a brave young primate, outer space knew him well
He was born at the top of a big old tree
Way back in 1953.
He could swing through the jungle and hang by his toes
Till they took him to russia cause they could I suppose
They dressed him up in a spacesuit and it started to snow
Shot him off in a rocket where no man would go
Space monkey space monkey
What you doing out there?
Why it's dark as a dungeon way up in the air
There'll be no one to greet you when you get back home
No hammer or sickle you'll be on your own.
He had plenty of cuban bananas and loads of spam
But he found great difficulty trying to open the can
One day he slipped on a banana peel and the ship lost control
It spun out of orbit and shot o]ut the black hole
It's been four decades now, that's nine monkey years
That's a long time for a space monkey to confront all his fears
Space monkey space monkey
What you doing out there?
Why it's dark as a dungeon way up in the air
There'll be no one to greet you when you get back home
No hammer or sickle you'll be all on your own.
Space monkey, space monkey
It's time to get real
The space race is over, how does it feel
Cold war's had a heatwave, iron curtain's torn down
They've rolled up the carpet in space monkey town
Now leningrad is petersburg and petersburg's hell
For a card-carrying monkey with a story to tell
The space monkey was reportedly last sighted about
A half a block off of red square
In a karaoke bar having a few drinks with some of his friends
There was the dog that flew sputnik
And a blind red-headed, one legged parrot
Who had done some minor research for dow chemical
They were drinking american vodka
Imported all the way from paducah, kentucky
And reportedly had their arms around each other's
Shoulders singing.
"those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end"
Space monkey, space monkey
There's nothing to do
But it's better than living in a communist zoo
There'll be no one to greet you when you get back home
No hammer or sickle you'll be all on you own
John Prine's song Space Monkey tells the story of a monkey who was born and raised in a jungle, but was taken to Russia to be dressed up in a spacesuit and shot off in a rocket. The monkey, who had plenty of Cuban bananas and spam, found himself lost in outer space for four decades, with no one to greet him when he returned. The song depicts the monkey's experiences in space and the struggles he faced while trying to survive. The song also touches upon the end of the Cold War and how it affected the space race and the lives of those involved.
The lyrics describe the isolation and loneliness felt by the space monkey, who was completely cut off from the world he knew. He was forced to adapt to unfamiliar surroundings, faced with difficulties like opening a can of spam in zero-gravity. The lyrics also describe how the ending of the Cold War changed the world the space monkey returned to, with its communism now in shambles. The monkey, who had longed for home for so long, found himself in a new world that was equally strange to him.
Line by Line Meaning
Space monkey, space monkey
Addressing the space monkey
What you doing out there?
Asking the space monkey why he is in space
Why it's dark as a dungeon way up in the air
Commenting on how dark space is
Come gather round me you little monkeys and a story I'll tell
Introducing a story about a brave young primate who went to space
About a brave young primate, outer space knew him well
Continuing to introduce the story of the space monkey
He was born at the top of a big old tree
Detailing where the space monkey was born
Way back in 1953.
Providing a time reference for the space monkey's birth
He could swing through the jungle and hang by his toes
Describing the space monkey's physical abilities
Till they took him to russia cause they could I suppose
Explaining why the space monkey was taken to Russia
They dressed him up in a spacesuit and it started to snow
Detailing the process of the space monkey being sent to space
Shot him off in a rocket where no man would go
Explaining where the space monkey was sent
There'll be no one to greet you when you get back home
Reminding the space monkey that he is alone in space
No hammer or sickle you'll be on your own.
Highlighting the space monkey's lack of ideology
He had plenty of cuban bananas and loads of spam
Describing the food the space monkey had in space
But he found great difficulty trying to open the can
Detailing a struggle the space monkey faced in space
One day he slipped on a banana peel and the ship lost control
Explaining how the space monkey's ship crashed
It spun out of orbit and shot o]ut the black hole
Describing how the space monkey's ship was lost in space
It's been four decades now, that's nine monkey years
Providing a time reference for how long the space monkey has been missing
That's a long time for a space monkey to confront all his fears
Commenting on the space monkey's bravery and resilience
It's time to get real
Encouraging the space monkey to face reality
The space race is over, how does it feel
Reminding the space monkey that the space race has ended
Cold war's had a heatwave, iron curtain's torn down
Referencing political events in Russia
They've rolled up the carpet in space monkey town
Suggesting that the space monkey has no place in today's world
Now leningrad is petersburg and petersburg's hell
Reference to the difficult situation in Russia
For a card-carrying monkey with a story to tell
Highlighting the space monkey's identity
The space monkey was reportedly last sighted about
Describing the last known whereabouts of the space monkey
A half a block off of red square
Providing a location reference for the space monkey
In a karaoke bar having a few drinks with some of his friends
Describing the space monkey's current activities
There was the dog that flew sputnik
Introducing another animal that played a role in Russian space history
And a blind red-headed, one legged parrot
Introducing another animal that has been affected by experiments
Who had done some minor research for dow chemical
Detailing the parrot's involvement in experiments
They were drinking american vodka
Describing what the animals were drinking
Imported all the way from paducah, kentucky
Explaining where the vodka came from
And reportedly had their arms around each other's
Describing the behavior of the animals
Shoulders singing.
Describing the animals singing together
Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end
Referencing a song from the past about the glory days
There's nothing to do
Commenting on the space monkey's current situation
But it's better than living in a communist zoo
Comparing the space monkey's situation to being in a zoo
No hammer or sickle you'll be all on you own.
Finalizing the idea that the space monkey is alone
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: John Prine, Peter Case
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind