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.
The Accident
John Prine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
On the corner of Third and Green
Two cars collided and I got excited
Just being part of that scene
It was Mrs. Tom Walker and her beautiful daughter
Pamela, was driving the car
They got hit by a man in a lite blue sedan
Who had obviously been to a bar
[Chorus:]
They don't know how lucky they are
They could have run into that tree
Got struck by a bolt of lightning
And raped by a minority
It was a four way stop dilemma
We all arrived the same time
I yielded to the man to the right of me
And he yielded it right back to mine
Well, the yield went around and around and around
Till Pamela finally tried
Just then the man in the light blue sedan
Hit Pamela's passenger side
[Chorus:]
Pamela hit her head on the mirror
Mrs Walker got a bump on the knee
The man hit himself in the face and said
"Why does this happen to me?"
The neighbors came out
And they gathered about
Saying "Hey! who hit who anyway?"
And the police arrived at a quarter to five
And pronounced all the victims "Okay"
[Chorus:]
The lyrics to John Prine's song "The Accident" describe the aftermath of a car accident that the singer witnessed on the corner of Third and Green. The singer got excited at the sight of the two cars colliding and being part of that scene. In the accident, Mrs. Tom Walker and her daughter Pamela were driving in their car and got struck by a man in a light blue sedan who had been to a bar. The accident occurred at a four-way stop dilemma, and everyone arrived at the same time. The "yield" went around and around until Pamela finally tried to cross, and that's when the man in the blue sedan hit Pamela's passenger side. The lyrics then describe the injuries sustained by the victims, including Pamela hitting her head on the mirror, Mrs. Walker getting a bump on the knee, and the man in the sedan hitting himself in the face and asking why this had happened to him. The police arrived soon after and pronounced all the victims okay.
Through the lyrics of The Accident, John Prine tells a story of how chance and circumstance can have both serious and absurd consequences. The ironic refrain of the song's chorus, 'They don't know how lucky they are, they could have run into that tree, got struck by a bolt of lightning, and raped by a minority,' shows both the relief that the accident wasn't more severe but also the senselessness of the damage that was still done. As Prine was known for humor and satire in his music, "The Accident" is a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the precariousness of life and its absurdities.
Line by Line Meaning
Last night I saw an accident
I witnessed a car crash last night
On the corner of Third and Green
It happened at the intersection of Third and Green street
Two cars collided and I got excited
I felt excited seeing the cars crash into each other
Just being part of that scene
I felt a sense of involvement in the event
It was Mrs. Tom Walker and her beautiful daughter
The drivers involved were Mrs. Tom Walker and her daughter Pamela
Pamela, was driving the car
Pamela was the one behind the wheel
They got hit by a man in a lite blue sedan
A man in a light blue sedan crashed into them
Who had obviously been to a bar
It seemed like the man had been drinking at a bar
[Chorus:] They don't know how lucky they are
The victims didn't realize how fortunate they were given the severity of the accident
They could have run into that tree
There was a possibility that they could have crashed into a nearby tree
Got struck by a bolt of lightning
There was a danger of them getting bolted by a lightning
And raped by a minority
There was a possibility of them getting victimized by some minority group
It was a four way stop dilemma
It was a situation of four-way stop where none of the drivers had the right of way
We all arrived the same time
All the victims reached the intersection simultaneously
I yielded to the man to the right of me
I let the person on my right go first
And he yielded it right back to mine
That person then let me go first
Well, the yield went around and around and around
This cycle of yielding and returning went on for some time
Till Pamela finally tried
Pamela eventually attempted to drive through
Just then the man in the light blue sedan
Right at that moment, the man in the blue sedan hit Pamela's car
Hit Pamela's passenger side
The man crashed into the side of Pamela's car where there was a passenger seated
Pamela hit her head on the mirror
Pamela hit her head on the car's side mirror
Mrs Walker got a bump on the knee
Mrs. Walker injured her knee and got a bump
The man hit himself in the face and said
The man hit himself in the face in reaction to the accident and uttered
"Why does this happen to me?"
"Why does this always happen to me?"
The neighbors came out
The nearby residents came out of their houses
And they gathered about
They gathered around to see what had happened
Saying "Hey! who hit who anyway?"
They were curious about who was to blame for the accident
And the police arrived at a quarter to five
The police came to the scene before five in the morning
And pronounced all the victims "Okay"
The police reported that all the victims were okay
[Chorus:]
Reiterating the message that the victims were very lucky considering the damage done
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JOHN PRINE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind