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 Third of July
John Prine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I set in for a storm in the makin'
I relaxed as I sat up in our three room flat
While my wife was in the kitchen bakin'
Thoughts passed through my mind of no special kind
Like faces that look like the others
Tomorrow they say is independence day
And I guess I'll go eat at my brother's
I believe that a thought has just gotten caught
In a place where words can't surround it
It concerns the years past and the shadows they cast
And my path as I walk around it.
It was the third of july on a cool cloudy sky
I set in for a storm in the makin'
I relaxed as I sat up in our three room flat
While my wife was in the kitchen bakin'
Thoughts passed through my mind of no special kind
Like faces that look like the others
Tomorrow they say is independence day
And I guess I'll go eat at my brother's
In John Prine's song "The Third of July," the lyrics paint a picture of a contemplative moment on the eve of Independence Day. The singer describes a calm and cloudy day, anticipating a storm brewing both in the weather and within his own mind. As he sits in his three-room flat, he reflects on ordinary thoughts that drift through his mind, the faces of people who seem similar to each other, and the passing of time with its lingering effects on his path in life.
The line "I believe that a thought has just gotten caught, in a place where words can't surround it" suggests a moment of introspection and the difficulty of articulating certain thoughts and emotions. There is a sense of nostalgia and reflection on the years gone by and the shadows they cast on the singer's journey. The combination of the approaching storm, the mundane thoughts, and the anticipation of Independence Day sets a reflective and introspective tone.
Line by Line Meaning
It was the third of july on a cool cloudy sky
On a day with overcast skies, it was the third of July
I set in for a storm in the makin'
I anticipated a storm approaching
I relaxed as I sat up in our three room flat
I found solace while sitting in our modest three-room apartment
While my wife was in the kitchen bakin'
As my wife prepared food in the kitchen
Thoughts passed through my mind of no special kind
Unremarkable thoughts traversed my mind
Like faces that look like the others
Like familiar faces blending into the crowd
Tomorrow they say is independence day
According to others, tomorrow is Independence Day
And I guess I'll go eat at my brother's
I suppose I'll have a meal at my brother's place
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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