But dreamin’ just comes natural
Like the first breath from a baby
Like sunshine feedin’ daisies
Like the love hidden deep in your heart.
This is not my favorite John Prine song. But it is typical of his gut-wrenching, raw ballad style. This one nails the isolation and loneliness of its characters so well, it makes me squirm. I heard it yesterday when I was purchasing a pair of pink flamingoes. I told the young saleswoman I hadn’t heard Prine in a long time. She said she’d gone to see him a couple of years ago. I didn’t tell her about the first time I saw him, in a university auditorium in the early eighties, when he was pretty clearly wasted. He’d light a cigarette, then stick it in up by the pegs while he played, never letting it burn the guitar. Subsequent performances I attended were much tighter.
The clip I found on Youtube is nice, Prine singing alone on the river, but it’s the second part of that 10 minutes. Let it load, then search, unless you’d like to hear “Paradise” too (and who wouldn’t?).
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3 comments:
I'm an old fan of JP. What did you do with the pink flamingoes?
They are still in their box. I leave for home tomorrow. I am thinking they may end up as office flamingoes, if I can figure out a way to make that interesting. When I found out they stopped manufacturing these a few months ago, of course I'd been thinking I should probably own some. Was really surprised to find a rogue box at regular retail after what I'd seen on Ebay after the announcement of the discontinuation.
I'm a fan of J.P. (however unlike D I'm not old).
Prine was a postman in Maywood, Il. before he started his music gig full time.
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