What are you listening to?
- Thread starter redjade
- Start date
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Jedi
Skyfarmr
Jedi Master
John Prine passed away this passed week, April 7, at the age of 73, due to complications of Covid19. Our hearts are heavy to have lost such a humble, talented and insightful composer, poet and performer.
Kris Kristofferson once said "If God's got a favorite songwriter, I think it's John Prine."
Prine said his songs are not just words, and the photographs are not just pictures. They are my memories and more...beyond words.
Many of those memories mirror ours, and his talent for tapping into that with metaphor and melody will always be a part of our lives. Rest in Peace, dear John Prine.
While we have many favorites, an understatement, "In Spite of Ourselves" became my first after some musician friends learned and sang it at our wedding reception. We learned it ourselves and it became part of our play list.
Others we learned were "Paradise", a song written back in 1971, for his debut album. It's a song about the devastating destruction of strip mining in Muhlenberg county, Kentucky, along the Green River. Everyone in our circle of musician friends know and love this song and will be played with even more love and reverence from this point forward.
One of my many favorites I'd like to feature in this post which seems most appropriate is his song, When I Get to Heaven. It's featured on his last album, The Tree of Forgiveness (2018)
The Backstory: In 1998, John Prine was diagnosed with neck cancer, undergoing radiation treatment and physical therapy. Fifteen years later, he discovered he had cancer in his lungs, which was removed during surgery. He wrote this song about some of the things he's had to give up following his illness.
"I wrote that song because I figure there's no cancer in heaven. So when I get up there, I'm going to have a cocktail and a cigarette that's nine miles long. That's my idea of what heaven is like."
It's a catchy upbeat tune, one I think everyone will enjoy.
When I Get to Heaven
When I get to heaven, I'm gonna 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-n-roll band
Check into a swell hotel, ain't the afterlife grand?
And then I'm gonna get a cocktail, vodka and ginger ale
Yeah, I'm gonna smoke a cigarette that's nine miles long
I'm gonna kiss that pretty girl on the tilt-a-whirl
'Cause this old man is goin' to town
Then as God is my witness, I'm gettin' back into show business
I'm gonna open up a nightclub called "The Tree of Forgiveness"
And forgive everybody ever done me any harm
Well, I might even invite a few choice critics, those syph'litic parasitics
Buy 'em a pint of Smithwick's and smother 'em with my charm
'Cause then I'm gonna get a cocktail, vodka and ginger ale
Yeah I'm gonna smoke a cigarette that's nine miles long
I'm gonna kiss that pretty girl on the tilt-a-whirl
Yeah this old man is goin' to town
Yeah when I get to heaven, I'm gonna take that wristwatch off my arm
What are you gonna do with time after you've bought the farm?
And then I'm gonna go find my mom and dad, and good old brother Doug
Why I bet him and cousin Jackie are still cuttin' up a rug
I wanna see all my mama's sisters, 'cause that's where all the love starts
I miss 'em all like crazy, bless their little hearts
And I always will remember these words my daddy said
He said, "Buddy, when you're dead, you're a dead pecker-head"
I hope to prove him wrong that is, when I get to heaven
'Cause I'm gonna have a cocktail, vodka and ginger ale
Yeah I'm gonna smoke a cigarette that's nine miles long
I'm gonna kiss that pretty girl on the tilt-a-whirl
Yeah this old man is goin' to town
Yeah this old man is goin' to town
Writer/s: JOHN E PRINE
Who is John Prine, you ask?
“When I Get To Heaven”: A Candid Conversation with John Prine
Kris Kristofferson once said "If God's got a favorite songwriter, I think it's John Prine."
Prine said his songs are not just words, and the photographs are not just pictures. They are my memories and more...beyond words.
Many of those memories mirror ours, and his talent for tapping into that with metaphor and melody will always be a part of our lives. Rest in Peace, dear John Prine.
While we have many favorites, an understatement, "In Spite of Ourselves" became my first after some musician friends learned and sang it at our wedding reception. We learned it ourselves and it became part of our play list.
Others we learned were "Paradise", a song written back in 1971, for his debut album. It's a song about the devastating destruction of strip mining in Muhlenberg county, Kentucky, along the Green River. Everyone in our circle of musician friends know and love this song and will be played with even more love and reverence from this point forward.
One of my many favorites I'd like to feature in this post which seems most appropriate is his song, When I Get to Heaven. It's featured on his last album, The Tree of Forgiveness (2018)
The Backstory: In 1998, John Prine was diagnosed with neck cancer, undergoing radiation treatment and physical therapy. Fifteen years later, he discovered he had cancer in his lungs, which was removed during surgery. He wrote this song about some of the things he's had to give up following his illness.
"I wrote that song because I figure there's no cancer in heaven. So when I get up there, I'm going to have a cocktail and a cigarette that's nine miles long. That's my idea of what heaven is like."
It's a catchy upbeat tune, one I think everyone will enjoy.
When I Get to Heaven
When I get to heaven, I'm gonna 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-n-roll band
Check into a swell hotel, ain't the afterlife grand?
And then I'm gonna get a cocktail, vodka and ginger ale
Yeah, I'm gonna smoke a cigarette that's nine miles long
I'm gonna kiss that pretty girl on the tilt-a-whirl
'Cause this old man is goin' to town
Then as God is my witness, I'm gettin' back into show business
I'm gonna open up a nightclub called "The Tree of Forgiveness"
And forgive everybody ever done me any harm
Well, I might even invite a few choice critics, those syph'litic parasitics
Buy 'em a pint of Smithwick's and smother 'em with my charm
'Cause then I'm gonna get a cocktail, vodka and ginger ale
Yeah I'm gonna smoke a cigarette that's nine miles long
I'm gonna kiss that pretty girl on the tilt-a-whirl
Yeah this old man is goin' to town
Yeah when I get to heaven, I'm gonna take that wristwatch off my arm
What are you gonna do with time after you've bought the farm?
And then I'm gonna go find my mom and dad, and good old brother Doug
Why I bet him and cousin Jackie are still cuttin' up a rug
I wanna see all my mama's sisters, 'cause that's where all the love starts
I miss 'em all like crazy, bless their little hearts
And I always will remember these words my daddy said
He said, "Buddy, when you're dead, you're a dead pecker-head"
I hope to prove him wrong that is, when I get to heaven
'Cause I'm gonna have a cocktail, vodka and ginger ale
Yeah I'm gonna smoke a cigarette that's nine miles long
I'm gonna kiss that pretty girl on the tilt-a-whirl
Yeah this old man is goin' to town
Yeah this old man is goin' to town
Writer/s: JOHN E PRINE
Who is John Prine, you ask?
“When I Get To Heaven”: A Candid Conversation with John Prine
Skyfarmr
Jedi Master
This 1980's song seems appropriate for the times. The cover performance was first shared with us by a friend about a month ago.
Crazy Train, by Ozzie Osbourne
performed by PuddlesPityParty
While I never considered myself an Ozzie fan, this song was familiar and I really like this version.
Lyrics speak to the current situation, still.
Crazy Train
All aboard!
Hahahahaha
Aye Aye Aye Aye Aye Aye...
Crazy, but that's how it goes
Millions of people living as foes
Maybe it's not too late
To learn how to love and forget how to hate
Mental wounds not healing
Life's a bitter shame
I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
I've listened to preachers, I've listened to fools
I've watched all the dropouts who make their own rules
One person conditioned to rule and control
The media sells it and you live the role
Mental wounds still screaming
Driving me insane
I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
I know that things are going wrong for me
You gotta listen to my words
Yeah
Heirs of a cold war, that's what we've become
Inheriting troubles, I'm mentally numb
Crazy, I just cannot bear
I'm living with something that just isn't fair
Mental wounds stop healing
Who and what's to blame
I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: O. Osbourne / R. Daisley / R. Rhodes
Crazy Train, by Ozzie Osbourne
performed by PuddlesPityParty
While I never considered myself an Ozzie fan, this song was familiar and I really like this version.
Lyrics speak to the current situation, still.
Crazy Train
All aboard!
Hahahahaha
Aye Aye Aye Aye Aye Aye...
Crazy, but that's how it goes
Millions of people living as foes
Maybe it's not too late
To learn how to love and forget how to hate
Mental wounds not healing
Life's a bitter shame
I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
I've listened to preachers, I've listened to fools
I've watched all the dropouts who make their own rules
One person conditioned to rule and control
The media sells it and you live the role
Mental wounds still screaming
Driving me insane
I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
I know that things are going wrong for me
You gotta listen to my words
Yeah
Heirs of a cold war, that's what we've become
Inheriting troubles, I'm mentally numb
Crazy, I just cannot bear
I'm living with something that just isn't fair
Mental wounds stop healing
Who and what's to blame
I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
I'm going off the rails on a crazy train
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: O. Osbourne / R. Daisley / R. Rhodes
