John Prine

Well, country really isn't my genre. Not by a long shot. So I wasn't thrilled to get this album. But I hit play with as open a mind as I could and, wouldn't you know it, it didn't suck. It's still SUPER not my genre, don't get me wrong. But Prine's lyrics are clever and funny and so sharp they cut. It's amazing to me that this album came out in '71 and still feels so daggum relevant. Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore is painful in its relevance. COVID-19 took Prine from us this past year and that also feels too close for comfort. What a debut album.

John Prime’s lyrics are so beyond what I might have assumed from the young man pictured on the album cover. “Illegal Smile” reminds me of a simple way to escape troubles in life. The clever lyrics can in one moment make you laugh and cry. ‘Bowl of oatmeal tried to stare me down and won’. By the first chorus of “Spanish Pipedream” I'd added the album to my library. “Hello In There “ is so beautiful… left me in tears. Then “Sam Stone” followed that up with a devastating song about the impact of veteran's addiction. Every song overflows truth with an emotional heft that can change you as a listener. John Prine tackles war, government, jingoism, aging, drugs, depression, relationships, the environment and a host of other topics with perceptive and unflinching observations of humans and humanity. The organ warms itself against the stark lyrics. The guitars wander from folk to country with occasional touches of rock to elevate the stories. Every song on this album is a gem. Experiencing them together as an album is a powerful and emotional experience. This is an album that will connect you more deeply to your humanity if you are willing to listen. An amazing work of art that I will listen to again and again. RIP John Prine

Fucking country music. I just can’t. It’s fucking shit. The same snivelling, whining nasally banal tone. The same shitty, zingy, steely guitars. The same overcooked lyrics. Yee fuckin’ haw. More like yee fuckin’ fuck off you fuck.

Man I love this album. I'm a bit biased as I was raised on John Prine, but even so, what a story teller. The humor he brings along with the poignancy of his lyrics about the human experience. This album is his least polished, but also feels like the most honest.

While the music is unremarkable, it is simply the backdrop to a masterpiece collection of folk poetry. Folk music is at its purest in protest, and on this record, Prine protests war, nationalistic jingoism, and the misapplication of Christian values. Reading the lyrics, one can't help but notice the more things change, the more they stay the same. Consider politicians with their little flag lapel pins as you listen to "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore. Prine, of course, throws a few apolitical and melancholy songs about lost love and heartache for good measure. He does it all with clever flourishes and a sense of humor, too. It is beautiful. I laughed, I cried, I clicked the little heart icon.

What a lyricist and storyteller. I was glued to hearing each line. The music is classic country, with a Dylanesque timbre, but his words are what sold me.

Generally, I do not like country at all. Im not saying I like this, but I did make it all the way through the album for one reason alone - some of these lyrics are hysterical! I didn't love the music, or the voice, or anything really. But the lyrics contain little gems of comedy that made me laugh enough that I could endure the rest.

To bastardise a phrase from the highly underrated radio comedy Cabin Pressure, John Prine might not be the first Country album I’ve loved, but it is the first Country album I’ve ever fallen in love with. A beautifully simple, direct, and profound meditation on loneliness and the ordinariness of broken people, with an undercurrent of righteous anger that breaks through on occasion, all told through a songwriting that couples a fantastic sense of phrasing with an oddball, yet observational sense of humour. If you want to know how good this album is, all I can say is that the song about wanking is both incredibly funny, incredibly sad, and incredibly touching. You don’t get to write a sentence like that about many pieces of music

Amazing album from front to back. He's basically a country Bob Dylan. This is what country music sounds like when it's good.

It took me too long to discover John Prine, but I'm glad I became a fan before he died. I'm a big fan of Jason Isbell, who was a good friend of Prine's during his last years, and dug into John after hearing Isbell talk about how much of a songwriting influence Prine was. Prine's debut is brilliant: incredible songwriting presented with his unique and charming delivery. Every song contains an interesting story, and they're all pulled off with what initially appear simple lyrics that surprise you when they grab your brain and make you think deeply about them. "There's a hole in daddy's arm where the money goes. Jesus Christ died for nothin', I suppose." "Blow up your TV" "Your flag decal won't get you Into Heaven any more." "We lost Davy in the Korean War And I still don't know what for Don't matter anymore" There are dozens more nuggets like these. You could write a dissertation on the meanings of these lyrics and on why they are so evocative. It really is a masterclass in songwriting. Prine's genius is most evident on Angel From Montgomery, a beautiful and catchy tune that I probably heard ten times or more before I realized that he wrote it from a woman's perspective (not sure how I missed this... "I am an old woman" isn't exactly cryptic). Just the fact that he's singing this woman's story in the 1st person is thought provoking, but by the end of the song you're no longer thinking about that and more contemplating on your own life and decisions. Top songs, although they're all good: Illegal Smile, Spanish Pipedream, Sam Stone, Pretty Good, Your Flag Decal Won't Get You into Heaven Anymore, Angel From Montgomery, Donald and Lydia

John Prine Despite the obvious influence of Dylan on some of his vocal inflections and vocal melodies His voice is slightly unusual, but after a couple of songs I forgot all that and just found myself enjoying this immensely. I didn’t expect it to be as country, thinking it would be more folky/folk rock, but for me that was great, setting it slightly apart from other early 70s singer songwriters in the same field with its more overt country sound. I really like the slightly unusual song structures like on Illegal Smile. Clearly there is an obvious debt to Dylan in the opening stanza, it moves back and forth from folk to country and back again with some quirk little stop start moments. The little run from Hello in There to Paradise is great, again overtly country but with some little variations in style and instrumentation, like the electric sitar on Sam Stone, again giving it a slightly unusual feeling. With country you can often predict how the next line will sound, and while Paradise is relatively conventional in that regard, it still has that feel that it's going one way, but then it takes a detour or little left turn, maybe arriving back where you thought it would, but not necessarily in the obvious way. Pretty Good obviously evokes Dylan, but there’s someone else it reminds me of that I can’t put my finger on. Anyway the electric guitar is another great little musical moment, particularly in tandem with the electric piano Your Flag Decal is great, and also still apt today when you see those MAGAts driving around in shitty pickups with hundreds of Trump Flags and stickers. Angel from Montgomery I absolutely loved, I don’t think I’ve heard it before but it had that feeling of instant familiarity that you occasionally get with great songs. Quiet Man and Donald and Lydia is another great one two, the slight Hendrix style guitars in Quiet Man are great and I like the slightly existential ruminations of Donald and Lydia. I love the bass on Six O’Clock News, and with the organ it gives a slightly unusual contrast to the country elements. Flashback blues is excellent, again it feels like a conventional country song, but the slightly hurried vocal metre gives it a slightly off kilter feeling. Lyrically this works in a similar vein to the music - some of it is extremely affecting and moving, grounded in autobiography and his experience, but also humorous and occasionally surreal, going off on some fantastical tangents and diversions. On first listen this was an easy 4, but it got better with each subsequent listen, with those little moments and diversions coming to the fore. I think it's going to be one of those albums that will keep getting better and better, so it's a 5 for me Clive 🪽🪽🪽🪽🪽 Playlist submission: Angel from Montgomery

This guy's got jokes, but if you listen closely he also has a point or two. I guess Vietnam was pretty bad.

Man. He’s not happy about war.

It's pretty country but more on the folk side of country. Having said that, there are some strong anti-war songs on here. It's not your modern red-state fishin'/drinkin'/Merica! country music. Though there is some religion-stuff in here. The songs do all kind of sound the same after a while and he's not the best singer. But in folk music like this the words/message are a bit more important than the music. And he's got some clever, enjoyable, and thought-provoking lyrics. TLDR: Interesting listen. Probably won't revisit much but I can appreciate it.

Basically a top 10 album at this point… easily my fav country album ever. So many songs on this thing utterly blew my mind when I first heard this… I prob discovered John Prine in the last 6-7 years and I just think he is brilliant… authentic and sardonic and rebellious! This album is so reliable for me, and listening to John Prine all day was pretty healing! “Your Flag Decal…” is one of the coolest songs of all time, and “Angel from Montgomery” is one of the prettiest.

Folk country. I liked this album a lot. Pretty simple but the songs carry a lot of emotion, with some humorous lyrics sprinkled in. On a personal note it also felt like an album my dad would enjoy.

I really liked this. I mean it was folk country, but God damn if you don't hear some punk underpinnings in this you aren't listening. This is the kind of music that makes me proud of being an American, without me having to have pride in my government, and be able to criticize the nation without losing my love for it.

John Pine is a legend and this album is a treasure.

Your Flag Decal

“Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios”. “Sam Stone” is about Sam Stone; but the song keeps returning to those kids running around in other people’s clothes. Sam Stone is dead center of the picture, but the artist has painted it in such a way that the viewer’s eye keeps being drawn to those kids, almost without the viewer knowing why. If they really look, they will walk away thinking thoughts they may have never thought before. They will be a different person walking away from it than they were when they first looked at it. John Prine accomplished more in a few lines than most artists do in their entire careers, all so a bunch of Philistines could bless the internet with insights like “I don’t like country music hur hur.”

well done, hot dog bun, my sister's a nun

Interesting, whimsical stories with catchy as hell melodies, and some real nice playing to go with it all. John Prine did his thing extremely well.

Really dig this album. Illegal Smile is a gem of a song.

this is like bob dylan if he found a haybale

3.5 Pretty good! Not bad. I can’t complain. (Get it?) I didn’t really know much about John Prine going into this other than the fact he’s a pretty esteemed country/folk artist, but my homeboy Conor Oberst once dedicated a song to a then-sickly Prine at a show of his I saw back in 2019 (he went on to pass the next year). If Conor Oberst has good things to say about you, you’re alright in my eyes, so I went into this with a pretty open mind. Well, I can definitely understand Conor’s admiration for the guy - while I wouldn’t go as far as to say the two sound similar, Prine is a master storyteller with his songwriting, and I can see the influence on Conor’s work with Bright Eyes and beyond. Whether it be the heroin-addicted Vietnam vet Sam Stone, a lonely, old Montgomery woman dreaming of escape, or separated lovers Donald and Lydia, I thought there was a lot to dig into within each song here, and as a whole, the observations heard throughout made the guy seem incredibly wise beyond his years. However, on a topical level, my personal favorite has to be Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore - it’s about Vietnam, but man, is it sadly applicable to all the MAGA idiots running around today advocating for a “Christian Nation” while putting predators and criminals in power and preaching a philosophy of “Deport thy neighbor”. What would Jesus do? Not this shit. (On a lighter note, my favorite song across the board was probably Pretty Good - for a folksy album, the song is pretty damn catchy.) Still, for as much as I admire the lyricism found here, it only does so much to save the actual music, which leaves just a bit to be desired. There’s a sort of “plain” sound to most of this that isn’t bad by any means, but it was enough to hold me back from being able to get super into this. Prine has definitely commanded some respect out of me though, so this definitely won’t be my last outing with his catalogue.

3.5 | Muy agradable country-blues con toques que a rato me recordaban a Rodriguez y a otros a Willie Nelson. Como dijo Casper, letras mucho mejores de lo esperadas, pero además muy buena instrumentación: desde Paradise, súper tradicional, con ese fiddle que es excelente, hasta algo como Quiet Man casi casi se sale del Country para darle con todo a la música como de protesta. Y sí me da curiosidad de escuchar más material de él. Como curiosidad extra, creo que es el primero que escuchamos que murió víctima del COVID.

Really nice guitar melodies, but vocal twang a bit much for me. Angel from Montgomery is a beautiful song - Into the Wild

cheeky hippie folk music unmistakably from the early 70's. there are definitely some clever smiles generated, but it's hard to love it given that it is for a distant time and place.

very good record. powerful storytelling and so much emotion Sam Stone - wow, this one hits so hard. I was listening to the album in the background not really noticing anything when THAT lyric caught me right in the head: "There's a hole in daddy's arm, where all the money goes". holy fuck what a song. Paradise tells a heartbreaking story as well. great song.

One of the albums to scratch a wash board to of all time

Country is not terrible, it is just not for me. Prine's voice is nice, but the lyrics do not come across as humorous but rather corny. Favorites: None

Well, I never used to like country.. Still don't, but I never used to as well. Not for me thanks.

I'm really disappointed. Adrianne Lenker is one of my favorite songwriters of all time. John Prine is one of her largest inspirations, and while I can see the clear link on Big Thief's previous album, Prine's music is just not what I was wanting to hear. The lyrics are wonderful, and he's a great storyteller, but the music is unbearably boring. I'm just not a country gal, but I wish there was better music to go with the stories.

I dislike this a lot

Love John Prine. One of the best to ever do it.

Absolute classic. Can't go wrong here.

There is only one and it's him. Weight and humor in absurd but equal measure. I'm not even a real fanatic but I have so much respect for his ability.

Classic comforting album - Hello in There, Sam Stone, Your Flag Decal, & Angel from Montgomery are the big highlights for me. Long live John Prine

I went into this ready to hate it but I am so surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Is this what they mean when they say country used to be good? Dude’s got strong one liners, great stories, and really hates the Vietnam war. Sam Stone is one of the most devastating songs I’ve ever heard. The instrumentals aren’t amazing but they’re exactly what this needs. A perfect example of an album you need to hear before you die, especially if you wouldn’t have otherwise like I wouldn’t have.

I love everything about John Prine. I love the simple arrangements and the pithy lyrics. I wish we also got Bruised Orange on this list. 5/5 and I will always have a place for these songs. Your flag decal won’t get you into heaven anymore is relevant today just switch the lyrics around a little to “red hats”

4.6 the lyrics, the rich folk melody, goodness me

Whats interesting is how much John Prine I recognized, my Dad used to play his songs on guitar all the time for as long as I remembered, so this was a nostalgia trip. Just good, wholesome song writing from a folk legend.

Easy 5 stars. This album speaks to life, the destructive nature of man, loss and more all wrapped up in a fun folksy country twang. It has everything!

One of the best there ever was.

Ole John Prine, great protest album

I'm less than a minute into the first song and I hear a strong slowdown of the tempo as he goes into the chorus. I'm immediately interested. This is a great album, well written, and good sounding. John Prine is lyrically great on this album. The storytelling is good. This is an album that I'll easily revisit. Easy 5 stars from me on this one, I couldn't want more. I'll need to do a dive on John Prine. I'm hoping he doesn't have the same 1st album syndrome as many others, where their initial release is amazing (presumably because they've had years to sharpen those sets of songs), but their subsequent releases are lackluster (presumably due to time demands of their new record deals).

bro sounds so bob dylan alike

Loved it. I've got into John Prine recently having not really known him, but since getting in to him I realised he pops up in a lot of other things and influences.

"Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios" John Prine is just so good. I haven't dove/dived/diven too deeply into his discography.

if you rated this a 1 because “country music” you are never seeing the kingdom of heaven. love this album <3

John Prine is on the Mount Rushmore of songwriters.

Album art: 5 especially for the story of it

One of the best!

Fantastic album. Great songwriting. It's probably a 9.5/10 for me, rounding up

Came across John Prine about two years ago.Had never heard of him before, he is easily one of my faves. The best at what he does!

A genuine masterpiece.

Good country album with enough edge and flair to differentiate itself from the usual country genre fare. 4.5/5 Giving it a five so I remember to give it another listen

4.5 To quote a great line from Zoe Muth "When you said you’d never heard of John Prine Well I knew right away you weren’t worth my time"

What a joy to listen to. One of the nicest country albums to listen to. The vocals are first and foreman and are easy to listen to and pretty fun and witty. Just a joy of varied country and folk music.

Very Good album. A collection of his ballads with a message. Very simple lyrics and always a great hook. I enjoyed this ver much.

4.7

First time I have ever heard a John Prine album. This has a lot of the makings of Steve Goodman and early Buffett, which shouldn't be a surprise, I guess. Quite a few songs on here are about war and how it sucks, which also shouldn't be a surprise given the time period. "There's a whole in daddy's arm where the money goes, Jesus Christ died for nothing I suppose." That's a great line from "Sam Stone." I'm very glad that I got a chance to hear this album and I think I'm going to need to do a deep dive into his work. I've neglected listening for so long, partly because everyone tells me how brilliant he is, which makes the contrarian in me want to not like his music. Unfortunately for my contrarian leanings, I do like it.

A classic for a reason

John Prine isn’t the style I normally go for but I love his stuff.

Great album, introduced me to ‘country music’ (belatedly) and has been a great favourite since.

Prine was always an undervalued songsmith, and his first album is one of the greatest ever written.

Wow, I was a bit blown away how great the lyrics were. An easy listen.

I’ve always loved John Prine. This is a stellar album of him.

"How can a person go to work in the morning, come home in the evening, and have nothing to say?" John Prine will have you thinking about the tough questions in life while charming your ass off with the exceptional country album.

More Hip Hop and more Punk than most albums in this list. Never thought I would enjoy Country Music.

Great

Masterpiece?

This is why I am doing this generator. I would have probably never listened to this otherwise and it is great. The lyrics are such a spectrum between laugh out funny and depressingly sad. Compositionally, I'm digging the classic country twain but also there is a song that has a waltz feel, another one that has 6/8 feel, and of course just a solid down the road 4/4. It's not sterile whatsoever and keeps you guessing throughout. I started this album review with a 4/5 but no, I'm going 5/5. This is the type of album that makes you just sit back and just appreciate that music exists.

Supreme storytelling. Simple but effective instrumentation. John Prine is simply that dude. I bet Wes Anderson loves this album.

pretty good, not bad, can’t complain

One of the most influential country artists ever. Storytelling and lyricist savant. Country wouldn’t be what it is today without him. John Prine was one of the pandemics first “famous” victims. RIP! His music will live on forever!

Makes you feel like a cowboy fr

Love John Prine and love this record. His songwriting is so witty and funny and poignant. He has so many great records but there are some true gems on this one

"Pretty Good" is a banger. "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore" lyrics are just as relevant today. "Angel From Montgomery" is perfection. Not every song stands the test of time, but enough of it is so good, you can't help but feel it in your heart.

YAAAAAY

That was a treat! I like his songwriting a lot. Best country artist in my opinion!

Where has this been hidden? This is exactly why I started using this app. Amazing stuff

One of the greatest song writers of all time. Funny, earnest, kind hearted, lovable, working class. His whole career is full of excellent material. One thing I love about John is he sings as characters often, Angel From Montgomery starts “I am an old woman” it’s about being old, lost, confused, wishing for more, to restart. It’s absolutely heartbreaking, and absolutely beautiful. Flag Decal and Sam Stone, probably the two biggest songs, are both anti-war songs, one with humor and one with tragedy. Both are poignant, both stand as some of the best critiques of Vietnam. Donald and Lydia has two of the least likely protagonists of a love song, the punch line being the two of them masturbating far away, never actually meeting. But Prine finds the beauty in that! It’s a joke, but one you laugh with! One that shows the beauty of life and love. That’s why I love him and his art so much. He holds a magnifying glass to humanity, warts and all, and is rightfully critical of evil, but often leaves me feeling happy about people and the world in general.

Amazing but so depressing. Nothing changes....

Goat

All time album.

Phenomenal. 5 stars. Lyrically extremely underrated. Paradise is best track.

A hell of a debut full of songs that are pretty much standards now. There is a wisdom and emotional depth that is years beyond the young man who wrote them. He has an uncanny ability to tell everyone’s store.

Simply one of the best. Almost every song on this album is perfect for campfire noodling. A genuine troubadour and storyteller. I love this album and I love John Prine.

I have seen this name, but never heard him before. I do not normally go for this genre, but wow I was floored by how catchy and gripping it was! A little twangy protesty poignant Dylan/American Pie. This is a five star new album

Goat

John Prine is probably the best american song writer not enough people talk about and this album is full of some exceptional pieces of work.

It’s like reading the poetry notebook of the guy who goes to the townie bar every night, orders a Shirley Temple, and never says a word to anyone, but will sit there people-watching until close. It’s funny, it’s critical, it’s got social commentary, it’s sad, it’s heartfelt. And musically, it’s engaging and varied; the acoustic, folk-adjacent songs have just enough of a backing band to keep you invested, but they can also kick it up a notch and melt your face off, too. I’ve only heard this once before when a friend put it on his record player for me, and I liked it then, but this time I can really dig into it and appreciate how deep Prine is, both sonically and lyrically. And I think there’s a lot to dig in to here, and both elements are very well balanced, which makes it even better. Even as someone who isn’t a huge fan of Country music, this is an instant standout.

Just listen to the words of his songs. They are special.

I really started enjoying the late great John Prine about 5 years ago. Wish I had paid attention much earlier. A great debut album. Songwriter excellence. Love his lyrics from the first album all the way through to his last one. Great music. He is missed. $&@% Covid!

A diamond of a song writer. The master of stories recording a pretty much perfect first album

Great!

“There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose” Damn that’s good. I dig this. Sam Stone is a gut punch... Pretty Good is also pretty biting and catchy as hell. Your Flag... has a strong message that carries on. The recording is great for the era and style... But the lyrics especially jump out unlike most stuff does for me. This guy is awesome. This is a surprise 4.5.

Way way better than any other album I’ve heard recently

Super weird, seems like it wouldn’t be my jam. And yet, this album is just fantastic.