John Prine - Good luck

Source: John Prine: singer-songwriter critically ill with Covid-19 symptoms, family says | Music | The Guardian

He's got COVID-19 and I understand on a ventilator. Regardless of the outcome, we can enjoy his good works of a well lived life:

Bob Wilson

 

Another one re-released three years ago:

Bob Wilson

 

Source: Pandemic Threatens Musician’s Life When We Need His Art Most

“Dear Abby,” the first Prine song I heard, made me laugh out loud. It’s about fretting over trivial matters:

“Dear Abby, Dear Abby,
My fountain pen leaks
My wife hollers at me and my kids are all freaks
Every side I get up on is the wrong side of bed
If it weren’t so expensive I’d wish I were dead
Signed Unhappy”​

Prine responds to the complainer with hilarious common sense:

“Unhappy, Unhappy,
You have no complaint
You are what you are and you ain’t what you ain’t
So listen up buster, and listen up good
Stop wishing for bad luck and knocking on wood.”​

“Sam Stone” is about a heroin-addicted Vietnam veteran who returns with a Purple Heart – and eventually dies from an overdose:

“There’s a hole in daddy’s arm where all the money goes … ”​

Prine said most Vietnam War songs at the time were about protest. He wanted to address returning vets’ struggles. “Sam Stone” remains regrettably relevant amid America’s opioid epidemic.

“Hello in There” is about a lonely elderly couple wishing their children would visit. It’s more powerful than ever as millions of elderly people self-isolate at home:

“So if you’re walking down the street sometime
And spot some hollow ancient eyes,
Please don’t just pass ’em by and stare
As if you didn’t care, say, ‘Hello in there, hello.'”​

Right now, I’m appreciating Prine, who’s 73, more than ever – because he’s hospitalized in critical condition, another victim of COVID-19.​

I fully concur.

Bob Wilson

 

Bye Bye: John Prine Dies At 73 After Developing COVID-19 Symptoms : NPR

Bob Wilson

 

John Prine Lyrics
"Some Humans Ain't Human"

Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm

Some humans ain't human
Some people ain't kind
You open up their hearts
And here's what you'll find
A few frozen pizzas
Some ice cubes with hair
A broken Popsicle
You don't want to go there

Some humans ain't human
Though they walk like we do
They live and they breathe
Just to turn the old screw
They screw you when you're sleeping
They try to screw you blind
Some humans ain't human
Some people ain't kind

You might go to church
And sit down in a pew
Those humans who ain't human
Could be sittin' right next to you
They talk about your family
They talk about your clothes
When they don't know their own nice person
From their own elbows

Jealousy and stupidity
Don't equal harmony
Jealousy and stupidity
Don't equal harmony

Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm

[Spoken:]
Have you ever noticed
When you're feeling really good
There's always a pigeon
That'll come shit on your hood

Or you're feeling your freedom
And the world's off your back
Some cowboy from Texas
Starts his own war in Iraq

Some humans ain't human
Some people ain't kind
They lie through their teeth
With their head up their behind
You open up their hearts
And here's what you'll find
Some humans ain't human
Some people ain't kind

Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm​