One of the brilliant aspects of John's songwriting is that he would use phrases, analogies, etc. that either related to his own personal experiences or someone else's that he knew. But ne used them in uncompleted ways that allowed many interpretations. Doesn't that keep you listening? It surely does me. I am a questioner and that device is one thing that keeps me interested to listen to his songs. Only one thing though. I am an older fan, but never discovered John until he had passed. I am making up for about 50 years of fandom!!
6 Oclock News was on Prine's debut album, John Prine, released in 1971. In the liner nores to Great Days: The John Prine Anthology, released in 1993, appears this quote from Prine about the song: "As a child, a neighborhood kid who was always in trouble chose me for a friend. His brothers pushed him around a lot, and his mother generally ignored him. Years later as a teenager, still always in trouble, he ended up in Juvenile Court and the prosecutor decided to tell the court and my friend, that his father was his father, but his mother was his oldest sister. No wonder he was always in trouble". ~John Prine So the boy was the result of incest. The song, nor Prine himself, ever clarify whether the mother was molested by her father or by a brother.
Thanks Ryan for this super request. Always love John's work, and this is an extremely engaging song of his. Don I'm on the same page as you described, thanks for the insightful reaction and the 9.0!
Great request Ryan. One of my very favorite Prine tunes. I believe you did quite well Don for a first listen. The only thing you may have missed, IMO, is the fact that Wanda resented James Lewis and that was what was written and n the locked diary. When James found and read it that is what led to his suicide. Anyway great request, reaction, and interpretation.---#UTRCM
What a sad song. To take my mind of of it, I kept listening to that beautiful guitar. I felt that the boy probably had a rough time in school because of kids comments. Then he found his mother's diary and committed suicide.
I always interpreted the chorus "Spend the night with me" as the mother reflecting back on the one night stand that resulted in her pregnancy and the child. And you just came to that same conclusion in the video as I was typing. :)
I interpret the lyric as the fatherless boy searching for some kind of validation in his mother's diary and, finding none, ultimately jumping to his death (brains on the sidewalk). The word genius may be overused when it comes to artists. Not in Prine's case, though.
As is so often the case when listening to John Prine, I'm left feeling as if I just finished an emotional wrestling match, a little bit wrung out from the intensity, and a little bit exhilarated at having ridden a wave of emotion.
Wanda had a baby in nineteen fifty one The father was a stranger and a stranger was the son... Sneaking in the closet and through the diary Now, don't you know all he saw was all there was to see Most people think John was writing a song about the trauma of incest loosely based on a childhood friend who was the child of incest. Less clear is the exact relationship -- perhaps Wanda was both older sister whose father slept with her repeatedly, a secret she kept hidden in her diary, until he son discovered the diary and killed himself.
Not sure if you knew this but Charlie Robison was heavily influenced by John Prine . All week long you’ve been posting Charlie’s videos ( thank you Jacob ) and I’ve been thinking about his children . ( I believe he had 3 ) . They’ve got to be young adults now; they must be so heartbroken. Oh and John Prine was a musical genius imo
![John Prine -- It's a Big Old Goofy World [REACTION/RATING]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/GlaZha-hAz0/mqdefault.jpg)
![John Prine -- It's a Big Old Goofy World [REACTION/RATING]](/img/tr.png)
![John Prine -- Some Humans Ain't Human [REACTION/RATING]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/p9tQaou7-og/mqdefault.jpg)
![John Prine -- Hello In There [REACTION]](/img/1.gif)
One of the brilliant aspects of John's songwriting is that he would use phrases, analogies, etc. that either related to his own personal experiences or someone else's that he knew. But ne used them in uncompleted ways that allowed many interpretations. Doesn't that keep you listening? It surely does me. I am a questioner and that device is one thing that keeps me interested to listen to his songs. Only one thing though. I am an older fan, but never discovered John until he had passed. I am making up for about 50 years of fandom!!
6 Oclock News was on Prine's debut album, John Prine, released in 1971. In the liner nores to Great Days: The John Prine Anthology, released in 1993, appears this quote from Prine about the song:
"As a child, a neighborhood kid who was always in trouble chose me for a friend. His brothers pushed him around a lot, and his mother generally ignored him. Years later as a teenager, still always in trouble, he ended up in Juvenile Court and the prosecutor decided to tell the court and my friend, that his father was his father, but his mother was his oldest sister. No wonder he was always in trouble". ~John Prine
So the boy was the result of incest. The song, nor Prine himself, ever clarify whether the mother was molested by her father or by a brother.
Thanks Ryan for this super request. Always love John's work, and this is an extremely engaging song of his. Don I'm on the same page as you described, thanks for the insightful reaction and the 9.0!
Really don’t know what to say. Prine had a song for every emotion you could have. He was one of the greatest! Miss his artistry tremendously!!
This is one of the saddest songs I know. So incredible that he could tell such heartbreaking or gutbusting stories with equal creativity.
Great request Ryan. One of my very favorite Prine tunes. I believe you did quite well Don for a first listen. The only thing you may have missed, IMO, is the fact that Wanda resented James Lewis and that was what was written and n the locked diary. When James found and read it that is what led to his suicide. Anyway great request, reaction, and interpretation.---#UTRCM
What a sad song. To take my mind of of it, I kept listening to that beautiful guitar. I felt that the boy probably had a rough time in school because of kids comments. Then he found his mother's diary and committed suicide.
A shattering song. I always took it as Jimmy read his mother's diary and found out how much he wasn't wanted.
I always interpreted the chorus "Spend the night with me" as the mother reflecting back on the one night stand that resulted in her pregnancy and the child. And you just came to that same conclusion in the video as I was typing. :)
Jason Wilber doing double duty on harp and guitar. A very overlooked talent.
I can dig it !
I interpret the lyric as the fatherless boy searching for some kind of validation in his mother's diary and, finding none, ultimately jumping to his death (brains on the sidewalk). The word genius may be overused when it comes to artists. Not in Prine's case, though.
As is so often the case when listening to John Prine, I'm left feeling as if I just finished an emotional wrestling match, a little bit wrung out from the intensity, and a little bit exhilarated at having ridden a wave of emotion.
a stranger i the closet and in the diary is how she fed little johnny and one day he found out
Howdee, try Brian Dunne one day with his song called CHASING DOWN A GHOST… My link got deleted?
Wanda had a baby in nineteen fifty one
The father was a stranger and a stranger was the son...
Sneaking in the closet and through the diary
Now, don't you know all he saw was all there was to see
Most people think John was writing a song about the trauma of incest loosely based on a childhood friend who was the child of incest. Less clear is the exact relationship -- perhaps Wanda was both older sister whose father slept with her repeatedly, a secret she kept hidden in her diary, until he son discovered the diary and killed himself.
Not sure if you knew this but Charlie Robison was heavily influenced by John Prine .
All week long you’ve been posting Charlie’s videos ( thank you Jacob ) and I’ve been thinking about his children . ( I believe he had 3 ) .
They’ve got to be young adults now; they must be so heartbroken.
Oh and John Prine was a musical genius imo
Jimmy was a closet homosexual and his mother found his diary which led to him jumping