John Prine might never have really gone anywhere with his career had he not been called out by another performer with the call of “You think you can do better?” Obviously he wasn’t going to let the challenge go and it’s a good thing he didn’t since it kind of sparked the career he would one day enjoy and got him out of delivering mail and and otherwise mundane existence that he might not have been meant for. The reluctance he had at that point kind of melted away as he took up his guitar and began to play, impressing a lot of people and possibly the person that called him out as he went on to be someone great in his own right and show the world that he had enough talent to hang with the other performers. Sometimes it just takes that one spark to show you can do something, and the right taunt.
Here are some of his best songs as shown in TV and movies.
5. David Letterman – All the Best
It’s kind of interesting to wonder just whether or not performers get together and compare what shows they’ve been on, how many times, and which ones they consider a big deal and which they don’t think too much about. You have to consider that a lot of performers might have their favorites and then have those shows that they don’t want to appear on but will since it’s good exposure and less likely to create a media incident. David Letterman was, for a long time, one of those shows that performers felt the need to accept the invite to since he was one of the biggest shows on TV.
4. John Prine – Paradise
It’s amusing to think that Prine’s music was once just a hobby and that he didn’t have any ambition to really make it into anything other than a pleasing pastime. But then a lot of people have hobbies that they’re particularly good at and don’t seek any kind of fame since they enjoy what they do and have possibly seen what happens to those that become too famous. It’s a worst-case scenario of course since not everyone falls in love with their own fame, but for John it’s been something of a pleasing ride aside from his ordeal with squamous cancer that he endured. At this point his career is something that not everyone knows about, but is still valid.
3. Mr. Robot – Angel from Montgomery
The idea that such a thing could come to pass, that someone could possibly find a way to disrupt society from a technological standpoint, is kind of scary really. We’ve become so reliant on our technology that canceling any part of it would be tantamount to plunging the human race into a state of anarchy that wouldn’t be so easily quieted as the world wouldn’t know what to do with itself. And yet all of it is so risky that the perpetrators would have to remain anonymous or simply disappear once their work was done in order to remain safe and off the grid. It might never happen, but this show is a stark reminder of what some people think about day in and day out.
2. My Name Is Earl – Day is Done
We’re all so much different as adults than we are as kids that it’s amazing to think that we might have liked someone way back in the day or even thought that they might be the one we want to stay with forever. Randy and Joy couldn’t be more opposite despite the fact that they both qualify as white trash. But when they were kids and spending some vacation time with one another, without ever knowing each other, they had a great time and Joy, who called herself Pinky, had no idea who Randy would become. Being a kid sometimes is so much easier than being an adult that it’s not hard to see how some people want to go back.
1. John Prine – Angel from Montgomery
Courage Under Fire was the kind of film that does touch upon today’s issues as far as equality between men and women goes. The idea that a woman can serve in the military but is still not wanted there by some men isn’t the kind of equality that many people are looking for. If a woman can perform the duties and manages to save people just as men can and lay down her life for those that she sees as her brothers in arms then there’s no reason to even think twice about granting the medal of honor posthumously. The only problem in this movie was that her valor had to be proven, and some of the men she saved weren’t exactly forthcoming with the truth.
John Prine has certainly made a career he can take pride in.
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