Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. LII--John Prine: Christmas in Prison

Those who are unfamiliar with this week's tune and are perhaps thinking, based on the title alone, it was chosen for satirical reasons or as an indictment of the crass commercialization of Christmas, will be sorely disappointed.  No, it is my favorite Christmas song of all-time because it is one the most goddamned hopeful songs I've ever heard.

And isn't that what Christmas is all about?  Hope?

John Prine has been making music since 1971 (when he was discovered by one Kris Kristofferson), and yet I've met exactly one person in my life who was a John Prine fan.  While Prine isn't a household name, his songwriting has drawn praise from the likes of Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Roger Waters (and much critical acclaim) for its compassion, ability to turn a phrase, and sense of humor.  And although he's never had an album chart higher than #55 on the Billboard 200, he did win a Grammy for Best Folk Album for The Missing Years.  All of which is to say that Prine is one of those artists, like The Kinks or The Band, who should have had a lot more popular success but nonetheless added immensely to the pop music archives.  And any way you slice it, a 45 year career in the music business isn't too darn bad.

A song that starts, "It was Christmas in prison/And the food was real good/We had turkey and pistols/Carved out of wood..." has all the earmarks of a classic, and "Christmas in Prison" lives up to its intro.  Released in 1973 on Prine's Sweet Revenge album, the song is, despite its seasonal nature, a fan favorite at all of his shows.  Like many recent Jukebox featured tunes, "Christmas in Prison" is spare in setting--while there is some background instrumentation, it's primarily Prine's guitar playing and vocals, and really, the song doesn't need much more.  Prine tells the story, as he sings, of a Christmas in prison (surprisingly enough) wherein the inmate narrator expresses his longing and love for the woman whose "...Heart is as big as this whole goddamn jail."  The song never tells us whether the inmate is just serving a long stretch, or is there for the rest of his life, but it doesn't really matter because he can "...Wait awhile eternity/Old Mother Nature's got nothin' on me..."  Throughout, Prine never gets sappy or maudlin--he just sings a bittersweet tale of love and loss, filling it with as much hope as one supposes one can find when spending Christmas in prison.

No special words this week, just these lines, among my all-time favorite in song:  "The search light in the big yard/Swings round with the gun/And spotlights the snowflakes/Like the dust in the sun...."

There isn't much of a video for this, but it was the only non-live version I could find.  Nonetheless, enjoy:

Merry Christmas,
emaycee