3 Songs Written but Not Originally Performed by John Prine

For any artist, to get a song handwritten by the great John Prine to use for yourself must feel like you won the lottery. Prine’s turns of a phrase, his word choices, simple but effective storytelling—these are things you dream of when you’re a singer and performer. To get your hands on such lyrical gold is a coup, a victory in and of itself.

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Here below, we wanted to examine three examples of that. A trio of tracks that were written by the late Maywood, Illinois-born artist. Indeed, these are three songs written but not originally performed by the iconic John Prine.

[RELATED: First Public Celebration of John Prine’s Life and Career Slated for Oct 4]

“Jackie O” by John Cougar Mellencamp from Uh-huh (1983)

A song co-written by John Prine and heartland singer John Cougar Mellencamp. In 2004 on The Bob & Tom Show, Mellencamp said of his work with Prine on the tune, “I can’t take credit—John Prine wrote most of that song.” It’s a strange song that seems like a slice of a bigger story. But what the track seems to be is an acknowledgement of a difference in class in America. There are the uppity political elites and then there are the young, poor creative folks who only want a few backstage passes to the show and to dance a little. Sings Mellencamp,

So you went to a party at Jacqueline Onassis
If you’re so smart why don’t you wear glasses?
So you can see what you’re doin’ to me
So you can see what tomorrow might bring

Well underneath your breath you know I heard your cussin’
You were talkin’ to my second cousin
Were you talkin’ about me? Were you talkin’ about me?
You better put on your glasses, babe, so you can see
So you can see what tomorrow might bring

“Unwed Fathers” by Tammy Wynette from Even the Strong Get Lonely (1983)

The opening track to Tammy Wynette’s 1983 LP Even the Strong Get Lonely, this track was co-written by Prine and Bobby Braddock. The song is a country lament and makes the point that unwed mothers are shunned, banned, and disgraced, while unwed fathers have the freedom to keep living how they want. It’s not fair and it’s an ugly part of society, Wynette argues via the lyrics co-written by Prine. She sings,

In an Appalachian Greyhound station
She sits there waiting in a family way
Goodbye, brother, tell Mom I love her
Tell all the others I’ll write someday

From teenage lover to an unwed mother
Kept undercover like some bad dream
While unwed fathers, they can’t be bothered
They run like water through a mountain stream

“The Twentieth Century Is Almost Over” by Steve Goodman from Say It In Private (1977)

This song displays the clever lyricism of Prine, who co-wrote the track with singer Steve Goodman. It’s a song, you think, that is talking about the end of the century, the 20th century. And in a way, it is. It’s almost over. But then the twist comes in a few lines later—all over this world. Meaning that, yes, the time is changing for everyone. But the culture of the 20th century—greed, pollution, and the like—is covering the world, too. Sings Goodman,

Back in 1899
Everybody sang “Auld Lang Syne”
A hundred years would take a long-long time,
For every little boy and girl
Now there’s just one thing I would like to know,
Where did the twentieth century go?
I swear it was there just a minute ago, all over this world

All over this world
All over this world
The twentieth century is almost over
All over this world

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