Because he embodied humility in his public life, the pure genius that John Prine displayed within his songs could sometimes be overlooked. Even the narrators within his songs could come off as somewhat unassuming. M
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In a song like “Linda Goes To Mars”, Prine exhibited a brilliant grasp of metaphor. Yet when you listen to the song, the subtle sorrow that the narrator is trying to explain away also sticks with you.
“Mars” Rover
The 1980s delivered all flash and only sporadic substance. They were always going to be an odd fit for an artist as genuine and unshowy as John Prine. Perhaps that’s why he released just three albums in the entire decade.
The ones that he did record found him sticking mostly to folk and country styles, a return to roots music at a time when most artists were trying to stay ultra-modern. As a result, Prine’s 80s output was mostly overlooked at the time, even as his level of artistry didn’t dip one bit from his celebrated early 70s work.
In 1986, Prine released the album German Afternoons. Prine offered it on his own label (Oh Boy), the second of his LPs to come out in that manner. That gave him the freedom to write and record whatever pleased him, regardless of any worries about how it might be received from a commercial standpoint.
Prine included some covers on the record, and he also collaborated with co-writers on several songs. It’s probably not too surprising, however, that the songs that Prine wrote all by himself stood out as the best the record had to offer. That included the masterful “Linda Goes To Mars”, in which a guy deludes himself with a fantastical explanation for his wife’s indifference.
Exploring the Lyrics of “Linda Goes To Mars”
“I just found out yesterday that Linda goes to Mars,” Prine sings in matter-of-fact fashion at the beginning of the song. But you soon find out that this isn’t a sci-fi scenario. It’s just the guy’s way of saying that she figuratively floats off into another world due to lack of interest. “She’ll turn on the radio and sit down in her chair,” he explains. “And look at me across the room as if I wasn’t there.”
The narrator blames alien life for the despairing trend in his marriage. “Something, somewhere, somehow took my Linda by the hand,” he complains. “And secretly decoded our sacred wedding band.” Note how Prine effortlessly uses contrasts to make his point: “Her inner space gets tortured by some outer space unknown.”
In the final verse, the narrator admits he can’t relate to her private journeys. “Now I ain’t seen no saucers, ‘cept the ones upon the shelf,” he shrugs. He comes to a conclusion that spares him of any blame for her distance. “For if there’s life out there somewhere beyond this one on Earth,” he says. “Then Linda must have gone out there and got her money’s worth.”
“Well, I wish she wouldn’t leave me here alone,” he laments in the chorus, the closest we get to a woe-is-me moment from him. “Linda Goes To Mars” uses sly humor and clever wordplay to hint at the deep grief lingering underneath this union. Because of how effortlessly John Prine pulls it off, you might not fully comprehend the magic of the track until you ruminate on it after the fact.
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