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Hello In There
©John Prine
We had an apartment in the city,
Me and Loretta liked living there.
Well, it'd been years since the kids had grown,
A life of their own left us alone.
John and Linda live in Omaha,
And Joe is somewhere on the road.
We lost Davy in the Korean war,
And I still don't know what for, don't matter anymore.
Chorus:
Ya' know that old trees just grow stronger,
And old rivers grow wilder ev'ry day.
Old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello."
Me and Loretta, we don't talk much more,
She sits and stares through the back door screen.
And all the news just repeats itself
Like some forgotten dream that we've both seen.
Someday I'll go and call up Rudy,
We worked together at the factory.
But what could I say if asks "What's new?"
"Nothing, what's with you? Nothing much to do."
Repeat Chorus
So if you're walking down the street sometime
And spot some hollow ancient eyes,
Please don't just pass 'em by and stare
As if you didn't care, say, "Hello in there, hello."
Hello In There: notes
"I wrote Hello In There on the mail route.
I'd heard the John Lennon song Across The Universe, and he had a lot of reverb on his voice. I was thinking about hollering into a hollow log, trying to get through to somebody - Hello in there. That was the beginning thought; then it went to old people. I've always had an affinity to old people. I used to help a buddy with his newspaper route and I'd deliver to a Baptist old people's home where you'd have to go room -to-room and some of the patients would kind of pretend that you were a grandchild or nephew that had come to visit instead of the guy delivering papers. That always stuck n my head. It was all that stuff together, along with that pretty melody. I don't think I've done a show without singing Hello In There, nothing in it wears on me." ~John Prine
Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore
© John Prine
While digesting Reader's Digest
In the back of a dirty book store,
A plastic flag, with gum on the back,
Fell out on the floor.
Well, I picked it up and I ran outside
Slapped it on my window shield,
And if I could see old Betsy Ross
I'd tell her how good I feel.
Chorus:
But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
They're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
Well, I went to the bank this morning
And the cashier he said to me,
"If you join the Christmas club
We'll give you ten of them flags for free."
Well, I didn't mess around a bit
I took him up on what he said.
And I stuck them stickers all over my car
And one on my wife's forehead.
Repeat Chorus
Well, I got my window shield so filled
With flags I couldn't see.
So, I ran the car upside a curb
And right into a tree.
By the time they got a doctor down
I was already dead.
And I'll never understand why the man
Standing in the Pearly Gates said...
"But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
We're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more."
You're Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore: notes
"This next song is for Lois and Ernie, I started out delivering mail to Maywood, then Broadview, and ended up with Westchester - routes nobody wanted. We hated to see Readers Digest come, people who would get them, would get them for the rest of their lives. I didn't read any of it except for 'Humor in Uniform'. At the height of the Viet Nam war, there was a silent majority, they were really quiet - Reader's Digest was part of it, they just stuck these plastic flag decals in their magazine, no reason, they just snuck them in there. The next day, there were flag decals everywhere. Anyway, Lois and Ernie owned the 'Dirty Book Store' and this good old protest song is for them." ~ John Prine, Proviso East High School, Maywood Il, 2/26/00
"This is an old gospel tune I wrote for the Reverend Carl B. Macintyre. I don’t know if any of you are familiar with Carl. He’s been going around for a long time. He’s a preacher and his main slogan is "Kill for God" – he’s been going around for years doing that, he gets a lot of headlines too. This is a song that Brenda Lee is going to record… it’s for Carl." ~John Prine, London, August 8, 1976
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