When I'm writing a lyric, things can only get so serious before they start becoming humorous. — John Prine Copy Share Image
I try to write about things that actually happened so that I know it's real before I put it down on paper. — John Prine Copy Share Image
Writing is about a blank piece of paper and leaving out what’s not supposed to be there. — John Prine Copy Share Image
I can blame a lot of things for not writing songs, but cancer isn't one of them. — John Prine Copy Share Image
The best way to write a song is to think of something else and then the song kind of creeps in. The… — John Prine Copy Share Image
Because of my song 'Sam Stone,' a lot of people thought I was interested in writing protest songs. Writing protest songs always… — John Prine Copy Share Image
You get to thinking that because you've written 50 or 100 songs, you think maybe you know how to do it. But… — John Prine Copy Share Image
I edit as I go. Especially when I go to commit it to paper. I prefer a typewriter even to a computer.… — John Prine Copy Share Image
I just tried to come up with some honest songs. What I was writing about was real plain stuff that I wasn't… — John Prine Copy Share Image
I can't really sit around and talk with people who believe that the Bible is the way it happened, because that's man-made.… — John Prine Copy Share Image
Some of the songs come so fully, it's like they are pre-packaged. There have been a couple that came in the middle… — John Prine Copy Share Image
I have to have something that really excites me in order to write about it. — John Prine Copy Share Image
I just tried to come up with some honest songs. What I was writing about was real plain stuff that I wasn't… — John Prine Copy Share Image
I think if you write from your own gut, you'll come up with something interesting, whereas if you sit around guessing what… — John Prine Copy Share Image
When I was a mailman, writing songs was my escape from the regular world, and now writing songs is my job. And… — John Prine Copy Share Image
One time, I went to school, and they asked us all to find out where our roots were. It's goin' around the class, and… — John Prine Copy Share Image
When I turned 40, I invited Johnny Cash to my party, even though I knew there was gonna be 200 people roasting a pig… — John Prine Copy Share Image
I always had an affinity for older people. I had a job delivering newspapers, and one place I had to go was an old… — John Prine Copy Share Image
It doesn't hit you until you pull up to the hospital, and you see 'cancer' in big letters, and you're the patient. Then it… — John Prine Copy Share Image
“I come home from work this evening there was a note in the frying pan said Fix Your Own Supper Babe I Run Off… — John Prine Copy Share Image
Blow up your TV...throw away your paper...move to the country and build you a home. Plant a little garden...eat a lot of peaches...try and… — John Prine Copy Share Image
Howie Epstein was a kind, patient, and extremely talented musician. He took two years out of his life and dedicated his undivided attention to… — John Prine Copy Share Image
The more producers I talked to, the more I got looked at like I was crazy for wanting to make a live-sounding album. — John Prine Copy Share Image
I was kind of shy as a lad, and a lot of things that made me laugh, I found, did not make other people… — John Prine Copy Share Image
To tell you the truth, the nomination for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame totally surprised me. I had no idea that was… — John Prine Copy Share Image
