Post by petrolino on Jul 12, 2020 20:04:25 GMT
Iris DeMent
'How Long'
'Like so many of you, I am deeply saddened by the passing of John Prine. It is my prayer that all the love he gave to this world will be returned ten-fold to his family — the ones he cherished the most — and that love will help sustain them through their grief.
Having known John for some 30 years now, a flood of memories are swirling around in my head. And as John had a way of making even the most mundane seem special, any one of those memories would be justified in retelling, but for now, the quality about John that keeps coming to the forefront of my mind might best be summed up by something Nelson Mandela once said: “It never hurts to think too highly of a person; often they become ennobled and act better because of it.”
We all know that John ennobled the characters in his songs. Any of us lucky enough to have seen one of his shows knows he also did this for his audience. I, for one, happen to know he did it at truck stops and Dairy Queens, too. John was one of the all-time great ennoblers of others.
Some years ago, I placed a call to my now dear friend Reverend Samuel E. Mann and I told him I wanted to join his church, but that I did not take the Bible literally and I didn’t want to say I believed a bunch of things I didn’t so I could be part of a group. To which, Sam replied: “We do not believe in a magic Jesus. Jesus lived his life loving and caring for ‘the least of these’ — that was the miracle. And it was enough!”
John Prine was, without a doubt, one of the greatest songwriters this world will ever know. Many people more qualified than me have written about why that is. And many more will follow. Greatest or not, here’s what it comes down to for me and here’s why he rests on my heart’s mountain top: Because he cared enough to look — at me, you, all of us — until he saw what was noble, and then he wrapped us up in melodies and sung us back to ourselves.
That was the miracle of John Prine. And it was enough.'
Having known John for some 30 years now, a flood of memories are swirling around in my head. And as John had a way of making even the most mundane seem special, any one of those memories would be justified in retelling, but for now, the quality about John that keeps coming to the forefront of my mind might best be summed up by something Nelson Mandela once said: “It never hurts to think too highly of a person; often they become ennobled and act better because of it.”
We all know that John ennobled the characters in his songs. Any of us lucky enough to have seen one of his shows knows he also did this for his audience. I, for one, happen to know he did it at truck stops and Dairy Queens, too. John was one of the all-time great ennoblers of others.
Some years ago, I placed a call to my now dear friend Reverend Samuel E. Mann and I told him I wanted to join his church, but that I did not take the Bible literally and I didn’t want to say I believed a bunch of things I didn’t so I could be part of a group. To which, Sam replied: “We do not believe in a magic Jesus. Jesus lived his life loving and caring for ‘the least of these’ — that was the miracle. And it was enough!”
John Prine was, without a doubt, one of the greatest songwriters this world will ever know. Many people more qualified than me have written about why that is. And many more will follow. Greatest or not, here’s what it comes down to for me and here’s why he rests on my heart’s mountain top: Because he cared enough to look — at me, you, all of us — until he saw what was noble, and then he wrapped us up in melodies and sung us back to ourselves.
That was the miracle of John Prine. And it was enough.'
- An open letter from Iris DeMent (published at Rolling Stone)
Iris DeMent & John Prine
'Two Worlds Collide'
"When I was 5 ... "the little DeMent sisters" were formed, and I messed up the first performance, which I don't think I ever quite got over. But one thing I remember, even as a child, is music. I was talking earlier about my discomfort with performing; I didn't like that side of it. Even at a very young age, I felt the music really deeply and I felt very grown up in the music. I didn't have a sense of myself as being a little kid. I felt this big stuff going on in me. I remember that first performance, I forgot my words. And I remember the audience beginning to laugh, but they were laughing in that way that I realized they thought I was cute. And it really troubled me, because it wasn't that I was embarrassed so much that I forgot my words. I probably would've just got right on with it there, you know, but it was that awareness that, "Oh, this is a performance ... and this is something for you to have a minimizing opinion of me." It felt really weird. I didn't like that, and I really shied away from performance after that for a long time.
Another thing that I learned from my parents, who had pretty difficult, challenging lives, to put it mildly: I saw my parents use music to survive. They had to have that music. My mom had to sing and my dad had to go to church and he had to hear that music washing over him and through him. It wasn't a, "Oh, this is nice"; it was a, "I'm not going to make it if I don't have that." So I've felt that that's my job. That's how I think of what I do. I have to give people that lifeline, you know, that I saw my parents reach out for, and that I was taught to reach out for, and so that's what I aim to do. And I guess I don't feel like I can do that without that connection to the spirit."
Another thing that I learned from my parents, who had pretty difficult, challenging lives, to put it mildly: I saw my parents use music to survive. They had to have that music. My mom had to sing and my dad had to go to church and he had to hear that music washing over him and through him. It wasn't a, "Oh, this is nice"; it was a, "I'm not going to make it if I don't have that." So I've felt that that's my job. That's how I think of what I do. I have to give people that lifeline, you know, that I saw my parents reach out for, and that I was taught to reach out for, and so that's what I aim to do. And I guess I don't feel like I can do that without that connection to the spirit."
- Iris DeMent, National Public Radio
'Infamous Angel'