In the days following Prine's death, many listeners turned to another song of his that might have felt like a goodbye - the lighthearted "When I Get to Heaven," on which he lays out his plans for the afterlife. He remembers around the same time they recorded "Everything," Prine had bought a Porsche 911. Because he wasn't finished."Ĭobb didn't hear any other songs that Prine had been writing for his next album - he planned to discover them in the studio, as he frequently does. And it's such a beautiful, simple, poignant message, and crushing that the context is defined by it being the last song now.
You can tell he was at a really good place in his life. And that song, lyrically it's just devastating. "I honestly never thought John would pass away any time soon. It may be hard for listeners not to hear "Everything" as a definitive farewell - it's a more thoroughly reflective song than anything on "The Tree of Forgiveness." Cobb doesn't hear it that way. "I remember every tree/ Every single blade of grass holds a special place for me/ And I remember every town, and every hotel room/ And every song I ever sang, on a guitar out of tune." "I've been down this road before," Prine sings in the first verse. He had his bar and his pool he could look at, so he was in heaven." I can record here? Why didn't I know this all this time?' He was ready to make a whole record that night. ("Perfect Prine hours," Cobb says), he picked and sang the song just like he had at Thanksgiving a few months earlier. So the recording studio came to him - Cobb and engineer Gena Johnson set up a couple of microphones in his living room.Īt 11 p.m. In the spring of 2019, Prine had canceled a few tour dates due to health issues, and was recovering at home. The recording likely wouldn't exist if not for an in-the-works documentary on his life and career, as it was made for potential inclusion in the film. "Everything," which Prine co-wrote with longtime collaborator Pat McLaughlin, stands as the lone hint of the album he was planning to make with Cobb this summer.
It has now been released to the public, two months after the 73-year-old died of complications from COVID-19. It just sounded like a classic Prine song in the best possible way."Ī few months later, "I Remember Everything" became the last original song Prine put to tape. when he pulls out those songs, they just sound like songs you've always known.
"But then he whips out that song and plays it, and just melted everyone at Thanksgiving. "When you hear a new song from somebody, you're always prepared to hear something that may not be as good as the last," Cobb says. The Nashville producer had been at the helm of Prine's final album, "The Tree Of Forgiveness," released earlier that year. "Things I can't forget/ Swimming pools of butterflies that slipped right through the net/ And I remember every night/ Your ocean eyes of blue/ How I miss you in the morning light, like roses miss the dew."ĭave Cobb was in the room that night. It was Thanksgiving, 2018. John Prine and his family had invited friends to their home in Nashville, and along with dinner, the legendary singer-songwriter had something else to share with them.
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