133 Quotes by John Prine

Writing songs used to be my hobby; it used to be my getaway.

I always had an affinity for older people. I had a job delivering newspapers, and one place I had to go was an old people's home. Some people would introduce you to their neighbors as if you were a nephew or grandson. They didn't get many visitors, so they acted like you were coming to see them. And that stuck with me for a long time.

It was always difficult for me to listen to my singing voice for the first 20 years or so. I mean, I really enjoyed singing, and I enjoyed doing live shows, but being in a recording studio and having to hear my voice played back to me would really drive me up the wall.

I can blame a lot of things for not writing songs, but cancer isn't one of them.

When I was a mailman, writing songs was my escape from the regular world, and now writing songs is my job. And I've always been one to avoid my job.

If somebody tells me to work or exercise, I go the other way. I'll come up with an excuse.

I embraced loneliness as a kid. I know what loneliness is. When you're at the end of your rope. I never forget those feelings.

I wrote most of 'Hello in There' in a relay box, which looks like a mail box, only bigger. Sometimes, it was so cold and windy on my mail route that I'd go inside the relay box and eat a sandwich, just to get away from the wind. I remember working on 'Hello in There' inside the relay box.

In the Army, I was very good at avoiding my job!