Customer Reviews

Common Sense

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

With _Common Sense_, John Prine threw off the burden of being the 'next Dylan' and strove more toward being the next Picasso. Cubistic is perhaps a way to describe his songs here. Indeed, Prine says here "It don't make no sense/that common sense don't make no sense no more," and proceeds to show you why.

In "Saddle in the Rain," his use of the preposition "afterneath" is an attempt to do what Picasso did in his paintings, i.e., portray disparate dimensions at once. To my taste, it was a courageous, but, unfortunately, too precious approach. But it's a signal word in the record.

Where his "cubism" does succeed is in "Way Down," where, through an eerie juxtaposition of space and time, he describes narcissistic pain bordering on insanity:

"Thought I saw a neon sign/flash my name with the time/Prob'ly didn't see a thing/Crazy Dreams and broken wings"

In the very funny and very bawdy "Middle Man," he adds up his possessions to describe the same despair described in Way Down: Got an Aunt in Ohio/A boat that won't row/Some Veteran's insurance/ and nowhere to go/Darlin' can I be your middle man?"

This was a difficult work for his fans to understand, with it's horns and back beat, and strange lyrics, but it was a courageous attempt at something. It's enough to make you think that Prine is more than just a clever songwriter; maybe he's an artist.

It's weird the extent to which Amazon's reviewers don't seem to "get" this album. Full of hifalutin talk of cubism and such, they miss the obvious: This is brilliant nonsense, not some kind of formal stylist art. The full (not to say fulsome) arrangements combine with his rough, unpolished voice to enhance the absurdist effect. As a foray into the absurd, it's brilliantly executed. Pitch perfect? Prine never is. But his best songs all come at the listener kind of sideways, and this album does that raised raised a power or two. The bouncy arrangements make the result fun to listen to while Prine messes with your mind. It's a stoner kinda thing. He only made one like this so far as I know, and that's enough - but the one he made is worth hearing. Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Glenn Frey, Rick Vito, Steve Cropper and Steve Goodman must have thought so too - they're in there tripping with him.

You can't go wrong with pretty much any of Prine's work (except maybe a couple of numbers on Lost Dogs), but Common Sense fits in the Prine Canon like Tom Sawyer in the Twain Canon. This album mixes hilarious witticisms (Common Sense, Middleman, Come Back to Us Barbara Lewis...), a make-you-wanna-drive-your-car-off-the-road soul-wrencher (Way Down), scratch-your-head lyrics ("Until he went and lain His saddle in the rain"; "There's a rainbow of babies draped over the graveyard"), and an eclectic mix of well-executed musical styles to arrive at a perfect-pitch masterpiece. I agree with Slinkyman_98 -- "You Never Can Tell" doesn't really fit in. But even Twain has a right to stray every now and then.

It's just plain "Common Sense" to realize that a good songwriter like John Prine will sit down, write about what he feels at the moment or the place at the time of his life, remember Atlantic Records were determined to make John Prine a star, and Prine wrote ten excellent, some a little bizarre, for the most part intelligent songs for his fourth Atlantic album. Listen for the songs..."Forbidden Jimmy", "Way Down", "He Was In Heaven Before He Died", "Come Back Barbara Lewis...", "Saddle In The Rain", "Wedding Day In Funeralville", really not a bad track on this recording, Prine's early works are his best, especially his first four albums, there's something about "Common Sense" that stands as my favorite John Prine compilation, and that something is the writing. For those of you who do not know, John Prine is a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, one of the finest songwriters there is.

Common Sense is one of Prine's best albums. From the blaring horns in "Saddle in the Rain" to the relaxed flow of "He Was in Heaven Before He Died" to the island flavored "Forbidden Jimmy" most all songs are exceptional. The exception is Prine's cover of "You Never Can Tell". Still the rest of the album pulls the slack out. The album also boasts a stellar supporting cast including Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Glenn Frey, Rick Vito, Steve Cropper and Steve Goodman. This is an album where each time it is heard a different favorite song seems to stand out.

I am a huge Prine fan, but in my opinion this is one of the few poor albums he has made. Prine seems uninspired on all of the tracks here and there are few great songs on this album. I think that this is one of his few recordings where the material is actually overproduced and Prine one of the great songwriters of all time has his charm taken away.

After discovering the self-titled John Prine album about 12 months ago, I have been purchasing and listening to his Albums in the order that they were released. I have been able to get a whole year of listening out of his first three albums (the self titled, Diamonds in the Rough, and Sweet Revenge). But unlike his first three albums, which rewards you by repeated listening, the so-called "Common Sense" album just seems to repulse me more and more. I love John Prine's music, and will certainly continue to make my way through his canon...but this album is definitely not the caliber of his first three....it's no wonder I found it for $4.95 in a discount CD bin at a record store.

I'm cheating, this is not a commentary on the album; just one song, but maybe you can generalize from it in some useful way.

In the 30 or so years since this song emerged, our language has changed. Qualudes, shut-ins, are terms and realities from some long gone time.

What replaced them? Efficient terminology.

Instead of "Qualudes" (or from another song, "Illegal Smile,") we hear, "controlled substances." Instead of "shut-in without a home," we have "homeless." Maybe even "dual-diagnosis homeless." Instead of "you talk about a paper route," we have "job training programs." Instead of "if heartaches were commercials, we'd all be on TV," we have discussions about compassion and social justice.

Makes me think of John Hiatt's "Icy Blue Heart" and his words, "These days we all play cool, calm and collected, our lips could turn blue just shooting the breeze."

Images in this song like, "god save her please/she's nailed her knees/to some drugstore parking lot," are like movies of a certain someone we maybe played with in our backyard when we were kids, or slept with that first time, or perhaps we crossed the street to avoid her at some point in the arc of her life and ours, someone who tried on wild identities (Hare Krisha; Beauregard) and got around ("Hotel Boulderado!")

One good thing about today's world: lots of folks who would have been "shut-ins" 30 years ago, are roaring down sidewalks in motorized wheelchairs these days. Banners flying.

Some things get better sometimes and songs like this can remind us.

An otherwise kind-hearted musician said to me a few years ago, "Uh huh, but what has Prine done lately?"

My response to that: "Yeah, him and Billy Yeats."

Common Sense says it all, this is a good little cd. If ya like music & you have never heard John Prine you should hear this 1. I never listened to his music until the past year, now I own a few of his cd's & I enjoy them all.

Great stuff to curl up by the fire with and remember. Prine is a master of touching the "gray areas" of our lives. Makes you laugh, cry and above all appreciative of good "sing along music"