John Prine – Hello in There

John Prine – Hello in There – Live on Underground News, 1972.

A great songwriter and performer, if this one doesn’t touch your heart, you don’t have one. RIP, Mr. Prine!

Lyrics:
We had an apartment in the city
Me and Loretta liked living there
Well, it’d been years since the kids had grown
A life of their own, left us alone

John and Linda live in Omaha
And Joe is somewhere on the road
We lost Davy in the Korean war
And I still don’t know what for, don’t matter anymore

You know that old trees just grow stronger
And old rivers grow wilder every day
Old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say, “Hello in there, hello”

Me and Loretta, we don’t talk much more
She sits and stares through the back door screen
And all the news just repeats itself
Like some forgotten dream that we’ve both seen

Someday I’ll go and call up Rudy
We worked together at the factory
What could I say if he asks “What’s new?”
“Nothing, what’s with you? Nothing much to do”

You know that old trees just grow stronger
And old rivers grow wilder every day
Old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say, “Hello in there, hello”

So if you’re walking down the street sometime
And spot some hollow ancient eyes
Please don’t just pass ’em by and stare
As if you didn’t care, say, “Hello in there, hello”

Songwriters: John Prine
Hello in There lyrics © Capitol CMG Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc

Featured Photo: John Prine performing on the Schlitz stage in 1974. Photo by Rich Zimmerman