“Angel from Montgomery” (John Prine/Bonnie Raitt)

Your angelic song of the day is John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery.” He wrote it back in 1970 and it first appeared on his self-titled 1971 debut album. It was immediately hailed as a major work and has since been covered by dozens of artists, from Gretchen Wilson and Emmylou Harris to John Denver and Carly Simon (in a contemporaneously unreleased version that didn’t see the light of day until her 1995 box set, Clouds in My Coffee).

Prine was inspired to write this song after a friend, having heard his equally classic “Hello in There,” which was about an old couple growing lonesome together through the years, suggested that Prine write “another song about old people.” Not wanting to repeat himself so early in his career, Prine wasn’t particularly keen on that idea, but then became intrigued about writing “a song about a middle-aged woman who feels older than she is.” One thing led to another and Prine ended up painting a moving portrait of a woman stuck in a listless life and a listless marriage. In his words, “she just wanted an angel to come to take her away from all this.”

The joy in listening to a John Prine song is the detail he puts in his lyrics. Look how he gets us inside the life of this bored, middle-aged woman in three succinct verses:

I am an old woman named after my mother
My old man is another child that’s grown old
If dreams were lightning, and thunder were desire
This old house would have burnt down a long time ago

When I was a young girl, well, I had me a cowboy
He weren’t much to look at, just a free ramblin’ man
But that was a long time and no matter how I try
The years just flow by like a broken-down dam

There’s flies in the kitchen, I can hear ’em there buzzing
And I ain’t done nothing since I woke up today
How the hell can a person go to work in the morning
And come home in the evening and have nothing to say?

Prine’s lyrics are sharp yet poignant. You know just enough about this women to feel what she feels—which, at this point in her life, isn’t much of anything. It’s a remarkable piece of work.

Most casual listeners know this song, if they know it all, as covered by Bonnie Raitt on her 1974 album, Street Lights. It’s stayed with her throughout her career as a signature piece, and her performance of the song is as powerful as Prine’s lyrics. Here’s what Ms. Raitt had to say about the song and what it means to her and to her fans:

“I think ‘Angel from Montgomery’ probably has meant more to my fans and my body of work than any other song, and it will historically be considered one of the most important ones I’ve ever recorded. It’s just such a tender way of expressing that sentiment of longing—like ‘Hello in There’—without being maudlin or obvious. It has all the different shadings of love and regret and longing. It’s a perfect expression from [a] wonderful genius.”

(A personal aside. In a sign that this was the right song to feature today, Bonnie Raitt’s version of “Angel from Montgomery” came on the satellite radio just as I was pulling up to Starbucks, already intending to write this post. A message from the angels, no doubt.)

Beginning with that landmark debut album in 1971, John Prine became known as one of America’s premiere singer-songwriters. His songs, whether performed by himself or covered by others, captured slices of everyday American life in ways that other songwriters couldn’t touch. His best works stand outside of their times, and include songs like “Illegal Smile,” “Hello In There,” “Sam Stone,” “Souvenirs,” “Fish and Whistle,” “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness,” “All the Best,” “In Spite of Ourselves,” “Long Monday,” “Summer’s End,” and “When I Get to Heaven.” The right people know all of these, and more.

Prine never did sell a ton of records but did win five Grammy awards over the years—Best Contemporary Folk Album in 1991 for The Missing Years; Best Contemporary Folk Album in 2005 for Fair & Square; Best Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song in 2021 for I Remember Everything; and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. His works were covered and coveted by folks like Nanci Griffith, Amos Lee, Dwight Yokum, George Strait, Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette, Iris DeMent, Bette Midler, Kim Carnes, Brandi Carlisle, the Avett Brothers, Miranda Lambert, Nathanial Rateliff, and, of course, Bonnie Raitt. (I’m particularly fond of Ms. Griffith’s duet with Mr. Prine on “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness,” from her 1993 album, Other Voices, Other Rooms, the video of which is filled with angelic images–and John Prine, too.)

John Prine passed away on March 19, 2020, aged 73, one of the early victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. His death was mourned by musicians worldwide but his influence will continue to be felt for generations.