John Prine Christmas
John Prine

Pretty paper

Pretty ribbons of blue.


(spoken) man oh man,

I just love christmas

It's just so darn neat.

I kinda wish every day was christmas,

Except christmas eve and the fourth of july.

We wouldn't want to miss out on the fireworks, would we?

When I was a kid, we used to get the christmas catalog from montgomery wards in chicago.

Sometimes we'd get it as early as late august.

It was the big book of wishes, hopes and desires.

My three brothers and I were allotted twenty-five bucks a piece, including tax.

So I'd make up a different christmas list every night

From the first of september 'til the twenty-forth of december.

Matter of fact, let me present you with my christmas credentials.

When I was three years old, at least that's what my mother told me,

I ate an entire ornament. I ate a big red one, I thought it was an apple.

They kinda freaked out and was gonna take me to the hospital

But they couldn't stop me from laughing so they just left me alone.

So I guess I still got that christmas in me all the time, you know?


One year, I got a wooden roly-poly for christmas,

You know the things you knock down and they bounce right back up.

They made 'em out of wood back then, that's how old I am.

Nowadays, they make 'em out of plastic.

My mom says they just don't make 'em like that anymore. And I says, no ma they don't.


Then there was the year I came home only eave from the army,

From germany to marry my highschool sweetheart on the day after christmas.

My little brother billy, who was twelve at the time,

Had just gotten his first job so he was able to afford to buy some christmas presents

For his brothers and his mom and dad out of his own pocket.

Billy had a job selling subscriptions for the chicago tribune.

He told me this guy named rocky would pick him up in a station wagon,

Him and some other boys, and he'd take 'em out to some strange neighborhood

And drop 'em off and he gave them this whole spiel to give their potential customers.

Supposedly their little brother had won a free trip to our nation's capital washington, D. C.,

But he couldn't go on the trip if his older brother wouldn't accompany him

So if you would please buy a subscription to the chicago tribune then my little brother will be happy.

Wow, what a shyster! Some people'll do anything to get to the whitehouse.


Then there was the year that my mom and dad gave me my first guitar.

Ah man it was gorgeous, I still got the thing.

It was a like aqua blue. Kinda dark aqua blue with a cream colored heart. Was a silvertone from montgomery wards. The model was called kentucky blue and man when I saw that sitting under the tre

Ust couldn't wait.

First year so I didn't know how to play it,

I'd just stand in from of the mirror with a string around my neck with that guitar and I'd try to look like elvis.

Then my brother dave taught me a couple of chords,

Now I'm here in your living room singing and talking to you.

It's funny how things work out.


So-a whyn't you go find a stranger and extend your hand to 'em.

If you see somebody looks like they ain't doin' quite as well as you, slip 'em a buck,

'specially if they don't ask for spare change.

Go buy your honey a cuckoo clock or a musical snow shaking water ball,

That when you wind it up it plays,

i want you, I need you, I love ya with all my heart.

'cause after all, hell man, it's christmas.


Away in a manger no crib for a bed.

The little lord jesus lay down his sweet head.

The stars in the sky look down where he lay.

The little lord jesus asleep on the (1-2) hay.


(spoken) merry christmas everybody.

(words finally transcribed by fancy nancy)


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Lyrics by John Prine

  'Til a Tear Becomes a Rose   (We're Not) The Jet Set   (We're Not) The Jet Set   'til A Tear Becomes A Rose   A Good Time   A John Prine Christmas   Aimless Love   Ain't Hurtin' Nobody   Ain't Hurtin' Nobody   All Night Blue   All The Best   All the Best [Live]   All The Way With You   Angel From Montgomery   Angel from Montgomery [Live]   Automobile   Aw Heck   Baby Let's Play House   Baby Let's Play House   Baby Ruth   Back Street Affair   Bad Boy   Be My Friend Tonight   Bear Creek   Bear Creek Blues   Beautiful World   Big Fat Love   Billy The Bum   Blue Umbrella   Bruised Orange   Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrows)   Chinatown   Christmas In Prison   Clay Pigeons   Clocks And Spoons   Come Back To Us Barbara Lewis Hare Krishna Beaureg...   Common Sense   Crazy As A Loon   Crooked Piece Of Time   Daddy's Little Pumpkin   Daddy's Little Pumpkin   Day Is Done   Dear Abby   Dear John   Dear John (I Sent Your Saddle Home)   Diamonds In The Rough   Donald And Lydia   Down By The Side Of The Road   Everybody   Everybody Wants To Feel Like You   Everything Is Cool   Falling in Love Again   Far From Me   Fish & Whistle   Fish And Whistle   Flashback Blues   Forbidden Jimmy   German Afternoons   Glory Of True Love   Grandpa Was A Carpenter   Great Compromise   Great Rain   He Forgot That It Was Sunday   He Was In Heaven Before He Died   Hello In There   How Lucky   How Much Tequila   Humidity Built The Snowman   I Had A Dream   I Hate It When That Happens To Me   I Just Wanna Dance With You   I Just Want to Dance With You   I Know One   I Love You So Much It Hurts   I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus   I Want To Be With You Always   If I Could   If She Were You   If You Don't Want My Love   If You Don't Want My Love   If You Were The Woman And I Was The Man   Illegal Smile   Illegal Smile [Live]   In A Town This Size   In Spite Of Ourselves   Iron Ore Betty   It's A Big Old Goofy World   It's a Cheating Situation   It's Happening To You   It's A Big Old Goofy World   It's A Cheating Situation   It's Happening To You   Jackie O   Jesus The Missing Years   Just Wanna Be With You   Killing The Blues   Kokomo   Lake Marie   Late John Garfield Blues   Leave The Lights On   Let's Invite Them Over   Let's Invite Them Over   Lets Talk Dirty In Hawaiian   Letter To The Penthouse Forum   Linda Goes To Mars   Living In The Future   Long Monday   Loose Talk   Love Is On A Roll   Love, Love, Love   Lulu Walls   Maureen Maureen   Me, Myself, And I   Mexican Home   Middle Man   Milwaukee Here I Come   Morning Train   My Darlin' Hometown   My Darlin' Hometown   My Own Best Friend   New Train   Nine Pound Hammer   No Name Girl   Often Is A Word I Seldom Use   Oldest Baby in the World   One Red Rose   Only Love   Onomatopoeia   Other Side Of Town   Out Of Love   Paradise   People Puttin' People Down   People Puttin' People Down   Picture Show   Please Don't Bury Me   Please Don't Bury Me   Pretty Good   Quiet Man   Quit Hollerin' At Me   Quit Hollerin' At Me   Rocky Mountain Time   Sabu Visits The Twin Cities Alone   Saddle In The Rain   Safety Joe   Saigon   Sailin' Around   Sailin' Around   Sam Stone   Same Thing Happened To Me   She Is My Everything   Shop Talk   Silent Night, All Day Long   Silver Bells   Sins of Memphisto   Six O'clock News   Six O'clock News   Sleepy Eyed Boy   Slow Boat To China   So Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad)   Some Humans Ain't Human   Some Humans Ain't Human   Somewhere Someone's Falling In Love   Somewhere Someone's Falling In Love   Sour Grapes   Souvenirs   Space Monkey   Spanish Pipedream   Spanish Pipedream (AKA Blow Up Your TV)   Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness   Speed of the Sound of Loneliness [Live]   Stick A Needle In My Eye   Storm Windows   Sweet Revenge   Sweet Suzanne   Take A Look At My Heart   Take The Star Out Of The Window   Taking A Walk   That Close To You   That's The Way That The World Goes 'Round   That's The Way That The World Goes 'roun...   The Accident   The Accident (Things Could Be Worse)   The Bottomless Lake   The Frying Pan   The Great Compromise   The Hobo Song   The Jet Set   The Late John Garfield Blues   The Moon Is Down   The Oldest Baby In The World   The Other Side Of Town   The Sins Of Memphisto   The Torch Singer   The Twentieth Century Is Almost Over   There She Goes   They Oughta Name a Drink After You   They'll Never Take Her Love From Me   They'll Never Take Her Love From Me   Third Of July   This Cold War With You   This Love Is Real   Ubangi Stomp   Unlonely   Unwed Fathers   Way Back Then   Way Down   We Are The Lonely   We Could   We Must Have Been Out Of Our Minds   Wedding Bells   Wedding Bells/Let's Turn Back the Years   Wedding Day In Funeralville   When Two Worlds Collide   Wonderful 99   Yes I Guess They Oughta Name A Drink After You   You Got Gold   You Mean So Much To Me   You Never Can Tell   You Never Even Call Me By My Name   Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore   Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Any...

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