For anyone who'd lost track of
John Prine
after the 1970s, the idea of a rather cynical
singer/songwriter
recording a
holiday
album must have seemed a rather odd one. But
Prine
, while never relinquishing his wry sense of humor, had mellowed quite a bit since writing about getting kicked off of Noah's ark in
"Sweet Revenge."
Besides, by 1988 he had his own record company, and it's always nice to have a perennial favorite in the catalog. The first two songs are originals and are probably the best songs on the album, with
once again offering his observations on relationships gone sour. The first, though, surprisingly relates that even though the narrator's girl dumped him a year ago on Christmas, he's learned to go on with his life. The bitterness, however, creeps back in to
"All the Best."
opens this live piece with a funny monolog about him and a friend nailing a train set to the dining room table, and then delves into a sad story of love thrown away like yesterday's Christmas tree. He also includes a new version of
"Christmas in Prison,"
a solid song from his third album,
Sweet Revenge
. The remainder of the album is filled with
classics, including a fun take on
"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus."
The downside of the album is that it's awful short -- 32 minutes -- and even then, one of the songs -- a duo with
Margo Timmins
on
"If You Were the Woman and I Was the Man"
-- doesn't even come close to fitting the
spirit (though it may have fit on the
Dirty Santa
soundtrack
). Still, this isn't the run-of-the-mill
product, and
can still write a good song when he sets his mind to it. Old fans will be glad to see that even cynics can age gracefully. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.