john prine • pat mclaughlin
The song comes from John Prine's 13th studio album "The Tree of Forgiveness", which also became his last one. At the time of release, 13th of April 2018, the good guy had almost exactly two years to go.
The album*) featured an official music video directed by Kerrin Sheldon and Elaine McMillion Sheldon, which was well received and made the album Prine's best selling release ever. A few notes**) about this and that are found in the "Odds and Ends" section.
When I pick up a song, it has to satisfy certain requirements. First of all, I have to LIKE it, chuckle: the melody and harmonies must be of the kind I want to have written myself. The lyrics, too. It really doesn't matter much, if it concerns historical facts or is a kind of storytelling or joke. But if it is none of these issues, and pronouns like "I, we, us" carry the song, I have to be able to identify myself as the narrator and perform the song as my own thoughts and experience. This is an invariable rule, excluding quite many possible aspirants.
With THIS song, there were no problems. I first heard it on the radio, and my brain produced my own videos without screen pollution. Cut to the bone, the song is about relations between old and young people, time and life passing too fast, facing loneliness and finding the best way to comfort yourself: sticking back home. I bet almost everybody can sing this with memories in their minds. So far, only a fistful of artists have covered it. I think it will spread as time is passing by.
John Prine was a remarkable warm, generous and altruistic person who always kept an eye on injustice, striving to help other humans in embarrassments. Gradually he went backstage and promoted other singers and songwriters, himself becoming more a mentor than an artist himself. This is probably the reason for the thirteen year gap between "Fair & Square" and his last album - where most of the songs are a collaboration; a way of working he always did enjoy. "Summer's End" is cowritten by Pat McLaughlin***) - or is it opposite ??? Doesn't really matter.
Dear John, I miss You. I prefer being alone, singing this one. My eyes are melting.
summer’s end’s around the bend just flying
the swimming suits are on the line just drying
I’ll meet you there per our conversation
I hope I didn’t ruin your whole vacation
well you never know how far from home you’re feeling
until you watch the shadows cross the ceiling
well I don’t know but I can see it snowing
in your car the windows are wide open
valentines break hearts and minds at random
that ol’ easter egg ain’t got a leg to stand on
well I can see that you can’t win for trying
and new year’s eve is bound to leave you crying
the moon and stars hang out in bars just talking
I still love that picture of us walking
just like that ol’ house we thought was haunted
summer’s end came faster than we wanted
come on home : come on home
no you don’t have to be alone
just come on home
*)The cover picture is a Katie Geppert artwork, after the original. I found it better!
**)To me, it seems like the official video was made AHEAD of the song. That's why I find it suspicious, and makes me almost reject it. But the reason is that the video is dedicated to "Max," the son of Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, who died in 2017 due to a combination of drugs, including opioids. Prine considered Max a part of his extended family and performed at his memorial.
"The opioid crisis is tearing American families apart," John Prine writes in a press release. "I love what Elaine and Kerrin have done with my song for this video. I hope a lot of people see it."
Yup, they have. But it stole the song. Video killed the radio star.
***)Pat also cowrote John's last written song "I Remember Everything", recorded at his home in spring 2019 and released as a single 2 months after his death.
Jacob Ganz, NPR Music, on release:
«Over nearly 50 years of making albums, John Prine's been able to turn the sense that he's slightly underappreciated into a trademark. He's the secret favorite everybody can agree on, never quite in the middle of the conversation but always poking around in the corners for a modest truth that will linger after the noise dies down.
[...]"Summer's End," the first song we're hearing from The Tree of Forgiveness, is classic Prine, full of wry observations that accrue weight as they pile up. "Summer's end's around the bend, just flying / The swimming suits are on the line, just drying," it opens. Everything here is familiar and minor, worn in like a foot path trampled into grass, stuff you could take for granted until it's gone. Even celestial bodies are just hanging out, waiting for something to happen.
Except something has happened, and it's only in the aftermath that the stuff of a life that has built up over time takes on meaning. "Come on home," Prine repeats in the chorus. "You don't have to be alone." His voice and guitar are warm and heavy in the front of the mix, and strings, drums and Carlile's backing vocals sneak into the song before you quite notice they're there. It's easy to read "Summer's End" as a plea from one estranged lover to another, but other relationships fit the puzzle too: siblings, parents, close friends. If you miss your dog, this song will probably choke you up.»
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G Em Bm summer’s end’s around the bend just flying Em G Bm the swimming suits are on the line just drying Cmaj7 C D6 D7 I’ll meet you there per our conversation Cmaj7 C D6 D7 I hope I didn’t ruin your whole vacation ... G Em come on home come on home C D7 no you don’t have to be alone Cmaj7 D7 G just come on home
