The Speed of the Sound of Loneliness by John Prine
The first thousand times I heard this song, it was on that Nanci Griffiths album of covers. We played it to death at the first record store I worked at, when I was 16.
The thing about getting started with something is that you just have to start. Three takes, three chords, a comfortable song I know for going on 30 years, it’s as good a place to start as any.
I didn’t get more familiar with John Prine until a couple friends went all In Spite of Ourselves at karaoke a few times in a row, and then John died right at the start of the pandemic, and then I listened to lots of him for a while.
This one sits close to me because of the Nanci Griffths record, though, and everyone from that time.
I’m in the middle of a whole workspace reorganization when it comes to computer things, so this is my laptop camera and my nice microphone and a struggle to get everything plugged in to these measly little USB-C ports at once, so I couldn’t get the mouse and the microphone both — anyway, you’ll see me adjust the scroll of the words a couple times.