John Prine, Still Relevant

The other day, Darling Husband's friend Tom sent him an email, telling him about this great song he'd heard on the radio--some country guy singing how your flag decal won't get you into heaven. Did DH know who it was?

Why yes, DH replied; that song is by John Prine and it's called "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore." And by the way, it was written in the early 1970s. "Wow," said Tom. "That was written for the Vietnam war? I thought it was about Iraq!"

The chorus goes:

But your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.
They're already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don't like killin'
No matter what the reason's for,
And your flag decal won't get you
Into Heaven any more.

See Prine perform it HERE. Between verses, he says that he'd stuffed the song and put it up on his mantelpiece, as it had outlived its usefulness. But "within the last year or so, I got a letter from the President of the United States asking for this song. Seems he'd got nostalgic about his draft-dodging days."

Which brings me to the subject of flag lapel pins. Why is Barack Obama unpatriotic for not wearing one? I haven't seen a flag pin on Hillary Clinton's lapel--or Laura Bush's. Why isn't anyone questioning their patriotism?

(Disclosure: I'm an Obama Mama. The Boy Wonder is now the tech guy for Obama's Philly office, after having worked for the campaign in Denver, Iowa and Texas.)

P.S. 4 hours later...Found out on Prine's website that he's playing at Red Rocks Amphitheatre with Emmylou Harris on June 6. I informed DH & he just bought tix. Woohoo!