NEIL NATHAN: Some Humans Ain’t Human

“I feel blessed to have seen John Prine on his last tour for The Tree of Forgiveness record. It was a joy to witness him dancing around, happy as a clam, doing what he loved. Some Humans Ain’t Human encapsulates a lot of what I love about John Prine songs, hard truths spoken plainly, laced with that uniquely dark sense of humor, which makes you want to laugh and cry at the same time. He also has a gift for making the personal political and vice versa. In the original “Some Humans Ain’t Human,” Prine set his sights on then President George W. Bush, “some cowboy from Texas starts his own war in Iraq.” And here we are almost two decades later, during a pandemic with a President boldly embodying, “They lie through their teeth, with their head up their behind. Pete Rydberg and I recorded this one back in 2019 at his Studio 1935 in South Philadelphia. I was gonna put it out sometime in 2021, but it just seemed like a fitting tribute to get out there now in honor of a man who inspired and influenced so many.” — NEIL NATHAN