John Prine is a really funny guy. He is more than a great songwriter, one who captures the Midwestern sensibility in an understated, if irreverent, sort of way. He also knows how to take a phrase that makes no sense at all in the context of the song, and make it fit for the sake of the rhyme, without appearing desperate or clumsy about it. If I could do that, I’d be doing what he’s doing, instead of doing what I’m doing now while talking about what he’s doing.

In this clip from the Belcourt Theater in Nashville, Tennessee, he reminisces about his old colleague, the late Steve Goodman, and performs “Souvenirs” for this week’s Friday Afternoon Moment of Whimsy.

POSTSCRIPT: For our Bonus Whimsy, we show how “Stormtroopers aren’t fighting in battles every single day like you see in the Star Wars films. Here’s what they do when they have some free time.” Click here. H/T to Jessica Eballar.
.