John Prine died back in April, and in the way of time passing in 2020, that seems like both yesterday and like a lifetime ago. Prine’s death from COVID-19 will always be a huge musical loss, as every time you hear the weathered empathy in his voice, you realize what was lost.
When Prine kicked off something of a comeback in 1991 with his The Missing Years album, one of its obvious standout tracks was “Jesus: the Missing Years.” Think of it as a musical sibling to Christopher Moore’s 2002 novel Lamb: both works that put tongue firmly in cheek and ask, “So just what did the Son of God get up to all those years we don’t know about? Probably a little bit of trouble.”
It’s a song that initially seems like a goof, but like the best Prine songs, heart runs beneath the surface.
Elizabeth Cook comes from that part of the Nashville music world that took great inspiration from Prine. Her song “Mary, the Submissing Years” takes the heart and loss of Prine’s song as a starting point. Written before Prine’s death, there’s humor to be found in her affectionate response, but the song also paints a vivid portrait of a modernized Mary living in Chattanooga and just trying to get by. In spirit and execution, it feels like the perfect tribute.
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