Song · John Prine
“Hello In There” by John Prine
From the album John Prine (1971)
“Hello In There” by John Prine appears on 10 radio countdowns from 6 stations between 2001 and 2026. It was first released in 1971 on the album John Prine. Its best result is #98 on the WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #556 indie & aaa song of all time.
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"Hello in There" appears on John Prine's 1971 debut album, and it finds a young songwriter looking at old age with startling tenderness. Prine was 22 when he wrote it. Delivering papers to a Baptist home for the elderly, he noticed residents who would treat him like a visiting grandchild or nephew, and the memory stayed with him. Some of the characters' names came from real life: Rudy was a neighbour's dog.
The song's subject is the loneliness that settles in as people grow old and the world forgets to look in on them. Arif Mardin produced it, with Prine on acoustic guitar and vocals and a crack band behind him: Reggie Young and John Christopher on guitars, Leo LeBlanc on pedal steel, Bobby Wood on piano, Bobby Emmons on organ, Mike Leech on bass and Gene Chrisman on drums.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 171 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2004 | 464 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004) | 885 |
| 2007 | 508 | WTMD | WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time | 897 |
| 2009 | 595 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009) | 885 |
| 2016 | 897 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Countdown 2016 | 913 |
| 2018 | 863 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs | 892 |
| 2020 | 98 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2022 | 792 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time | 1055 |
| 2023 | 135 | WYEP | WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 | 1229 |
| 2026 | 396 | WYEP | WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time | 1180 |
Also listed as: Hello in There.
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