Or you're feeling your freedom
And the world's off your back
Some cowboy from Texas
Starts his own war in Iraq

Prine adds a touch of blues style in Morning Train and The Moon Is Down. Granted both include Prine's acoustic guitar and mournful twang but they also have a deeper base and blues rhythm. Not surprisingly they center on the loss of a women, the quintessential subject of both blues and country.

Just when things start to get a bit down Prine picks things up with She Is My Everything, a catchy guitar driven song about the perfect women. It reflects both Prine's sense of humor and his nimble lyrics:

She uses Eveready batteries to keep
Her electrical appliances going steady
She can do fourteen things at one
And then the phone'll ring
She is my everything

She know everybody
From Muhammad Ali
To teaching Bruce Lee
How to do karate
She can lead a parade
While putting on her shades
In her Masarati
She know everybody

Just getting warmed up, soon Prine launches into another jam. Bear Creek Blues kicks up the pace another notch with a country rock/bluegrass feel:

The water up on Bear Creek, Tastes like cherry wine.
The water up on Bear Creek, Tastes like cherry wine.
One drink of that water, You stay drunk all the time.

Prine, and fellow musicians Paul Griffith, Dave Jacques, Jason Wilber, and Pat McLaughlin get in a good jam at the end. This is a song you would love to here live as you have to think they will do an extended jam for a live crowd.

As if this isn't enough, Fair and Square includes two bonus tracks recorded live. Other Side of Town and Safety Joe are classic Prine story telling. Other Side of Town is a comic look at what a husband dreams about as his wife lays into him:

My body's in this room with you just catching hell
While my soul is drinking beer down the road a spell
You might think I'm listening to your grocery list
But I'm leaning on the jukebox and I'm about half ... way there

While Safety Joe is a tongue in cheek look at a man who never took any risks.

As I hope I have captured above, Fair and Square is a welcome addition to the John Prine catalog (and temporary fix in my addiction). The more I listen to this album the more I enjoy it.

If you appreciate well crafted lyrics with insight and a sense of humor; if you enjoy the sound of a guitar and a warm rich voice; if you are looking for something different and real; check out John Prine you wont be sorry.