Mile of Music Festival – Appleton, Wisconsin

[audience applauding and cheering]

Tommy Prine: How’s it going, Mile o’?

Doing all right?

It’s my first time in Appleton. That is how you pronounce it, right?

Audience: Yeah!

Tommy Prine: All right, cool, let’s go. But thank you all so much for coming out today. It’s kinda hard to describe the feeling when I come to a city for the first time and I walk out into a room of just a whole bunch of beautiful people that decided to come and hear my songs, so I really appreciate you guys for spending the time with me today. Thank you.

[audience applauding and cheering]

“Purple Paint” by Tommy Prine

[gentle acoustic guitar music]

Well, I never doubted the colors she chose A gallon of red, grab a couple of those And maybe some blue Then we’ll call it a night Whatever is clever or better than white

And she colors my life When I can’t decide Or I’m running in circles And I used to just hide In the absence of light ‘Til she gave me purple paint

There’s no way around it It’s all gotta go Start staining the ceiling Don’t inhale the smoke Let’s have some fun with it Let’s have a drink If you can’t reach the corner Just stand on the sink

And she colors my life When I can’t decide Or I’m running in circles And I used to just hide In the absence of light ‘Til she gave me purple paint

[gentle acoustic guitar music]

Well, I never doubted the colors she chose Colors so close that they might touch my nose And never’s a long time to not see the light And never say never I love you, good night

She colors my life When I can’t decide Or I’m running in circles And I used to just hide In the absence of light ‘Til she gave me purple

She colors my life When I can’t decide Or I’m running in circles And I couldn’t live right When my canvas was white And she gave me purple paint

[gentle acoustic guitar music]

[audience applauding and cheering]

Tommy Prine: Thank you.

Thank y’all.

So, sometime last summer, my wife comes up to me. She’s like, “Hey, babe, I gotta run and do some errands for the evening. Could you do me a favor while I’m out?”

And I was like, “Anything, babe. Just say the word, I got it.”

Mistake one.

[audience laughing]

She goes, “While I’m out running errands and you’re at home, could you paint the front porch?”

[audience laughing]

I was like, “No, dude, I don’t wanna do that. This sounds crazy. I won’t even finish in time.”

And she’s like, “All right, sounds good. I think we’ve reached an agreement. I’m gonna go run errands and you’ll paint the porch.”

I was like, “You got it, for sure. Easy-peasy, consider it done.”

So she leaves.

I don’t paint the porch.

But what I did do was I wrote a song explaining why I didn’t wanna paint the porch.

[audience laughing]

I tell you what, she wasn’t as impressed as you guys just were when she came back home.

But she laughed, like, halfway through the song when I showed it to her, and I was like, “I’m off the hook, let’s go.”

This song is called “Fire and Fuel.”

“Fire and Fuel” by Tommy Prine

[gentle acoustic guitar music]

Would rather go insane than paint my porch I’d rather get some fire and fuel And fashion me a torch Yes, I’d rather go insane than paint my porch

And I’d rather hit my head than clean my car I’d jump right off a roof To prove that I’d take it that far Yes, I’d rather hit my head than clean my car

‘Cause I’m not lazy I’m just bored And every single day Has the same things in store All the magic Has gone away But maybe that’s just how I feel today

Would rather sleep outside than build a fence I’d be a leader for the bugs And for the birds, a president Yes, I’d rather sleep outside than build a fence

And I’d rather shave my hair than mow the lawn I’d use a pair of tweezers Make it last all night long Yes, I’d rather shave my hair than mow the lawn

‘Cause I’m not lazy I’m just bored And every single day Has the same things in store All the magic Has gone away Or maybe that’s just how I feel today

[gentle acoustic guitar music]

But I’d rather move a mountain than lose you I’d send a spy to heaven Make sure there is room for two Yes, I’d rather move a mountain than lose you

‘Cause I’m not lazy I’m just bored And every single day Has the same things in store And all the magic Has gone away And maybe that’s just How I Feel today

[audience applauding]

Tommy Prine: I feel like I bring authenticity and honesty. The crux of my job is to be as vulnerable and as honest as I can be, even if I’m writing a song about not doing my chores at home and my wife being upset at me. You know what I mean? Like, it’s, honesty is the best policy, not just, like, in interpersonal relationships, but also in music, ’cause I think people can tell. And I think people appreciate that.

“This Far South” by Tommy Prine

[bright acoustic guitar music]

You remind me Of every single dogwood tree When I tried to reach out I never see you this far south no more

And I can’t seem to be Any less than all of me But that won’t work out If words can’t fall out my mouth no more

And angel Walk me through your garden Won’t you, please, again?

The nerves inside my heart In Germantown tonight I’m learning That it’s not good to fly

And I’ve chosen the habit that I’m dropping Coming down’s exhausting I think I need some help

Turn me over If sand could rise when we grow old Then I would Try to hold your hand a little slower

And angel Walk me through your garden and your trees But please don’t Reach out ‘Cause I won’t be this far south again

The nerves inside my heart In Germantown tonight I’m learning That it’s not good to fly

And I’ve chosen The habit that I’m dropping Coming down’s exhausting I think that I deserve some rest

[audience applauding]

Tommy Prine: Thank you.

“By the Way” by Tommy Prine

[gentle acoustic guitar music]

And I don’t wanna move the shoes I keep in the back of my car The ones you got me at 17 When Mom thought I moved way too far

By the way, I wish I stayed And unpacked all of my bags All the times I’ll always miss Are the times we never had

And can I breathe all of me Into a bottle And throw it in the sea?

By the way, people say I look just like you

And I don’t wanna think about The excuses that I made And all those nights I should have just Sat down and played spades

But don’t keep all that in your heart Son, it’ll just drag you down And even if you fight it or don’t like it The world will keep spinning ’round

And can I breathe all of me Into a bottle And throw it in the sea?

By the way, people say I look just like you

And I don’t wanna talk about The day that you slipped away And it’s still hard to hear your voice In the songs we used to sing

Well, I miss you and I love you Some things won’t ever change And although you’re gone, the world moves along There’s a part of you that will remain

And can I breathe all of me Into a bottle And throw it in the sea?

By the way, people say I look just like you

By the way People say I look just like you

[audience applauding and cheering]

Tommy Prine: It’s been incredible. I didn’t really know what I was, like, walking into, but they’ve been turning away people because it’s been too packed at all of my sets so far. So it’s been, like, kind of, like, unreal in a way. I’m like, “Whoa, like…” So it feels really amazing when I come to a city for the first time. Just people show out so hard for me. It just, I really feel the love here in Appleton, so that that makes me really happy and makes me want to come back. [laughing]

“Mirror and a Kitchen Sink” by Tommy Prine

[upbeat acoustic guitar music]

Juliet and Romeo Didn’t meet down at the rodeo I think there’s something special About what you don’t know Keep the world on their feet

It seems to me that you know it all You learned it over beers with the Pope last fall And built yourself a castle with a big glass wall Everybody knows you’re proud

And I think that I’ll win Every single argument But now it’s you and me A mirror and a kitchen sink

So what’s the difference between you and me? I tell you right now, it’s a couple teeth And then I decide whether to not or be Crueler than I already am

So here we are again, my friend You beat around the bush and you build a fence Nobody knows what you really meant Not so sure that you do And it’s true

And I think that I’ll win Every single argument But now it’s you and me A mirror and a kitchen sink

[upbeat acoustic guitar music]

So Romeo and Juliet Didn’t kiss first then become friends There’s always gotta be a middle and end No one’s gotta know how it starts

You say words that make you brave And then you realize that you share a brain Oh, here it goes right down the drain Faster than your eyes can see And it’s me

And I think that I’ll win Every single argument But now it’s you and me A mirror and a kitchen sink A mirror and a kitchen sink

[audience applauding]

Tommy Prine: Thank you.

There are some amazing songwriters here. I suggest you go check as many of them out as you can ’cause songwriters are the lifeblood of music. I’m telling you.

[audience applauding]

“Ships in the Harbor” by Tommy Prine

[gentle acoustic guitar music]

It must be the morning again The sun through the window Felt good on my skin So it must be leaving soon As it should

And I saw the bluebird again She pointed it out in the yard on our fence So it must be leaving soon As it should

When I’m standing by the water It’s harder and harder It’s why I get sad when there’s ships in the harbor ‘Cause they must be leaving soon As they should

And I got to see an old friend We laughed and stayed up ’til it came to an end ‘Cause we must be leaving soon As we do

I tend to get lost in the stars I waste every night wondering where we all are And how we must be leaving soon As we should

When I’m standing by the water It’s harder and harder It’s why I get sad when there’s ships in the harbor ‘Cause they must be leaving soon As they should

[gentle acoustic guitar music]

It takes time to know when you’re wrong And it takes even longer to put it all in a song And I wish it was easy, too Like he did

When I’m by peaceful waters It gets harder and harder I’d do anything just to talk to my father

But I guess he was leaving soon As we do

And, yeah, I guess he was passing through And I am, too

Tommy Prine: My name’s Tommy Prine, thank y’all so much. I’ll see you somewhere down the road. I love you, thank you.

[audience applauding and cheering]