The town is long gone, but the music remains. John Prine’s 1971 song, “Paradise,” was inspired by boyhood trips from Chicago to his parents’ hometown in western Kentucky. “And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County,” Prine sings, “Down by the Green River where Paradise lay.”

On Saturday, Oct. 1, officials in Muhlenberg County will rename a regional park along the Green River in Prine’s honor. Prine, who enjoyed a 50-year career as a singer-songwriter, died in April 2020 at age 73 from complications related to COVID. The newly named John Prine Memorial Park will be dedicated during an official ceremony attended by Prine’s family, friends and fans.

As Prine’s song intimates, the town of Paradise was bulldozed for strip-mining operations and a Tennessee Valley Authority power plant. That said, Prine always kept the area in his heart; in fact, following his death, his ashes were scattered in the Green River, granting a wish Prine articulates in the song: “When I die let my ashes float down the Green River / Let my soul roll on up to the Rochester Dam.”

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear recognized Prine in a speech on Thursday. “John Prine grew up in the Chicago area, but he spent his summers in Muhlenberg County, where his parents were from,” Beshear said. “His love for the Commonwealth was a constant. During a career that spanned five decades, many Kentuckians have loved and appreciated his trademark warmth, ironic humor and the deep empathy of his songwriting.”

Karen Lain, a spokesperson for the committee supporting the Muhlenberg County park, told WKU Public Radio the park is an ideal spot to honor Prine. “John never forgot his western Kentucky roots and we’ve never forgotten him,” Lain said. “It’s just the appropriate place where we can honor his memory and tell his family and the world how much we loved him.”

Accompanying the name change, the park has received recent upgrades including a new pavilion, playground and other facilities. “The ultimate plan is to have an overlook over the Green River, hopefully a monument for John Prine,” Lain said. “All kinds of things will happen in the future.”

The park renaming isn’t the only honor Prine will receive this month. On Monday, Oct. 10, Prine — together with Patsy Cline, Fisk Jubilee Singers’ director Dr. Paul Kwami, and music executive Ed Hardy — will be honored in Nashville as 2022 Music City Walk of Fame inductees.

External Link

John Prine - official site

Nashville Music City Walk of Fame - official site