Released: November 7, 1972
Songwriter: John Prine
Producer: Joel Dorn
We had an apartment in the city
Me and my husband liked living there
It's been years since the kids have grown
A life of their own, left us alone
John and Linda live in Omaha
Joe is somewhere on the road
We lost Davy in the Korean war
I still don't know what for, don't matter any more
You know that old trees just grow stronger
And old rivers grow wilder every day
But old people, they just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say
"Hello in there. Hello"
Me and my husband, we don't talk much anymore
He sits and stares through the backdoor screen
And all the news just repeats itself
Like some forgotten dream
That we've both seen
Someday I'll go and call up Judy
We worked together at the factory
Ah, but what would I say when she asks what's new?
Say, "Nothing, what's with you?
Nothing much to do."
You know that old trees just grow stronger
And old rivers grow wilder every day
Ah, but, but old people, they just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say
"Hello in There. Hello."
So if you're walking down the street sometime
And you should spot some hollow ancient eyes
Don't you pass them by and stare
As if you didn't care
Say, "Hello in there. Hello
Me and my husband liked living there
It's been years since the kids have grown
A life of their own, left us alone
John and Linda live in Omaha
Joe is somewhere on the road
We lost Davy in the Korean war
I still don't know what for, don't matter any more
You know that old trees just grow stronger
And old rivers grow wilder every day
But old people, they just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say
"Hello in there. Hello"
Me and my husband, we don't talk much anymore
He sits and stares through the backdoor screen
And all the news just repeats itself
Like some forgotten dream
That we've both seen
Someday I'll go and call up Judy
We worked together at the factory
Ah, but what would I say when she asks what's new?
Say, "Nothing, what's with you?
Nothing much to do."
You know that old trees just grow stronger
And old rivers grow wilder every day
Ah, but, but old people, they just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say
"Hello in There. Hello."
So if you're walking down the street sometime
And you should spot some hollow ancient eyes
Don't you pass them by and stare
As if you didn't care
Say, "Hello in there. Hello
Jackpot! The Best Bette
- Wind Beneath My Wings
- Cool Yule
- Tenderly
- Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
- Something Your Heart Has Been Telling Me
- In the Mood
- This Ole House
- Friends
- Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most
- Do You Want to Dance?
- My One True Friend
- Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)
- From a Distance
- The Rose
- The Gift of Love
- Baby Mine
- When a Man Loves a Woman
- The Glory of Love
- Beast of Burden
- Hello in There
- I’ve Still Got My Health
- The Divine Miss M (1972)
- Live at Last (1977)
- Experience the Divine: Greatest Hits (1993)
- Jackpot! The Best Bette (2008)
- The Rose
- Wind Beneath My Wings
- Rose’s Turn
- From a Distance
- The Glory of Love
- I Sold My Heart to the Junkman
- Mr. Rockefeller
- Hang On in There, Baby
- Billy-A-Dick
- Surabaya Johnny
- Your Love Keeps Liftin Me Higher
- All I Need to Know
- I Love You
- Only in Miami
- Comic Relief
- Skylark
- Stuff Like That There
- God Help the Outcasts
- Am I Blue
- One Mondkey Don’t Stop No Show
- Optimistic Voices/Lullaby of Broadway
- Shining Star
- Friends/Oh My My!
- He Was Too Good to Me/Since You Stayed Here