German Afternoons

It was co-produced by Jim Rooney and recorded in Nashville with members of New Grass Revival and Marty Stuart. It opens with A. P. Carter's Lulu Walls and ends with a bluegrass remake of Paradise. Prine said the first version needed a fiddle part played by a member of the Memphis symphony, and that over the years the song had turned into a bluegrass standard.

Speed of the Sound of Loneliness came out all at once from a broken relationship, he told Paul Zollo. I Just Want to Dance with You, written with Roger Cook, was George Strait's 34th country number one in April 1998. If She Were You was written with Steve Goodman. Prine said the title came from a friend's description of dropping into a bar to talk with an old buddy and spending a German afternoon. It earned a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Folk Recording.