John Prine wrote a song called "Hello in There," which encourages kindness and respect toward older people, and reminds listeners that "You know that old trees just grow stronger / And old rivers grow wilder every day / Old people just grow lonesome / Waiting for someone to say, 'Hello in there, hello.'" Prine was in his 20s when he wrote and recorded the song, but said in the Great Days liner notes that he "always had an affinity for old people." "I used to help a buddy with his newspaper route, and I delivered to a Baptist old people's home where we’d have to go room to room. And some of the patients would kind of pretend that you were a grandchild or nephew that had come to visit, instead of the guy delivering papers. That always stuck in my head," Prine explained. "It was all that stuff together, along with that pretty melody." Although the song wasn't a chart hit, it remains among those often covered by Prine's fans and fellow artists. It was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2015, and helped Prine earn a Best New Artist nomination at the 1973 Grammy Awards.
