john prine and iris dement: in spite of ourselves

"In Spite of Ourselves" is the title track from John Prine's 1999 comeback album, a collection of country covers. This song (a duet with Iris DeMent) was the only one he wrote, and as he explains in this clip from Sessions at West 54th, he did it for a Billy Bob Thornton movie. Prine is the example of a great country songwriter who writes with sentiment without being overly sentimental. (OK, he can be overly sentimental sometimes, too, but he's earned it.)

Special note for my wife and I to ponder: I'll sometimes say to her "you're my baby, don't mean maybe" -- did I get that from a line in "In Spite of Ourselves"?