The term: An " Angel from Montgomery " refers to a pardon for a prison sentence from the governor. It is also used to refer to a last minute pardon from the death sentence. The phrase originated in Alabama where the capital is Montgomery.
So, this simple song is about a woman - feeling older than she is because she has so many regrets...more than she should at her middle age. She's stagnate and stuck. As a middle aged woman myself, I finally did have the courage to leave a lonely box I was in once.... in my previous life, before I met my amazing husband, Brett A. Hart. I remember staring at the wall... sad and lost. I know this woman and I've been her. It hits close to home and I know it will for other woman and men out there stuck in a box they think they can't get out of. I hope this lets them know they aren't alone and hopefully push them Not to become like her. Be brave...its never too late!
A quote from the composer himself:
"The woman, she's gonna keep fixing dinner, living in this house, staying married. She probably won't get up the nerve to leave the guy. But it's just that - a portrait of a lot of people who are doing that." - John Prine
Lyrics
"Angel From Montgomery"
(originally by John Prine)
I am an old woman
Named after my mother
My old man is another
Child that's grown old
If dreams were thunder
And lightning was desire
This old house woulda burnt down
A long time ago
Make me an angel
That flies from Montgomery
Make me a poster
Of an old rodeo
Just give me one thing
That I can hold on to
To believe in this livin'
Is just a hard way to go
When I was a young girl
Well I had me a cowboy
He weren't much to look at
Just a free ramblin' man
But that was a long time
And no matter how I tried
Those years just flow by
Like a broken down dam
Make me an angel
That flies from Montgomery
Make me a poster
Of an old rodeo
Just give me one thing
That I can hold on to
To believe in this livin'
Is just a hard way to go
There's flies in the kitchen
I can hear them there buzzin'
And I ain't done nothin' since I woke up today
But how the hell can a person
Go to work in the mornin'
And come home in the evenin'
And have nothin' to say
Make me an angel
That flies from Montgomery
Make me a poster
Of an old rodeo
Just give me one thing
That I can hold on to
To believe in this livin'
Is just a hard way to go