Dave Matthews Covers John Prine’s Poignant ‘Speed of the Sound of Loneliness’ on The Late Show

Stephen Colbert continued to pay tribute to John Prine on The Late Show on April 9, bringing on Dave Matthews to perform a song by the late songwriter, who died April 7 at 73. Matthews sang “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness,� off Prine’s 1986 album German Afternoons and later performed by Prine with Nanci Griffith in 1993. The Dave Matthews Band often covers Prine’s hit “Angel From Montgomery� in its live shows. On Colbert’s April 8 show, he brought Brandi Carlile, who’d performed with Prine on the show in 2018, to perform “Hello in There.� Colbert said of Prine, “I learned to play ‘How Lucky’ and learned from him in that song how to be grateful for the things I don’t remember about childhood.�