Introduction
This is the legendary, never before seen performance that Stephen Colbert calls one of the absolute happiest moments of his entire life. And when you understand what was captured inside that room in 2016, it is easy to see why. At the historic Ed Sullivan Theater, a place already filled with American entertainment history, John Prine sat beside Stephen Colbert with a guitar, a smile, and that unmistakable warmth that made him one of the most beloved songwriters of his generation.
The performance was simple. No grand production. No theatrical excess. Just two men sharing a song, trading lines, and allowing the music to breathe. Yet somehow, that simplicity is exactly what makes it unforgettable. John Prine never needed decoration. His songs carried ordinary language, but inside that ordinary language lived extraordinary truth. He could make people laugh, then make them quiet, then make them remember someone they had not thought about in years.
Filmed back in 2016 at the historic Ed Sullivan Theater, this ultra rare footage was completely cut from the broadcast of The Late Show. For years, that fact alone gave the performance a kind of hidden legend. It existed outside the official show, like a private gift waiting to be found. But once seen, it feels too meaningful to have remained unseen for so long. It captures a moment of genuine affection between an artist and a host who was not merely performing admiration, but clearly feeling it.
It captures the late, great John Prine sharing a guitar and trading vocals with a deeply grateful Colbert for an unforgettable duet of That is the Way the World goes Round. That song, with its humor, humanity, and plainspoken wisdom, is one of Prine’s finest examples of how he looked at life. He understood that the world could be unfair, strange, painful, and absurd — but he also believed that people could keep going, keep laughing, and keep helping one another through.
Then comes the line that changes everything.
But what makes this specific footage chillingly prophetic is the moment John turns to the camera and says unless, you know, something terrible happens and we have to cheer up the world on the TV show. At the time, it may have sounded like classic Prine humor: casual, slightly mischievous, and wonderfully human. But years later, after the world endured the pandemic and after John Prine was taken from us far too soon, those words feel almost impossible to hear without emotion.
Knowing that the pandemic tragically stole this wonderful musical genius from us too early, those exact words hold a haunting, incredibly powerful emotional weight that will instantly break your heart and leave you in tears. It is not only sadness that fills the moment. It is gratitude. Gratitude that he was here. Gratitude that the camera was rolling. Gratitude that his music still has the power to comfort people when the world feels heavy.
John Prine And Stephen Colbert: “That’s the Way the World goes Round” is more than a rare performance. It is a reminder of what music can do when it is honest. It can make grief bearable. It can turn memory into companionship. And sometimes, years after it was recorded, it can arrive at exactly the moment we need it most.