John Prine - Sam Stone - 1989

robert25260

Sam Stone came home,
To his wife and family
After serving in the conflict overseas
And the time that he served,
Had shattered all his nerves,
And left a little shrapnel in his knee But the morphine eased the pain,

And the grass grew round his brain,
And gave him all the confidence he lacked,
With a Purple Heart and a monkey on his back

There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose
Little pictures have big ears,
Don't stop to count the years,
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios

Sam Stone's welcome home
Didn't last too long
He went to work when he'd spent his last dime
And Sammy took to stealing
When he got that empty feeling
For a hundred dollar habit without overtime

And the gold rolled through his veins
Like a thousand railroad trains,
And eased his mind in the hours that he chose,
While the kids ran around wearin' other peoples' clothes

There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose
Little pictures have big ears,
Don't stop to count the years,
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios

Sam Stone was alone
When he popped his last balloon,
Climbing walls while sitting in a chair
Well, he played his last request,
While the room smelled just like death,
With an overdose hovering in the air

But life had lost it's fun,
There was nothing to be done,
But trade his house that he bought on the G.I. Bill,
For a flag-draped casket on a local hero's hill

There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose
Little pictures have big ears,
Don't stop to count the years,
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios