Sam Stone came home,
|
To his wife and family
|
After serving in the conflict overseas.
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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.
|
|
[Chorus:]
|
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
|
Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose.
|
Little pitchers have big ears,
|
Don't stop to count the years,
|
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.
|
Mmm....
|
|
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...
|
|
[Chorus]
|
|
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 its fun
|
And 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 heroes' hill.
|
|
[Chorus]
|
|
-----------------
|
Great Society Conflict Veteran's Blues
|
| John Prine |
