John Prine - Sam Stone Video

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"Sam Stone"
Song by John Prine
from the album John Prine
Released 1971
Recorded American Recording Studios, Memphis, Tennessee
Genre: Folk music

"Sam Stone" is a song written by John Prine about a drug-addicted veteran with a Purple Heart and his death by overdose.

The most familiar refrain in the song is "There's a hole in daddy's arm, where all the money goes"

The song can be interpreted as a reference to the phenomenon of morphine addiction among war veterans as a result of its use to treat crippling and painful injuries, and its often lifetime repercussions.

This version is from the album "John Prine: Live"

LYRICS:
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.

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.

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...

Repeat 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.

Repeat Chorus

(c) 1971 John Prine

Note: the photo depicts an "Army Wife" self-medicating with alcohol at a bar, my contemporary spin on the song.

Save & Share:

syaiomid: heard this long ago.......would relly like to find coal train #9......my dad used to play it.....life sure is lonely without the old sounds.....

TreblePop: Deleted my prior comment by accident. Anyway, thanks for posting this. I listened to it as a kid in the 'seventies because my older brother-in-law had the album. He was an American who served in Vietnam & had some heavy issues as a result. He's passed away now. This song always reminds me of him.

marybe27: My father introduced me to John Prine when I was a kid. I can't imagine how I would have grown up without him. I am scared John Prine will pass and never know how much he affected a nine year old girl. I am grown now and I will pass his music to my kids. I love you John prine!!!!!

Author: solutioncow; Uploaded: Sep 8, 2009; Duration: 5:7; Views: 2485

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