Sam Stone
John Prine

G                          C
Sam Stone came home to the wife and family
      D                           G
After serving in the conflict overseas.
        G                        C 
And the time that he served, had shattered all his nerves
    D                             G
And left a little shrapnel in his knee
        C
But the morphine eased the pain and the grass grew round his brain
    A                           D
And gave him all the confidence he lacked,
       A                            D
With a purple heart and a monkey on his back.

          G                             C
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes
D                             G
Jesus Christ died for nothing I suppose
       G
Little pictures have big ears
      C
Don't stop to count the years
A                               D             G
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios

G                               C
Sam Stone's welcome home didn't last too long
   D                                     G
He went to work when he'd spent his last dime
    G                                C
And soon he took to stealing when he got that empty feeling
      D                                G
For a hundred dollar habit without overtime
        C
And the gold roared through his veins like a thousand railroad trains
    A                                   D
And eased his mind in the hours that he chose
          A                                      D
While the kids ran around wearing other peoples' clothes

          G                             C
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes
D                             G
Jesus Christ died for nothing I suppose
       G
Little pictures have big ears
      C
Don't stop to count the years
A                               D             G
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios

G                           C 
Sam Stone was alone when he popped his last balloon
D                                 G
Climbing walls while sitting in a chair
         G                                 C
Well, he played his last request while the room smelled just like death
        D                        G
With an overdose hovering in the air
    C
But life had lost it's fun - There was nothing to be done
    A                                        D
But trade his house that he bought on the GI bill
       A                                   D
For a flag draped casket on a local hero's hill

          G                             C
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes
D                             G
Jesus Christ died for nothing I suppose
       G
Little pictures have big ears
      C
Don't stop to count the years
A                               D             G
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios