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        << Back to John Prine Song List
Version 1 Version 2 Version 3 Version 4
            [Verse 1]
    C
Sam Stone came home,
       F
To his wife and family
      G                           C
After serving in the conflict overseas.
        C
And the time that he served,
    F
Had shattered all his nerves,
     G                            C
And left a little shrapnel in his knee.
        F 
But the morphine eased the pain,
[Pre-Chorus]
And the grass grew round his brain,
    D7                              G    G7
And gave him all the confidence he lacked,
       D7                               G    G7
With a Purple Heart and a monkey on his back.
[Chorus]
          C                                 Dm          F
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
                              G
Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose.
       C                    
Little pitchers have big ears,
      Am                       D
Don't stop to count the years,
                                  G           G7
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.
Mmm....
[Verse 2]
     C
Sam Stone's welcome home
        F
Didn't last too long.
 G                           C
He went to work when he'd spent his last dime
        C
And Sammy took to stealing
    F
When he got that empty feeling
     G                            C
For a hundred dollar habit without overtime.
       F 
And the gold rolled through his veins
[Pre-Chorus]
Like a thousand railroad trains,
 D7                              G    G7
And eased his mind in the hours that he chose,
       D7                               G    G7
While the kids ran around wearin' other peoples' clothes...
[Chorus]
          C                                 Dm          F
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
                              G
Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose.
       C                    
Little pitchers have big ears,
      Am                       D
Don't stop to count the years,
                                  G           G7
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.
[Verse 3]
 C
Sam Stone was alone
        F
When he popped his last balloon
 G                           C
Climbing walls while sitting in a chair
        C
Well, he played his last request
    F
While the room smelled just like death
     G                            C
With an overdose hovering in the air
       F 
But life had lost its fun
[Pre-Chorus]
And there was nothing to be done
 D7                              G    G7
But trade his house that he bought on the G. I. Bill
       D7                               G    G7
For a flag draped casket on a local heroes' hill.
[Chorus]
          C                                 Dm          F
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
                              G
Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose.
       C                    
Little pitchers have big ears,
      Am                       D
Don't stop to count the years,
                                  G           G7
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.
C 
        
                