Sam Stone

John Prine

Sam Stone chords
John Prine  1971 (live version)
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Stone_(song)
 
Capo III *
 
    C
Sam Stone came home,
       F
to his wife and family,
      G                           C
after serving in the conflict overseas.
 
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,
 
and the grass grew round his brain,

    D7                             G
and gave him all the confidence he lacked;
       D                  D7            G
with a Purple Heart and a monkey on his back.
 
          C                                 Dm
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
    F                                  G
and Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose.
       C
Little pitchers have big ears,
      Am
don't stop to count the years,
      D7                   D                  G   G Gsus4 G G
sweet songs never last too long on broken radios. Mmm....
 
    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
 
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,
 
like a thousand railroad trains,
    D7                                  G
and eased his mind in the hours that he chose;
          D               D7                     G
while the kids ran around wearin' other peoples' clothes...
 
          C                                 Dm
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
    F                                  G
and Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose.
       C
Little pitchers have big ears,
      Am
don't stop to count the years,
      D7                   D                  G   G Gsus4 G G
sweet songs never last too long on broken radios. Mmm....
 
    C
Sam Stone was alone,
        F
when he popped his last balloon,
G                                 C
climbing walls while sitting in a chair
 
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,
 
and there was nothing to be done,
    D7                                          G
but trade his house that he bought on the G, I. Bill;
      D                       D7            G
for a flag draped casket on a local heroes' hill
 
          C                                 Dm
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
    F                                  G
and Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose.
       C
Little pitchers have big ears,
      Am
don't stop to count the years,
      D7                   D                  G   G Gsus4 G G
sweet songs never last too long on broken radios. Mmm....
 
G Gsus4 G C
Mmm....
 
* Alternates:
 
Open
 
C     = D#
F     = Ab
G     = A#
Gsus4 = A#sus4
D7    = F7
D     = F
Dm    = Fm
Am    = Cm
 
Capo I
 
C     = D
F     = G
G     = A
Gsus4 = Asus4
D7    = E7
D     = E
Dm    = Em
Am    = Bm
 
Open (These chords are not in the original key)
 
C     = F
F     = A#
G     = C
Gsus4 = Csus4
D7    = G7
D     = G
Dm    = Gm
Am    = Dm
 
Set8