"Sam Stone" by John Prine -- a master singer/songwriter

[GenDem]

I love everything he's ever done. I think he's the master story teller. This one always makes me :cry:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OwEyXFhZ9g

Sam Stone
©John Prine

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.
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...

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

[alarimer]

1. That's a great song

I love John Prine.

"Your Flag Decal won't get you into Heaven anymore"- also very appropriate now.

[GenDem]

2. "Jesus don't like killin"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1qE2vJdDw4

Artist/Band: Prine John
Lyrics for Song: Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven

While digesting Reader’s Digest
In the back of a dirty book store
A plastic flag with gum on the back
Fell out on the floor.
Well,I picked it up and ran outside
And slapped it on my windowshield.
And If I could see ol’ Betsy Ross
I’d tell her how good I feel.

(Chorus:)
But, you flag decal won’t get you
Into Heaven anymore.
They’re already overcrowded
From your dirty little war
Now Jesus don’t like Killin’
No matter what the reasons for.
And your flag decal won’t get you into Heaven anymore.

Well,I went to the Bank this morning
And the cashier said to me
If you join the Christmas Club
We'll give you ten of them flags for free.
I didn’t mess a round a bit
I took him up on what he said
And stuck them stickers all over my car
And one on my wife’s forehead.

(Chorus:)
But, you flag decal won’t get you
Into Heaven anymore.
They’re already overcrowded
From your dirty little war
Now Jesus don’t like Killin’
No matter what the reasons for.
And your flag decal won’t get you into Heaven anymore.

Well,I got my windshield so filled with flags I couldn’t see
So I ran my car upside a curb and right into a tree
By the time they got a doctor down
I was already dead,
And I’ll never understand
Why the man,
Standing in the Pearly Gates said…

(Chorus:)
But your flag decal won’t get you into Heaven anymore,
We’re already overcrowded from your dirty little war
Now Jesus don’t like killin’
No matter what the reasons for.
And your flag decal won’t get you into Heaven anymore.

[hippywife]

3. I find myself singing

that one alot the past 6 years. I also love his new one "Some Humans Ain't Human." I also love Illegal Smile. ;)

Some Humans Ain't Human
© John Prine

Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm

Some humans ain't human
Some people ain't kind
You open up their hearts
And here's what you'll find
A few frozen pizzas
Some ice cubes with hair
A broken Popsicle
You don't want to go there

Some humans ain't human
Though they walk like we do
They live and they breathe
Just to turn the old screw
They screw you when you're sleeping
They try to screw you blind
Some humans ain't human
Some people ain't kind

You might go to church
And sit down in a pew
Those humans who ain't human
Could be sittin' right next to you
They talk about your family
They talk about your clothes
When they don't know their own ass
From their own elbows

Jealousy and stupidity
Don't equal harmony
Jealousy and stupidity
Don't equal harmony

Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm

Spoken:
Have you ever noticed
When you're feeling really good
There's always a pigeon
That'll come shit on your hood

Or you're feeling your freedom
And the world's off your back
Some cowboy from Texas
Starts his own war in Iraq

Some humans ain't human
Some people ain't kind
They lie through their teeth
With their head up their behind
You open up their hearts
And here's what you'll find
Some humans ain't human
Some people ain't kind

Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm

[KitchenWitch]

4. ...

I love this song for its powerful message.

:cry:

[GenDem]

7. I can't help but think

of all the "Sam Stones" that will be coming home from this fucked up war we're in now.

[KitchenWitch]

8. And the VA being what it is right now!

x(

[GenDem]

10. How will we ever take care of all of them?

It makes me crazy to even think of the repercussions that this has had, and is going to have for many years to come.:banghead:

[Gormy Cuss]

5. The whole "John Prine" album is golden.

Muhlenberg County,

Hello in There,

Spanish Pipe Dream


And then there's his recent 'Fair and Square'CD

Some humans ain't human
Some people ain't kind
...

(hippywife covered this ground)

[GenDem]

6. He touches on all of the human experiences.

His work is as relevant now as it was during the Viet Nam era.

I just love his stuff.

[hippywife]

9. It's a pretty sad commentary

when all of these songs are still relevant. I've pretty well given up trying. People have never learned and it seems that's pretty much the way it's going to stay for all time.

Also can't forget Angel From Montgomery. Lovely song. And I love In Spite of Ourselves with Iris Dement.

[GenDem]

11. I love when he does it with Bonnie Raitt

Another Prine song that makes me cry.

"Souvenirs" and "Hello in There" -- two more on my list.

[hippywife]

12. The version with Bonnie

is the one I always think of first. You can tell she truly loves and respects him and his talent.

[GenDem]

13. I saw her do this live about 12 years ago

My youtube player is not working well, but here's the link. Maybe it's just me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5HpW1Sula8

[hippywife]

21. Thanx for the clip.

I love her backup singers in that clip. ;)

I've never gotten to see Bonnie live, unfortunately, because we can't afford the tickets.

I did see this ACL performance with John Prine when it aired and absolutely love it because it features John, too. And you can see the obvious love and respect for the man on Bonnie's face as they perform. I love him more all the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ihpi8yBwLe8

[Schema Thing]

14. I would hum "c'mon baby, spend the night with me"

for probably a year before it finally hit me that the song "Six o'clock News" was about a young man committing suicide when he found out he was the product of rape.

[GenDem]

15. Wow, I didn't know, until you just told me

Wanda had a baby in nineteen fifty one.
The father was stranger and a stranger was the son.
Call that child james lewis, call these rooms a home.
Changing all them diapers polish all that chrome.
C’mon, baby, spend the night with me

All around the schoolyard playing all the games
Running, laughing back and forth the kid with two first names
Stranger in the closet, lock the diary
The past is running faster singing harmony
C’mon, baby, spend the night with me

"god bless this kitchen" said the knick-knack shelf
"the dinner’s almost ready go and wash yourself"
Jimmy’s growing up now and wanda’s growing old
The time is growin’ shorter the nights are long and cold
C’mon, baby, spend the night with me

Sneaking in the closet and through the diary
Now, don’t you know all he saw was all there was to see
The whole town saw jimmy on the six o’clock news
His brains were on the sidewalk and blood was on his shoes
C’mon, baby, spend the night with me
C’mon, baby, spend the night with me

[wildhorses]

16. john prine is like right up there with bob dylan to me

:hide:


seriously....christmas in prison breaks me down every time:

this is not john but, it is a 'decent' cover...(my brother does a better one)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzEHEbokt2w

It was christmas in prison
And the food was real good
We had turkey and pistols
Carved out of wood
And I dream of her always
Even when I dont dream
Her names on my tongue
And her bloods in my stream.

Chorus:
Wait awhile eternity
Old mother natures got nothing on me
Come to me
Run to me
Come to me, now
Were rolling
My sweetheart
Were flowing
By god!

She reminds me of a chess game
With someone I admire
Or a picnic in the rain
After a prairie fire
Her heart is as big
As this whole goddamn jail
And shes sweeter than saccharine
At a drug store sale.

The search light in the big yard
Swings round with the gun
And spotlights the snowflakes
Like the dust in the sun
Its christmas in prison
Therell be music tonight
Ill probably get homesick
I love you. goodnight.

[GenDem]

18. I agree -- he's at the top of my list

I think he's a genius. I could never understand why he never received more mainstream appeal, but maybe that's what has kept his music so pure.

Loved that cover!

[saltpoint]

17. I can never get enough of John Prine.

I love the humor -- he often makes my face sore just from the grinning.

But when he sits down to write a serious song, by god that thing gets WRITTEN.

All hail Mr. Prine.

[Schema Thing]

19. Oh geez! Prine fans.... ck this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_YrJABjYBE


he's so young!

[GenDem]

20. That's sweet!

John Prine jamming in a kitchen. Talk about up close and personal.

:thumbsup: