John Brown

Lyrics

John Brown went off to war to fight on a foreign shore His mama sure was proud of him And he stood straight and tall in his uniform and all His mother's face broke out all in a grin "Oh son, you look so fine, I'm glad you're a son of mine You make me proud to know you hold a gun Do what the captain says, lots of medals you will get And we'll put them on the wall when you get home" When that old train pulled out, John's Ma began to shout Tellin' everyone in the whole neighborhood "That's my son that's about to go, he's a soldier now, you know" She made well sure her neighbors understood Made sure her neighbors understood Made sure her neighbors understood She got a letter once in a while and her face broke into a smile As she showed them to the people from next door And she bragged about her son and his uniform and gun And these things you called a good old-fashioned war Then the letters ceased to come, for a long time they did not come They ceased to come for about nine months or more Then a letter finally came saying, "Go down and meet the train Your son's coming home from the war" Your son's coming home from the war Your son's coming home from the war Your son's coming home from the war Oh Lord, your son's coming home from the war She smiled and went right down, she looked up all around But she could not see her soldier son in sight But as all the people passed, she saw her son at last When she did, she could hardly believe her eyes His face was all shot up and his hand was all blown off And he wore a metal brace around his waist He whispered kind of slow in a voice she did not know She couldn't even recognize his face "Oh, my darling son, tell me what have they done How is it you come to be this way?" His mouth could hardly move as he tried his best to talk And she didn't even recognize his voice "Don't you remember, Ma, when I went off to war You thought it was the best thing I could do? I was on the battleground, you were home feeling proud Thank God you wasn't standing in my shoes" "Oh, I thought when I was there, God, what am I doing here? Tryin' to kill my enemy or die tryin' But as the enemy came close, the thing that hurt me the most And I saw that his face looked just like mine" His face looked just like mine His face looked just like mine Oh Lord, oh Lord, his face looked just like mine Oh Lord, oh Lord, his face looked just like mine "I couldn't help but think, through the thunder rolling and stink That I was just a puppet in a play Through the roar and smoke, this string is finally broke A cannonball blew my eyes away" As he turned away to walk, his Ma was still in shock At seein' the metal brace that helped him stand But as he turned to go, he called to his mother close And dropped his medals down into her hand Lord, oh Lord, he dropped them medals in her hand Oh Lord, oh Lord, he dropped them medals in her hand