Sam Stone Chords

by John Prine
247,641 views, added to favorites 12,581 times
Difficulty: beginner
Tuning: E A D G B E
Key: D
Capo: 3rd fret
Author Pencom [a] 30,874.
1 contributor total, last edit on Jul 9, 2024
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Chords

D
G
A
E7
E
Em
Bm
Asus4

Strumming

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Sam Stone chords
John Prine  1971 (live version)
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Stone_(song)
 
Capo III
 
    D
Sam Stone came home,
       G
to his wife and family,
      A                           D
after serving in the conflict overseas.
 
And the time that he served,
    G
had shattered all his nerves,
    A                             D
and left a little shrapnel in his knee. 
        G
But the morphine eased the pain,
 
and the grass grew round his brain,
    E7                             A
and gave him all the confidence he lacked;
       E                  E7            A
with a Purple Heart and a monkey on his back.
 
          D                                 Em
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
    G                                  A
and Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose.
       D
Little pitchers have big ears,
      Bm
don't stop to count the years,
      E7                   E                  A   A Asus4 A A
sweet songs never last too long on broken radios. Mmm....
 
    D
Sam Stone's welcome home,
       G
didn't last too long,
   A                                     D
he went to work when he'd spent his last dime
 
And Sammy took to stealing,
        G
when he got that empty feeling,
      A                                D
for a hundred dollar habit without overtime. 
        G
And the gold rolled through his veins,
 
like a thousand railroad trains,
    E7                                  A
and eased his mind in the hours that he chose;
          E               E7                     A
while the kids ran around wearin' other peoples' clothes...
 
          D                                 Em
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
    G                                  A
and Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose.
       D
Little pitchers have big ears,
      Bm
don't stop to count the years,
      E7                   E                  A   A Asus4 A A
sweet songs never last too long on broken radios. Mmm....
 
    D
Sam Stone was alone,
        G
when he popped his last balloon,
A                                 D
climbing walls while sitting in a chair
 
Well, he played his last request,
          G
while the room smelled just like death,
        A                        D
with an overdose hovering in the air
    G
But life had lost its fun,
 
and there was nothing to be done,
    E7                                          A
but trade his house that he bought on the G, I. Bill;
      E                       E7            A
for a flag draped casket on a local heroes' hill
 
          D                                 Em
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
    G                                  A
and Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose.
       D
Little pitchers have big ears,
      Bm
don't stop to count the years,
      E7                   E                  A   A Asus4 A A
sweet songs never last too long on broken radios. Mmm....
 
A Asus4 A D
Mmm....
 
Set8
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Sam Stone – John Prine
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"Sam Stone"
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32 comments
jrainspe47
Folks get a grip. It's called transposition, the process of converting from one scale to another. Guitar is easy, just capo it. Fine a fret and chord form that fits your voice and take off. All music is relative.
+12
p50one
Sad song, and a very sad day. We lost John last night to this damn virus. I aim to learn more of his songs as the only remembrance that I can offer.
+7
limbwalker63
I think this is the best version on here. especially for people not comfortable w/ bar chords.
+5