文本歌词

John Brown went off to war to fight on a foreign shore
His mama sure was proud of him
He stood straight and tall in his uniform and all
His mama'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 come home
As that old train pulled out John's ma began to shout
Tellin' ev'ryone in the neighborhood
'That's my son that's about to go he's a soldier now you know
She made well 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 with his uniform and gun
And these things you called a good old-fashioned war
Oh Good old-fashioned war
Then the letters ceased to come for a long time they did not come
They ceased to come for about ten months or more
Then a letter finally came saying Go down and meet the train
Your son's a-coming home from the war
She smiled and went right down she looked everywhere 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
Oh 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
While she couldn't even recognize his face
Oh Lord Not even recognize his face
'Oh tell me my darling son pray tell me what they done
How is it you come to be this way
He tried his best to talk but his mouth could hardly move
And the mother had to turn her face away
'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
Acting proud
You wasn't there standing in my shoes
'Oh and I thought when I was there God what am I doing here
I'm a-tryin' to kill somebody or die tryin'
But the thing that scared me most was when my enemy came close
And I saw that his face looked just like mine
Oh Lord Just like mine
'And I couldn't help but think through the thunder rolling and stink
That I was just a puppet in a play
And through the roar and smoke this string is finally broke
And a cannon ball 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 his mother close
And he dropped his medals down into her hand