John Brown Chords

Lyrics & chords

[Intro 1]
[Am]

[Verse 1]
John [Am]Brown went off to war
To [A]fight on a [Am]foreign shore
His mama [G]sure was proud of [Am]him
He stood so straight and tall
In uniform and all
His [A]mama's face broke [G]out into a [Am]grin
Oh, son, you look so fine,
so glad you're a son of mine
You make me proud [G]to know
you're all are [Am]gone
Do what the captain says,
lots of medals you will get
We'll put them on the [G]wall
when you come [Am]home
As that old train pulled out,
John's mom began to shout
Telling everyone [G]in the neighborhood
[Am]That's my son that's about to go,
he's a soldier now you know
[A]She[Am] made well sure her
[G]neighbors understood
[A]She[Am] got a letter once in a while,
and her face broke into a smile
She [A]showed them to the
[G]people from next [A]door
[Am]She bragged about her [A]son
with his uniform and gun
[Am]These things are called [G]good
old fashioned [A]love[Am]
And the letters ceased to come,
[A]for a long time they did not come
They [Am]ceased to come
[G]for about ten months or [Am]more
Then a letter finally came saying,
go down and [A]meet that train
[Am]Your son is coming [G]back from the [Am]war
[A]She[Am] smiled and looked right down,
she looked up and all [A]around
[Am]She could not [A]see his [G]soldiers in the [Am]sand
But as [A]all the people [Am]passed,
she saw her [A]son at last
When she did, she could [G]not believe her [Am]eyes
[A]Oh,[Am] his face was all cha[A]rred up,
[Am]his hand[A] was all blown off
[Am]And he w[A]ore a metal brace
[G]around his wai[A]st
He [Am]was k[A]inda slow,
and a voice she did not [Am]know
And she couldn't [G]even recognize his [A]face
[Am]Tell me darlin' son,
tell me what have they done
How is it that you've [G]come to be this [A]way?
He [Am]tried his best to talk,
but his mouth could [A]hardly move
And his mother had to [G]turn her face [Am]away
Do you remember Ma,
when I went off to war?
I thought it was the be[G]st thing I could [Am]do
I was on the battleground,
you were home just acting proud
You wasn't there,
[G]standing in your [Am]shoes[A][Am]
[G]I t[Am]hought when I was there,
[A]Lord, what am I doing [Am]here?
I'm trying to kill some[G]body,
oh that [A]tribe
[Am]But the thing that scared me most,
when my enemy was close
[A]I could see that his[G] face
looked just like [A]mine
An[Am]d I couldn't hel[A]p but think,
[G]through the [A]thunderous sound and [Am]stink
That [A]I was just a p[G]uppet in a p[A]lay
[G]An d through [Am]the rolling smoke,
the string had finally [A]broke
And a cannonball [Am]blew [G]my eyes [Am]away[A]
[Am]As he turned away to g[A]o,
his ma was still in shock
[Am]And seen the metal brace
[G]that helped him[A] stand
[Am]But as he turned to leave,
[A]he called his mother [Am]close
And [Am]dropped his medals [G]down
in her [A]hand[Am][A][Am][A]
. . .