John brown lyrics

Artist  : Bob dylan 
Song : John brown
 
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.