John Brown chords by Eric Andersen

SimplifiedAm · A · G

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Intro 1

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