John Brown went off to war to fight on a foreign shore

His mama sure was proud of him

He stood so straight and tall in his uniform and all

His mama's face broke out into a grin "Oh, son, you look so fine, I'm glad you're a son of mine

Make me proud to know you own a gun

Do what the captain says, lot of medals you will get

We'll put them on the wall when you get home" 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, her face broke into a smile

She showed them to the people from next door

They bragged about her son with his uniform and gun

And these things you called a good old fashioned war Then the letters ceased to come, for a long time they did not come

Ceased to come for about ten months or more

Then when letter finally came saying, "Go down and meet the train

Your son is coming back from the war" She smiled and she went right down, she looked up and all around

She did not see her soldier son in sight

When all the people passed, she saw her son at last

When she did she could not believe her eyes Oh, his face was all shot up and his hand were blown away

And he wore a metal brace around his waist

He whispered kind of slow, in a voice she didn't know

And she couldn't even recognize his face "Oh, tell me, my darling son, tell me what they've done

How is it that you come to be this way?"

He tried his best to talk but his mouth could hardly move

And his 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 weren't there standing in my shoes And I thought when I was there, Lord, what am I doing here?

Tryin' to kill somebody or die tryin'

But the thing that scared me most, when my enemy came close

I can see that his face looked just like mine" And I couldn't help but think, through the thunder rolling and stink

I was just a puppet in a play

And through the roar and smoke, this string, it finally broke

And a cannon ball blew my eyes away" As he turned away to go, his mother was acting slow

Seein' the metal brace that helped him stand

But as he turned to leave, he called his mother close

And he dropped his medals down into her hand