Bob Dylan - John Brown

this song is much more complex the way bob plays it , but this is an easy way to
play it and it definitely gives you an idea .

Am
when john brown went off to war to fight on a foreign shore .
G D Am
his mother sure was proud of him!
Am
as he stood straight and tall in his uniform and all .
G D Am
his mother’s face broke out all to 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 . ”

when that old train pulled out , john’s ma began to shout ,
tellin’ ev’rybody in the whole neighborhood :
“that’s my son that’s about to go , he’s a soldier now , you know . ”
she made well sure her neighbors understood .

C D Am
oh! lord! 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 .

then the letters ceased to come , for a long time they’d never come .
they ceased to come for about nine months or more .
then a letter finally came saying , “go down and meet the train .
your son’s A – coming home from the war . ”

oh! lord! from the war .

she smiled and went right down , she looked up and all around
but she did 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 .

his face was all shot up and his hands were both 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 my darling son , tell me what to you they done .
how is it that you come to be this way?”
his mouth could hardly move as he tried his best to talk
and she did not even recognize his voice .

“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 , feeling proud .
thank god you wasn’t standing in my shoes . ”

“oh , i thought when i was there , god , what Am i doing here?
i’m A – tryin’ to kill my enemy or die tryin’ .
but as the enemy came close , the thing that hurt me most

as i saw that his face looked just like mine . ”
oh! lord! just like mine!

“and i couldn’t help but think , through the thunder sound 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 .

oh! lord! to her hand!