"Sam Stone" is a song written by

John Prine John Edward Prine (; October 10, 1946 – April 7, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. He was active as a composer, recording artist, live performer, and occasional actor from the early 1970s until his death. He ...

about a drug-addicted

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

with a

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

and his death by

overdose A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended.

. It appeared on Prine's eponymous 1971 debut album. The song was originally titled "Great Society Conflict Veteran's Blues". The song is usually interpreted as a reference to the phenomenon of

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a analgesic, pain medication, and is also commonly used recreational drug, recreationally, or to make ...

addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use o ...

among

Vietnam war The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

veterans A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

. A similar surge of addiction followed the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, after which morphine addiction was known as "Soldiers' Disease". The song does not mention the Vietnam War, saying only that Sam returned from "serving in the conflict overseas". There is a single explicit reference to morphine, but Prine alludes to heroin on several occasions including the use of the term "habit", slang commonly associated with heroin use, and the line "he popped his last ''balloon''", very likely referring to one of the ways in which street heroin is commonly packaged – in small rubber balloons. The song's refrain begins, "There's a hole in Daddy's arm where all the money goes" and concludes with "Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios". ''Time'' magazine reviewed the song on July 24, 1972 "Sam Stone" ranked eighth in a ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine poll of the ten saddest songs of all time.

Allusions to "Sam Stone" in other songs

Parts of the melody of "Sam Stone" were used by

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...

in the opening of " The Post War Dream", a song on

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

's 1983 album '' The Final Cut''. The song is indirectly referenced in "Cop Shoot Cop...", which closes

Spiritualized Spiritualized (stylised as Spiritualized®) are an English rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Jason Pierce (often known as J. Spaceman), formerly of Spacemen 3. After several line up-changes, in 1999, the band centered on Pierc ...

's 1997 album, ''

Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space ''Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space'' is the third studio album by English space rock band Spiritualized, released on 16 June 1997. The album features guest appearances from the Balanescu Quartet, The London Community Gospel Choir an ...

'' – the lyrics "There's a hole in my arm where all the money goes/Jesus Christ died for nothing, I suppose," are almost identical to the memorable refrain of "Sam Stone".

Cover versions

The song has been interpreted by numerous artists, including

Swamp Dogg Jerry Williams Jr. (born July 12, 1942), generally credited under the pseudonym Swamp Dogg after 1970, is an American soul and R&B singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. Williams has been described as "one of the great cult figures of ...

Al Kooper Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt; February 5, 1944) is a retired American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears, although he did not stay with the group long enough to share its popularity. ...

, and

Laura Cantrell Laura Cantrell (born July 16, 1967) is a country singer-songwriter and DJ from Nashville, Tennessee. Biography Cantrell moved to New York City from her native Nashville to study English at Columbia University. She briefly recorded songs with ...

, among others. Johnny Cash covered the song in a live concert, changing the line "Jesus Christ died for nothing, I suppose" to "Daddy must have hurt a lot back then, I suppose", and later "Daddy must have suffered a lot back then, I suppose".

Other recordings

* Theo Hakola on '' I Fry Mine in Butter!'' (2016) *

Bob Gibson Robert Gibson (born Pack Robert Gibson; November 9, 1935October 2, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1959–1975). Nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot" ( ...

on ''Bob Gibson'' (1970) *

on ''Cuffed, Collared, Tagged & Gassed'' (1972) *

on ''

Naked Songs ''Naked Songs'' is the sixth album by American singer-songwriter Al Kooper for Columbia Records, released in 1973. Two singles were released in the fall of 1972, preceding the album. Background A contract-fulfilling release, coming months after ...

'' (1973) * Dawnwind on '' Looking Back on the Future '' (1975) *

Totta Näslund Erik Torsten "Totta" Näslund (1 April 1945 – 19 June 2005) was a Swedish blues musician and actor. Biography Näslund was born in Sandviken and grew up in the small northern town Köpmanholmen, but moved to Gothenburg in 1970 to find wo ...

on '' Totta 4 - Duetterna '' (2001) (in Swedish, duet with Charlotte Berg) *

on ''

Future Soundtrack for America ''Future Soundtrack for America'' is a benefit album for Music for America and MoveOn.org released in 2004 by Barsuk Records and McSweeney's and compiled by Spike Jonze and They Might Be Giants' founding member John Flansburgh. Each CD bore the ...

'' (2004) * Tim Grimm on ''Names'' (2004) *

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

on '' Live from Austin, TX'' (2005) *

Evan Dando Evan Griffith Dando (born March 4, 1967) is an American musician and frontman of the Lemonheads. He has also embarked on a solo career and collaborated on songs with various artists. In December 2015 Dando was inducted into the Boston Music Awards ...

on "Live At The Brattle Theatre / Griffith Sunset EP" (2001) *

Kelsey Waldon Kelsey Waldon is an American country singer and songwriter. She has released four EPs and six full albums, the most recent being "No Regular Dog" released on August 12, 2022. Early life Waldon was born in Ballard County, Kentucky, and raised i ...

on ‘’They’ll never keep us down'' (2020)

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1971 songs John Prine songs Anti-war songs Songs of the Vietnam War Songs written by John Prine Songs about drugs Songs about death Songs about parenthood

Allusions to "Sam Stone" in other songs

Cover versions

Other recordings

See also

References

External links