Verse 1
John Brown Went Off To War To Fight On A Foreign Shore.
His Mother Sure Is Proud Of Him!
He Stood Straight And Tall In His Uniform And All.
His Mother's Face Broke Out All In A Grin.
Verse 2
"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."
Verse 3
When That Old Train Pulled Out, John's Ma Began To Shout,
Tellin' Everyone 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.
Verse 4
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 She Called A Good Old-Fashioned War.
Chorus
Lord! Lord! Good Old-Fashioned War!
Verse 5
Then The Letters Ceased To Come, For A Long Time They Did Not 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."
Verse 6
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.
Verse 7
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!
Verse 8
"Oh Tell Me My Darling Son, Tell Me What They Done.
How Is It That You've Come To Be This Way?"
He Tried His Best To Talk As His Mouth Could Hardly Move.
And His Mother Had To Turn Her Head Away.
Verse 9
"D5/Aon'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, Actin' Proud.
Thank God You Wasn't Standing In My Shoes."
Verse 10
"Lord, I Thought When I Was There, God, What Am I Doing Here?
I'm 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."
Chorus
Lord! Lord! Just Like Mine.
Verse 11
"And I Couldn Not Help But Think, Through The Thunder Rolling And Stink,
That I Was Just A Puppet In A Play.
And Through The Roar And Smoke, The String It Finally Broke,
And A Cannon Ball It Blew My Eyes Away."
Verse 12
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.
Chorus
Lord! Lord! Down To Her Hand.
