Like all other forms of art, music is a form of creative expression used to communicate the feelings and opinions of the artist. Music has the capacity to persuade the listener where simpler rhetoric may fail. Many times music is used as a medium to express political opinions or beliefs. Country/folk singer John Prine’s song “Sam Stone,” tells the story a Vietnam veteran returning home, only to find that the country he was injured fighting for, has left him poor, damaged, and addicted to heroine. “Sam Stone” undeniably reflects the injustice done to many returning Vietnam veterans by the country for which they where told to fight.

The song begins with the return of Sam Stone to his family “after serving in the conflict overseas” (Prine). We understand that Sam Stone has been serving in some kind of war overseas. The song goes on to tell us that the time he served has left him with an injury in his knee and shattered nerves for which he uses morphine. He has also returned with a Purple Heart and a “monkey on his back.” While we do not yet know what “the monkey on his back” alludes to, we can gather that he served as an American soldier in the war by the fact that he received a Purple Heart. The Chorus comes next but I will discuss that latter because it is more easily understood after the second and third verses.

The second verse begins to reveals more about Sam’s life after his initial welcome home. The Lyrics are:

“He went to work when he'd spent his last dime
And Sammy took to stealing
When he got that empty feeling
For a hundred dollar habit without overtime.” (Prine).

Once Sam’s wartime pay ran out he began working, but turned to stealing to support his drug habit without having to work overtime.

“And the gold rolled through his veins
Like a thousand railroad trains,
And eased his mind in the hours that he chose,
While the kids ran around wearin' other peoples' clothes...” (Prine).

Sam has become addicted to some kind of hard intravenous drug, which we can take to be heroin. We now understand what the “monkey on his back” is. He takes heroin when he wants, but neglects his children, who are forced to wear thrift or hand-me-down clothing.

The third verse tells us that Sam Stone’s was alone when he “popped his last balloon” (Prine). A balloon is slang for heroin, since it is sometimes dealt inside of a small balloon. The song then tells us that Sam has overdosed on heroin, because

“life had lost its fun
And there was nothing to be done
But trade his house that he bought on the G, I. Bill
For a flag draped casket on a local heroes' hill” (Prine).

These last few lines are critical to the interpretation of the song. Here we feel the total despair felt by Sam Stone. He has traded literally his house, and figuratively his entire life for a flag draped casket, as if they are somehow equal trade offs. These lines have profound implications, as do the lines of the chorus:

“There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose.
Little pitchers have big ears,
Don't stop to count the years,
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios” (Prine).

Throughout the entire song Prine never takes on a persona until he reaches the chorus. In the first two lines he takes on the persona of Sam Stone’s daughter. The hole in her fathers arm is literally the hole from the needle used to inject heroin. The money he has is spent on heroin instead of his children. We understand how fully, and overly disillusioned his children are when his daughter tell us that she believes Jesus
Christ died for nothing. According to The Dictionary for Cultural Literacy, the phrase little pitchers have big ears is American vernacular meaning that “adults must be careful what they say with hearing of children,” because they understand more than we give them credit for. Sam’s neglect for his children is a reoccurring theme throughout the song. The next two lines continue to tell us of Sam’s demise.

Prine relies almost entirely on emotional appeal to communicate his point. This song is very sad in and of itself, but the fact that this was a true story for many returning veterans gives the song an incredible amount of ethos appeal, making it much more important and pertinent. Also because Prine is not arguing, no one can argue against him. He has no need for a logos or ethos appeal because they are inherently there. We must view this song in the context of it’s time to understand its purpose. John Prine has not created any new character or told us anything that we were not already aware of. He gives us no opinions and any resemblance to a thesis is found only in the line “Jesus Christ died for nothing I suppose,” a view of Sam Stone’s daughter, which is never proved or even backed up. Judging him on these criteria, Prine would have failed as a songwriter. But the important thing about this song is its effect and purpose. John Prine, as he so masterfully does, has told us nothing new, but exactly what is happening that we need to pay attention to, enforced by sledgehammer lyrics. You are saddened, distressed, and angry after hearing the story of “Sam Stone,” which is exactly the purpose of the song. Prine does not tell us to do anything in the song, but hopes we are human enough respond to the emotions he is able to invoke in us simply by stating the indisputable, obvious truth.

Works Cited:
Cowboy Lyrics, http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/prine-john/sam-stone-10844.html

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. 2002, http://www.bartleby.com/59/3/littlepitche.html