Sam Stone (song)
"Sam Stone" is a song written by John Prine about a drug-addicted veteran with a Purple Heart and his death by overdose.
The most familiar refrain in the song is "There's a hole in daddy's arm, where all the money goes"
The song can be interpreted as a reference to the phenomenon of heroin or morphine addiction and subsequent heroin addiction among Vietnam war veterans. 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.
Read more about Sam Stone (song): Mentions in Print, "The Post War Dream", Other Recordings, See Also
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