He threw one down from the top of the stairs
Beautiful women were standing everywhere
They all got wet when he smashed that thing
But off in the dark you could hear somebody sing

Oh it breaks my heart to see those stars
Smashing a perfectly good guitar
I don't know who they think they are
Smashing a perfectly good guitar

It started back in 1963
His mamma wouldn't buy him that new red Harmony
He settled for a sunburst with a crack
Yeah, but he's still trying to break his mamma's back

Oh it breaks my heart to see those stars
Smashing a perfectly good guitar
I don't know who they think they are
Smashing a perfectly good guitar

He loved that guitar just like a girlfriend
But every good thing, it comes to an end
Now he just sits in his room all day
And whistling every note he ever played

Maybe there out to be a law with no bail
You smash a guitar and you go to jail
With no chance for early parole
You don't get out until you get some soul
Oh it breaks my heart to see those stars
Smashing a perfectly good guitar
I don't know who they think they are
Smashing a perfectly good guitar

Late at night, the end of the road
He wishes, he still had that old guitar to hold
He'd rock it like a baby in his arms
Never let it come to any harm

Oh it breaks my heart to see those stars
Smashing a perfectly good guitar
I don't know who they think they are
Smashing a perfectly good, good guitar

Songwriter: John Hiatt