Song Lyrics

Woman hold her head and cry
'Cause her son had been shot down in the street and died
From a stray bullet

Woman hold her head and cry
Accompanying her was a passerby, who
Saw the woman cry

Wondering, can she work it out?
Now she knows that the wages of sin is death
The gift of God is life

Oh, oh
Oh, oh
Johnny was a good man
Oh, yeah

Woman hold her head and cry
'Cause her son had been shot down in the street and died
Just because of the system

Woman hold her head and cry
Comforting her, I was passing by and I
I saw the woman cry

She cried, oh, oh
Oh, oh, Johnny was a good man
He never did a thing wrong, no

Take it down

Johnny went out on a Saturday night
He never hurt anybody, never started no bar room fight
Johnny never did nobody no wrong
He never hurt anybody never-ever-ever-ever, johnny was a good man
Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, yeah-yeah

Johnny was a good
Johnny was a good man, I tell ya
Johnny was a good man
Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny was a good man, yeah

Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny
Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny
Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny was a good man, hey

On a top-floor flat in the middle of the night
There's a man with rifle and Johnny in his sight
I said oh no-no-no-no-no-no
We can't let that kind of thing happen here no more
Oh, no

Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, yeah

A single shot rings out in a Belfast night and I said oh-oh
Oh-oh
Oh-oh
Oh-oh
Oh-oh
Oh-oh
Oh-oh
Oh-oh
Oh-oh

Johnny was a good man
Johnny was a good man
Johnny was a good man
Johnny was a good man, said

Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, hey, hey

Can a woman's tender care
Cease towards the child she bears, oh-oh?

Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, hey, hey, yeah!

Too many Johnnies, too many Johnnies
Too many Johnnies, somebody care
I care!

Rita Anderson Marley

The duration of Johnny Was [Live] is 9:16 minutes and seconds.