Lyrics to
Johnnie Comes Back

This version of Johnnie Comes Back was released by James Taylor in 1979.

Our About James Taylor page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for Johnnie Comes Back from 1979 as well as all of the other lyrics from James Taylor that we have in our lyrics database.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to James Taylor or about the 1970s in general.

All last week and half of today, Johnnie has been a good little girl.
Trying to keep her devils at bay, watching her health return.
But she always comes back for more, hanging her head and banging my door,
Johnnie comes back again.
I said, Johnnie remember, oh, Johnnie be good, “Please give me some medicine, man.”
Oh Johnnie comes back again.
Where’d she get that tear in her eye?
Whoever said she could leave me, where’d she learn to say good-bye?
She’s been watching too much T.V., she only shows up for meals,
my medicine chest and my automobiles. Johnnie comes back again.
I said, Johnnie remember, oh, Johnnie be good, “Please give me some medicine, man.”
Oh Johnnie comes back again.

Me, I’m just an evil demon, I’m playing on her weakness,
counting on her sickness to bring her home again.

To use me up and to rob me blind, I guess it shouldn’t surprise me.
Fighting and flashing like a fish on a line, my God, she must despise me.
But she always comes back again, now it won’t be long ’til she’s gone again,
Johnnie comes back again.

I said, Johnnie remember, oh, Johnnie be good, “Please give me some medicine, man.”
Oh Johnnie comes back again.

---

Want more lyrics and songs by James Taylor?

James Taylor has released many songs over the years besides Johnnie Comes Back. James Taylor released songs from 1968 to 2002 spanning across albums like James Taylor, Sweet Baby James, Mud Slide Slim And The Blue Horizon, One Man Dog, Walking Man, Gorilla, In The Pocket, JT, Flag, Dad Loves His Work, That's Why I'm Here, Never Die Young, New Moon Shine, Hourglass, and October Road. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by James Taylor.

If you're a fan of 1970s music looking for more songs from 1979 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Johnnie Comes Back by James Taylor

When you decide to study the lyrics to Johnnie Comes Back, you're looking at the words, verses and background chorus from the 1979 song by James Taylor. Some of the lyrics to Johnnie Comes Back have clear meanings and some contain metaphorical references. Like most songs, only James Taylor and their collaborators know the full story behind any of the their songs.

You can understand the lyrics to Johnnie Comes Back if you take apart the structure of the words. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Johnnie Comes Back" means the words set to the music of Johnnie Comes Back, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by James Taylor. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Johnnie Comes Back and the lyrics to Johnnie Comes Back are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of James Taylor who came here looking just for the lyrics to Johnnie Comes Back, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

More Songs & Lyrics by James Taylor

Visit our James Taylor profile for more James Taylor songs, lyrics & info!

)