Bob Marley - Johnny Was Lyrics






(Wo-o-o-o! Wo-o-o-o! Wooo!)
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;
Explaining to her was a passerby
Who saw the woman cry (cry)
Wondering how can she work it out,
Now she knows that the wages of sin is death, yeah!
Gift of Jah is life. (life)
She cried: Ah-um, I - I know!
"Johnny was a good man," I - I know! (never did a thing wrong)
"Johnny was a good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good,
good, good, good man", (Johnny was good man)
she cried - she crie-ie-ie-ie-ie-ie-ie-ied!

Wo-ooh! Woman hold her head and cry,
As her son had been shot down in the street and died
Just because of the system. (system)

Woman hold her head and cry;
Comforting her I was passing by.
She complained, then she cry:
Oh-ooh-wo-ah, cry (ah-ah), yeah, I know now (ah-ah),
no I know, I know now: (Johnny was a good man)
Said I know, mm-mm-mm-mm-mm. (Never did a thing wrong)
Ah! Ah! (Johnny was a good man)
Can a woman tender care, she cried, (Never did a thing wrong)
Cease towards the child she bear? (Johnny was a good man)
Wo-ho-ho-ooh! Woman cry, woman - (Never did a thing wrong)
She cried, wo-oh! She cried, yeah! (Johnny was a good man)
Can a woman tender care
Cease towards the child she bear? (Never did a thing wrong)
Wo-now, cry! (Johnny was a good man)





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Bob Marley Johnny Was Comments
  1. O.... M....

    Respect

  2. W.... B....

    high tide orra loaowwoew tide

  3. A.... ....

    Listen to this after,
    Elvis - In The Ghetto
    Then Kendrick Lamar - Sing About Me
    2Pac - Changes or It Ain’t Easy

    Interesting story thread

  4. J.... H....

    Can a women's tender care...
    cease towards the child she bears?

  5. J.... d....

    got to love his music for all the tales we hear, especially this master piece. the message on this song is true.

  6. m.... d....

    Bob the best all the time in this life.iam sure that u will rest in peace forever.A great and a very good man

  7. J.... T....

    The wages of sin is death. But the gift of Jah is life.!!! She explained than she cried;

  8. C.... K....

    Masterpeace 1:23 to 1:59

    C.... K....

    ✨😭✨💗🎷🎤✨

  9. C.... K....

    The one and only
    King Marley!! Johnny was good man 🎻🎤✨

  10. R.... C....

    For all the families who lost their sons and daughters to gun violence especially all the moms. May we all find a little comfort in this song.

  11. L.... C....

    Johnny was a good man

  12. a.... m....

    Juste le plus grand si tes d'accord, like mon ami

  13. R.... t....

    He saw it all

  14. S.... ....

    This song reminds me of my stay in Canada

  15. S.... ....

    The remix with biggie smalls is fucking dope 👌👌👌

  16. b.... ....

    Nipsey Hussel rip. Eritrean Yoot 😣

  17. O.... K....

    RIP Johnny

  18. R.... D....

    Bob was the KING of his style

  19. k.... s....

    he was one of his kind,the best

    k.... s....

    bob vc , ficara na eternidade suas canções realmente nos retrata a realidade da vda

  20. n.... ....

    never did a thing wrong

  21. M.... ....

    I cried to this

  22. L.... A....

    man of faith.............

  23. A.... N....

    Música da minha infância hj adulta continuo amando e mais ciente q nunca ❤

  24. R.... D....

    cool mello song forever

  25. D.... S....

    GREAT Mr Marley and Musical Family ,January 2019, still Superb !

  26. D.... S....

    So BEAUTIFUL ! No more tears , book Of REVELATIONS ,ALL 22 CHAPTERS ! REVELATIONS CHAPTER 4 , BEAUTIFUL SONG JANUARY 2019

  27. A.... N....

    Amo 🙌❤

  28. R.... D....

    love this song it has so much meaning steve venegas

  29. F.... P....

    04/01/2019

  30. T.... ....

    yardie brought me here, good movie

  31. c.... l....

    2018-2019 Mr. Marley Brasil!!!!

  32. c.... l....

    lenda do reggae, jamais será esquecido! From: Brasil

    c.... l....

    vcs q estão curtido ouvindo o grande mestre bob. Eu o acompanho toda sua trajetória desdo primeiro disco : fico só observando comentários , o importante é ver o grande valor q esse astro nos proporciona. em todas camadas de ensinamentos e reconhecimentos q quem valorizar são os q tem bom gosto.

  33. k.... ....

    Much love to Bob, but GREAT to see so many SLF fans here. Respect.

  34. E.... P....

    reggae make you feel like you can conquer all the worlds problems

  35. S.... M....

    Check out my cover of this song https://youtu.be/LewgTpSti60

  36. R.... F....

    KING. Forever.

  37. S.... ....

    Sorry but Bob's version of Rita's song is boring!! Stiff Little Fingers do the Ultimate Version!!

    S.... ....

    SGW your mother’s sack is boring

  38. N.... N....

    Rita Marley wrote these lyrics for Bob

  39. J.... F....

    Deep rooted song about every day family life in the hood great song by the Skipper.

  40. A.... T....

    Botham was a good Man.

  41. D.... B....

    intoodeep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  42. F.... N....

    Every time I listen Bob Marley it's new as play reggae fi first time. It's amazing!! Jah bless!

  43. A.... K....

    One of my personal FAVES

  44. D.... B....

    14 soldiers two women jah jah his life

  45. N.... D....

    I always thought that Stiff Little Fingers originally wrote this.

    N.... D....

    The Clash & SLF always covered old ska/reggae songs, it's crazy to find the originals and compare to the covers.

    N.... D....

    Jake Burns is a massive reggae fan. They also covered Roots Radicals Rockers and Reggae by Bunny Wailer. All are great 👍

  46. R.... B....

    This song definetly evocates Toots and the Maytals

  47. S.... V....

    still little fingers anyone?

    S.... V....

    Best version? - Stiff Little Fingers!!!!

    S.... V....

    Stiff little fingers does this song justice

    S.... V....

    Who tf is that.

    S.... V....

    @Ross micheal (Northern) Irish punk band.

    S.... V....

    Personally where I am in my life, full of teen angst where I just need to get a punch of energy out, I prefer SLF version. But this is groovy(?) And awesome.

  48. s.... P....

    Big Man.

  49. Z.... J....

    I relate this song to what's going on in America now the police brutality no mother should every have to bury there child .R.i.p to all that lost there lives from police brutality

  50. U.... S....

    Troppo bella

  51. x.... ....

    Was just a small kid the first time I heard this record and I could the feel the weight of the loss of Johnny..I was prolly 8

  52. T.... C....

    Upgrade's fantastic white label got me here. Can't believe I didn't know this song before

    T.... C....

    Tom Cads yes yes yes , finally someone else knows it, found a full version on YouTube yesterday :)

    T.... C....

    Tom Cads at least you do now-imho, one of Bobs best

  53. J.... S....

    Hold ya Head

    J.... S....

    Joshua Stephens notorious B.I.G

  54. L.... V....

    _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;
    Explaining to her was a passerby
    Who saw the woman cry (cry)
    Wondering how can she work it out,
    Now she knows that the wages of sin is death, yeah!
    Gift of jah is life. (life)
    She cried: ah-um, I - I know!
    "Johnny was a good man, " I - I know! (never did a thing wrong)
    "Johnny was a good, good, good, good, good, good, good, good,
    Good, good, good man", (Johnny was good man)
    She cried - she crie-ie-ie-ie-ie-ie-ie-ied!
    Wo-ooh! woman hold her head and cry,
    As her son had been shot down in the street and died
    Just because of the system. (system)
    Woman hold her head and cry;
    Comforting her I was passing by.
    She complained, then she cry:
    Oh-ooh-wo-ah, cry (ah-ah), yeah, I know now (ah-ah),
    No I know, I know now: (Johnny was a good man)
    Said I know, mm-mm-mm-mm-mm. (never did a thing wrong)
    Ah! ah! (Johnny was a good man)
    Can a woman tender care, she cried, (never did a thing wrong)
    Cease towards the child she bear? (Johnny was a good man)
    Wo-ho-ho-ooh! woman cry, woman - (never did a thing wrong)
    She cried, wo-oh! she cried, yeah! (Johnny was a good man)
    Can a woman tender care
    Cease towards the child she bear? (never did a thing wrong)
    Wo-now, cry! (Johnny was a good man)

    L.... V....

    Brazilian ?

    L.... V....

    @David de Lira Bless!!

  55. A.... R....

    I loved this album at 13.....my first reggae album thanks to the public library....super love

    A.... R....

    Also my introduction to reggae. at about 15.I'm nearly 60 and still listening to it.

  56. j.... b....

    Tbyva stray bullet

  57. R.... M....

    Just because of the system

    R.... M....

    this song is so much more than about the system bamaclyde...Open your mind....

  58. P.... F....

    The SLF cover is so much better, unlike a lot of covers. It gives actual passion to what is basically a bland pop reggae song..

    P.... F....

    I agree, that's one of the best covers ever. The lyrics applied well to political conditions in Ireland in the 70s and 80s and are, sadly, still relevant in 21st century America.

    P.... F....

    personally i hated that cover, i know this would seem bland to someone with no taste, but the cover was just a low production recording of a bunch of untalented kids shouting and trying to play their instruments in time. does the song no justice. don't get me wrong, it relates perfectly to the troubles, and being from ireland you would think id like it more, but the fact is that that type of punk rock or whatever you call it is the least talented type of music around, even shitpop takes more skill and creativity to make, and that says alot. lol went on a bit the aye haha no disrespect just dont like SLF :)

    P.... F....

    Wow some feircely passionate opinions on this song, I like it.
    I think the SLF cover is great, it kinda makes the song feel n sound alot different, n I totally disagree with that cliche analysis of punk rock, but I also disagree with that statement of reggae as well, I think it can be very soulful n deep n even sad sometimes even though the style doesn't lend itself well to expressing sadness. But hey we all have fucking opinions, why not learn to appreciate that n make the best of it instead of just shitting so over eachother n everything all the time.

    P.... F....

    love the slf version not saying this is bad

    P.... F....

    Bland? I have yet to hear a bland Bob Marley song.

  59. J.... M....

    When I die fuck it I wanna go to hell, cuz I'm a piece of shit it ain't hard to fuckin tell
    Makes no sense me hanging with the goody-goodies dresses in white I like black tims and black hoodies

    J.... M....

    Jack Mehoff Suicidal Thoughts is a great song but I think your on the wrong video

    J.... M....

    u r not shit

    J.... M....

    Lol ok... Thanks for sharing. I'll cya there in hell. It sounds much better than "heaven" anyway.

    J.... M....

    Rarely comment but i was just hearing suicidal thoughts before listening to Johnny Was for the first time

  60. H.... W....

    Of all the Bob Marley songs, this is possibly his very best , most poignant and soulful renditions.✊

    H.... W....

    Harry Williams Redemption Song

    H.... W....

    Harry Williams absolutely agree, it’s very moving

  61. l.... t....

    Nobody does it better.bob Marley,let those who decide M.C TFFT murupara

  62. J.... T....

    Hermosa cancion...cuantos recuerdos de mi ADOLESCENCIA.Recuerdo cuando compraba mis cassetts de bob marly en LIMA - PERU.

  63. E.... 3....

    Good memories, early 90s.
    Real hit, thx so much for sharing!!!

  64. J.... D....

    thank you bob marley for the gems...truly a leader for our people and a real visionary

  65. N.... D....

    stiff fingers do it better all ( respect for the talent)

  66. a.... ....

    Blaze sensi

    a.... ....

    Amazing man and artist. 1 love

    a.... ....

    Sensitive and pathétic song makes me cry cause iam mum

  67. N.... 1....

    Per Domi morto per una bomba vagante. Un abbraccio a Graziella. Jah have 'em in The region!

  68. N.... H....

    Excelent song!!

  69. J.... D....

    Bob Marley is god

  70. D.... M....

    Happy earthday king Bob

  71. f.... g....

    Respect to Bob Marley & The Wailers

  72. S.... O....

    Johnny Was AMAZING TRACK