Standard (EADGBE)
Chords used:
(intro)
(verse)
Young Johnny, he really had a way,
He did his homework on the schoolbus and he always got an A.
And the girls liked Johnny more than anyone 'cept maybe Elton John.
Later on in high school he couldn't keep his red suspenders on.
(chorus)
Oh, where's Johnny, has he gone away
Oh, where's Johnny, will he be back someday.
(verse)
He had a room full of trophies
From the track meets and the tennis games he'd win.
He was a full blown wiz-kid an' he's bound to be a renaissance man.
Then he went on off to college
Got his head stuck in a different state of mind
When they asked him was it alcohol
He told them it was nothin' of the kind.
Just life. Just life, Mom.
(chorus)
Oh, where's Johnny, has he gone away
Oh, where's Johnny, will he be back someday.
(break)
Ah but Johnny's alright, he just turned out his lights
They'd have paid it no mind had he not been so bright.
He opened up his eyes, and he snapped out of the groove
He saw both sides of everything and he found he could not move.
(verse)
Johnny moved home now he reads a lot of poetry and plays
He'll sit out in the backyard and not say a word to anyone for days.
And his folks gave up, they no longer even bother gettin' through.
Hell he's thirty odd years old
They must have figured there's just so much you can do.
(instrumental)
(verse)
His mother keeps his pictures
In the scrapbook in the drawer with her pearls
She polishes the trophies
That he won back when they thought he'd save the world
Back when the girls liked Johnny
More than anyone 'cept maybe Elton John
She wonder's where's her little boy
With the braces and the red suspenders gone.
Just life. Just life, Mom.
Just life. Just life, Mom.
Just life.