It's O.K. John Joe

Album: One Day I'm Going to Soar (2012)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Vocalist Kevin Rowland told The Guardian the story of this song. "I'd met this girl called Johanna in Sweden and she emailed me, asking: 'Do you believe in love?' I replied: 'I do believe in love, Johanna. I don't know anything about it. I know about depending on people …' And then when I read it back, I thought you could put that to music."

    "I'd been working with this guy called Ben Brierley with a view to writing songs for other people. He came up with that riff, and that was it, really."

    "When we recorded it with Jim (Paterson) on trombone, I changed the name to John Joe. It's personal, but the song changed, and I became someone singing it to someone else."
  • A demo of this song titled "It's O.K. Johanna" featured on the Kevin Rowland My Space webpage in 2006.
  • This quotes Marvin Gaye's 1973 recording "If I Should Die Tonight."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," Kiss

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," KissSong Writing

After cutting his teeth on hardcore punk videos, Paul defined the grunge look with his work on "Hunger Strike" and "Man in the Box."

Shawn Mullins

Shawn MullinsSongwriter Interviews

"Lullaby" singer Shawn Mullins on "Beautiful Wreck," beating the Devil, and his writing credit on the Zac Brown Band song "Toes."

16 Songs With a Heartbeat

16 Songs With a HeartbeatSong Writing

We've heard of artists putting their hearts into their music, but some take it literally.

Fire On The Stage

Fire On The StageSong Writing

When you have a song called "Fire," it's tempting to set one - these guys did.

Female Singers Of The 90s

Female Singers Of The 90sMusic Quiz

The ladies who ruled the '90s in this quiz.

AC/DC

AC/DCFact or Fiction

Does Angus really drink himself silly? Did their name come from a sewing machine? See if you can spot the real stories about AC/DC.