Handsome Johnny

Album: Mixed Bag (1966)
Play Video
  • Hey, look yonder, tell me what's that you see
    Marching to the fields of Concord?
    It looks like Handsome Johnny with a musket in his hand,
    Marching to the Concord war, hey marching to the Concord war.

    Hey, look yonder, tell me what you see
    Marching to the fields of Gettysburg?
    It looks like Handsome Johnny with a flintlock in his hand,
    Marching to the Gettysburg war, hey marching to the Gettysburg war.

    Hey, look yonder, tell me what's that you see
    Marching to the fields of Dunkirk?
    It looks like Handsome Johnny with a carbine in his hand,
    Marching to the Dunkirk war, hey marching to the Dunkirk war.

    Hey, look yonder, tell me what you see
    Marching to the fields of Korea?
    It looks like Handsome Johnny with an M1 in his hand,
    Marching to the Korean war, hey marching to the Korean war.

    Hey, look yonder, tell me what you see
    Marching to the fields of Vietnam?
    It looks like Handsome Johnny with an M15,
    Marching to the Vietnam war, hey marching to the Vietnam war.

    Hey, look yonder, tell me what you see
    Marching to the fields of Birmingham?
    It looks like Handsome Johnny with his hand rolled in a fist,
    Marching to the Birmingham war, hey marching to the Birmingham war.

    Hey, it's a long hard road, it's a long hard road,
    It's a long hard road, before we'll be free.

    Hey, what's the use of singing this song, some of you are not even listening.
    Tell me what it is we've got to do: wait for our fields to start glistening,
    Wait for the bullets to start whistling.
    Here comes a hydrogen bomb, here comes a guided missile,
    Here comes a hydrogen bomb: I can almost hear its whistle. Writer/s: LOUIS GOSSETT, RICHARD PIERCE HAVENS
    Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 1

  • Robert 'boda' from AtlantaI had no idea the Army flew the acts into Woodstock. Even more amazing is that Havens wrote this with Louis Gossett Jr.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Artis the Spoonman

Artis the SpoonmanSong Writing

Even before Soundgarden wrote a song about him, Artis was the most famous spoon player of all time. So why has he always been broke?

Rosanne Cash

Rosanne CashSongwriter Interviews

Rosanne talks about the journey that inspired her songs on her album The River & the Thread, including a stop at the Tallahatchie Bridge.

Dave Alvin - "4th Of July"

Dave Alvin - "4th Of July"They're Playing My Song

When Dave recorded the first version of the song with his group the Blasters, producer Nick Lowe gave him some life-changing advice.

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")Songwriter Interviews

Phil was a songwriter, producer and voice behind many Philadelphia soul classics. When disco hit, he got an interesting project: The Village People.

U2 Lyrics

U2 LyricsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the lyrics of U2?

Alice Cooper

Alice CooperFact or Fiction

How well do you know this shock-rock harbinger who's been publicly executed hundreds of times?