This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Frankie and Johnny were sweethearts
Lordy, how they could love
Swore to be true to each other
Yeah, true to the skies above
He was her man, wouldn't do her no wrong
And Frankie and Johnny went walkin'
And Johnny had on a new suit
Yeah, Frankie spent one-hundred dollar notes
Just to make her man look cute
He was her man, he wouldn't do her no wrong
Frankie went over to the barroom
Stopped for a bottle of beer
Said to the old bartender man
"Has my lover Johnny man been here?"
"He was my man, Lord, but he'd been doin' me wrong, so wrong."
Yeah, Frankie looked over the transom door
And there to her great surprise
There sat her lover man Johnny
Makin' love to Nellie Bly
He was her man, but he was doin' her wrong
Well, Frankie lifted up her kimono dress
And she drew (ladaladalala) out a little .44
She shot once, twice, three times (three times) she shot him
And through that hardwood (door) floor
Yeah, she shot her man (yeah he was her man)
Well, but he been doin' her wrong yeah
He said," roll me over so careful ah
Roll me over so slow,
Oh roll me off to my left hand side,
Because your bullet hurt me so,
I was your man, but I been doin' you wrong."
Play it Chris!
(Instrumental & trombone & guitar solo)
Well, they sent for Frankie's mother
Come down to Huddie's saloon
To see what's the matter with her boy
She come down, Frankie looked up at her
Here what she said:
She said, "Oh Mrs. Johnson, oh forgive me please
Well I killed your lovin' son, Johnny
But I'm down on my bended knee
I shot your man, 'cause he was doin' me wrong ah'.
She said, "I'll forgive you Frankie,
She said, I'll forgive you not, not
For killin' lovin' son Johnny,
He's the only support that I've got,
'Lord, you shot my man and he was doin' you wrong."
Well, the last time I seen Frankie
She was a-sittin' in a dungeon cell
She would be there lonely, herself
With no one there to care
She shot her man, a-he'd been doin' her wrong, so wrong
Well, bring out the rubber tired (hearse) so long
You gotta bring out your pony and trap
Yeah, they're gonna take Johnny, Johnny to the cemetery (graveyard)
And he ain't never coming back
Well, he was her man
Oh, but he been doin' her wrong, so wrong
Well, the story ain't got no moral, Lordy
But the story ain't got no end
Well, the story only goes to show
That there ain't no damn good in men!
She shot her man (he was her man)
But he was doin' her wrong
Yeah, ba-da-ba-ba-da-ba-ba-da-ba-ba-ba-ba.
Woo!
Thank you very much.
Lordy, how they could love
Swore to be true to each other
Yeah, true to the skies above
He was her man, wouldn't do her no wrong
And Frankie and Johnny went walkin'
And Johnny had on a new suit
Yeah, Frankie spent one-hundred dollar notes
Just to make her man look cute
He was her man, he wouldn't do her no wrong
Frankie went over to the barroom
Stopped for a bottle of beer
Said to the old bartender man
"Has my lover Johnny man been here?"
"He was my man, Lord, but he'd been doin' me wrong, so wrong."
Yeah, Frankie looked over the transom door
And there to her great surprise
There sat her lover man Johnny
Makin' love to Nellie Bly
He was her man, but he was doin' her wrong
Well, Frankie lifted up her kimono dress
And she drew (ladaladalala) out a little .44
She shot once, twice, three times (three times) she shot him
And through that hardwood (door) floor
Yeah, she shot her man (yeah he was her man)
Well, but he been doin' her wrong yeah
He said," roll me over so careful ah
Roll me over so slow,
Oh roll me off to my left hand side,
Because your bullet hurt me so,
I was your man, but I been doin' you wrong."
Play it Chris!
(Instrumental & trombone & guitar solo)
Well, they sent for Frankie's mother
Come down to Huddie's saloon
To see what's the matter with her boy
She come down, Frankie looked up at her
Here what she said:
She said, "Oh Mrs. Johnson, oh forgive me please
Well I killed your lovin' son, Johnny
But I'm down on my bended knee
I shot your man, 'cause he was doin' me wrong ah'.
She said, "I'll forgive you Frankie,
She said, I'll forgive you not, not
For killin' lovin' son Johnny,
He's the only support that I've got,
'Lord, you shot my man and he was doin' you wrong."
Well, the last time I seen Frankie
She was a-sittin' in a dungeon cell
She would be there lonely, herself
With no one there to care
She shot her man, a-he'd been doin' her wrong, so wrong
Well, bring out the rubber tired (hearse) so long
You gotta bring out your pony and trap
Yeah, they're gonna take Johnny, Johnny to the cemetery (graveyard)
And he ain't never coming back
Well, he was her man
Oh, but he been doin' her wrong, so wrong
Well, the story ain't got no moral, Lordy
But the story ain't got no end
Well, the story only goes to show
That there ain't no damn good in men!
She shot her man (he was her man)
But he was doin' her wrong
Yeah, ba-da-ba-ba-da-ba-ba-da-ba-ba-ba-ba.
Woo!
Thank you very much.
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Frankie And Johnny Lyrics as written by Sanford Schmidt Pd Traditional
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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