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Johnny Come Home Lyrics

Nobody knows the trouble you feel
Nobody cares, the feeling is real

Johnny, we're sorry, won't you come on home
We worry, won't you come on
What is wrong in my life
That I must get drunk every night
Johnny, we're sorry

Use the phone, call your mom
She's missing you badly, missing her son
Who do you know, where will you stay
Big city life is not what they say

Johnny, we're sorry, won't you come on home
We worry, won't you come on
What is wrong in my life
That I must get drunk every night
Johnny, we're sorry

You'd better go, everything's closed
Can't find a room, money's all blown
Nowhere to sleep, out in the cold
Nothing to eat, nowhere to go

Johnny, we're sorry, won't you come on home
We worry, won't you come on
What is wrong in my life
That I must get drunk every night
Johnny (Johnny), we're sorry, won't you come on home
We worry, won't you come on home
Johnny, won't you come on home
Song Info
Submitted by
punchyk On Jul 07, 2002
7 Meanings

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Cover art for Johnny Come Home lyrics by Fine Young Cannibals

just wanted say that i love the lines: "What is wrong in my life That I must get drunk every night "

Cover art for Johnny Come Home lyrics by Fine Young Cannibals

My interpretation of the song is about the parents of a runaway child "Johnny" I believe the reason why Johnny runs away from home is because their is trouble at home. "What is wrong in my life that I must get drunk every night" one of the problems at home is that one or both of the parents is a alcoholic. Johnny thinks that life on the streets is a better way of living than being at home. Johnny's parents are insisting that things will change if and when he returns home.

My Interpretation

I agree with bddrex. I have been a fan of this song for a while now & that is what I got out of the lyrics. I figure the father is an alcholic & beat up Johnny which is what caused Johnny to runaway & the father is trying to figure out what in his life was so bad that caused him to drink & do what he did.

Cover art for Johnny Come Home lyrics by Fine Young Cannibals

I honestly think "What is wrong in 'MY' life that 'I' must get drunk every night" are among the best song lyrics ever written, because they're just so universally relatable and couldn't be any more simple.

This is one of those songs that you hear and go "I could have written that". I was quite young when The Raw and Cooked came out but I loved it. I personally thought the song wasn't about a teenager running away from home as much as he was running away from himself. The threat I felt was addiction, and the perspective shifting to that of the mother, father and son I believed were the inner voices of some troubled guy who's trying to reason with himself internally. The line "What is wrong in my life......" is the longest and most dominant, so I interpreted the whole song from the son's perspective. Strange that I didn't take the song as literally as it sounds, but then I wasn't a very literal kid.

Positive
Subjective
Relatable
Inquisitive
Reflective
Addiction
Perspective
Introspection
Cover art for Johnny Come Home lyrics by Fine Young Cannibals

Easy one this its about alcohol abuse.

Yes eric_m that is a great line!

Cover art for Johnny Come Home lyrics by Fine Young Cannibals

It's about a runaway. The parents are so out of their minds with grief over their teen son's running away that they get smashed every night to deal with their sorrow

Cover art for Johnny Come Home lyrics by Fine Young Cannibals

Define the 80's.

Cover art for Johnny Come Home lyrics by Fine Young Cannibals

I also think this song is about a runaway. Whatever has gone down at "home" is unhealthy and the kid needed to leave home to be themselves and be safe. But the kid is too young to be on his/her own. The parents want the kid home so they can control him/her. They deal with the pain by drinking, OR the kid does.

 
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