Johnny Was

. . . johnny was . . . by bob marley
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

* from ’positive vibration’ ( 1976 ) *

intro :

D C#m7 , E Bm7
D C#m7 , F#m

verse 1 :

F#m
woman hold her head and cry ,
D C#m7 E Bm7
’cos her son had been shot down in the street and died ,
D C#m7 F#m
from a stray bullet .

verse 2 :

F#m
woman hold her head and cry ,
D C#m7 E Bm7
ex – plaining to her , was a passer – by;
D C#m7 F#m
who saw the woman cry . wondering . . .

verse 3 :

F#m
how can she work it out ,
D C#m7 E Bm7
now she knows that the wages of sin is death , yeah?
D C#m7 F#m
gift of jah is life . she cried . . .

chorus 1 :

A Bm7 C#m7 Bm7 A Bm7
ah – um , i , i know; johnny was a good man .
C#m7 Bm7 A Bm7
allah , i know; johnny was a good , good , good ,
C#m7 Bm7
good , good , good , good , good , good , good , good man” .
A Bm7 C#m7 Bm7
( johnny was good man ) , she cried , she cri . . . . ed .

interlude :

F#m

verse 4 :

F#m
woman hold her head and cry ,
D C#m7 E Bm7
as her son had been shot down in the street and died ,
D C#m7 F#m
just be – cause of the system .

verse 5 :

F#m
woman hold her head and cry ,
D C#m7 E Bm7
comforting her , i was passing by .
D C#m7 F#m
she com – plained , then she cry .

chorus 2 :

A Bm7
yeah , yeah , i know now ,
C#m7 Bm7 A
no i know , i know now; ( johnny was a good man ) .
Bm7 C#m7 Bm7 A Bm7
said i know , mm – mm – mm – mm – mm , ( never did a thing wrong ) .
C#m7 Bm7 A
ah! ah! ( johnny was a good man ) ,
Bm7 C#m7 Bm7 A
can a woman tender care , she cried , ( never did a thing wrong ) .
Bm7 C#m7 Bm7
cease towards the child she bear?

A Bm7 C#m7 Bm7
( johnny was a good man ) , woman cry , woman ,
A Bm7 C#m7 Bm7
she cried , wo – oh! she cried , yeah!
A
( johnny was a good man ) ,
Bm7 C#m7
can a woman tender care ,
Bm7 A Bm7 C#m7 Bm7
cease towards the child she bear?

( fade )

chord diagrams :
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

D C#m7 E Bm7 F#m A

eadgbe eadgbe eadgbe eadgbe eadgbe eadgbe
x57775 x46454 x79997 x24232 244222 577655

tabbed by joel from clumsy , bristol , england , 2006 ( clumsyband@hotmail . com )