The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #37523   Message #523275
Posted By: ponytrax
08-Aug-01 - 03:04 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req/Add: Spanish Johnny (Willa Cather or...)
Subject: Spanish Johnny ( and/or variants)
David Bromberg recorded this on My Own House, and it appears in some Web song indices. The lyrics tell a story of a man (Spanish Johnny) who is kind and gentle with children and ladies, plays a stringed instrument beautifully, but is a cold-blooded killer. The point of view in the song is from one ( or the only person) who has killed Spanish Johnny (as I recall, he was hanged). The singer is recounting the tale at a distance of years, there's a line or refrain about " this was long ago, before the roads went in."