Fan Reviews

ME & JOHNNY
(words and music by Rick Springfield)

Lookin' back I'd say we broke a few rules
Left one or two hearts in a ruin
Spent all that precious time doin'
Things we figured that Presley might have done

Stole a few cars, never got caught
Started some fights in the scrimmage
We got caught up in the image
Of playing young rebels by the handbook

Looking back I guess we had some attitude
We were gonna be hard and tough

Me & Johnny
We're gonna play tonight
It's gonna be alright
We're gonna shine

Look in the mirror watch our faces change
We were gonna be McCartney clones
We skipped school to see the Rolling Stones
And sang their songs on the train on our way home

We were gonna be like all of them
Uncompromising to the very end
Live for girls, guitars and glory
And someday they'd write our story

Sometimes I think that they clapped in sympathy
But we were gonna be hard and tough

Me & Johnny
We're gonna play tonight
It's gonna be alright
We're gonna have some fun tonight
Me & Johnny
We may get blood on our face
We're gonna have our place
In the sun

Johnny's still living, back in Australia
I hear he's got himself a wife and kids
And I'm still chasing whatever it is
That put me out here on the road in the first place

I think of all the times I've cursed out loud
Wishin' I was still runnin' with the same old crowd
Sometimes it can make you cry
Just watching the years roll by

Me & Johnny
We're gonna play it tonight
It's gonna be alright
We're gonna shine

Me and Johnny
We're gonna play tonight
It's gonna be alright
We're gonna have some fun tonight
Me & Johnny
We may get blood on our face
We're gonna have our place
In the sun

(total playing time: 4:25)

Click here to hear White Diamond's Version - WHAT's SO FUNNY (it may take a couple minutes to load)

Even as a teenager I loved this song but thought it was so sad...to see friends that were so close drift apart over the years. And when you are a teenager you think that will NEVER happen to you, but unfortunately it does sometimes. I see this song as tying in so closely with "Living In Oz" and I think the placement of them back to back on the album was perfect. Kind of like telling a rambling story. It does seem as if Rick had to give up many things to pursue his career, as I am sure every artist does. In LIO he talks about "what he did and what it cost" and then In M&J he seems to be looking back...wondering if he followed the path Johnny did....where would he be now? "Sometimes I curse out loud wishing I was still running with the same old crowd". I also think it is a comment on just growing older and maybe finding the fame that was so sought after less fulfilling than anticipated. It is an extremely touching song.

I know I appreciate this song much more now than I did when the album was released. Back then, still having most of my life in front of me, I guess I didn't appreciate it as much as I do now, having more to look back on. It's nice to have a peek into some of the things Rick did while growing up and hearing what his hopes and dreams were with his childhood friend. Rick actually made it. How often does that happen, to have these wonderful dreams and fantasies while you are growing up and actually end up living them? I do think at the time he wrote the song, though, that he was envying his friend's life a little.

I have to say that growing up this song was inspirational to me. I got strength listening to this song and believing that childhood dreams can come true. I think I've grown to appreciate this song more as I've aged.

I always thought this was such a sweet song. The harmonies are beautiful, and the story behind it is so touching. I especially love the Presley, McCartney and Rolling Stones mentions...it's like Rick is telling us a little bit about what music he was really into at different times, and "we were gonna be McCartney clones" lets us know that he knew back then what he really wanted to do was play guitar!

My favorite verse in this song is the one that starts..."Johnny's still living, back in Australia..." You can hear the envy in Rick's voice almost, as if he had stayed back in Oz, he'd have the wife and kids too...but he was still out there "sluggin' away" as he's said before, trying to realize his dream.

I've only seen Rick do this song live once. It was in Akron, Nov-'98. He sang it with the same amount of emotion he did on the album. There was a guy at our table that kept yelling out "Play Me & Johnny" and so he was so awestruck when Rick finally did. (Kinda like I would be if he ever did "Lust" after I yelled it out ... But, wait - I only say that in my head...so I guess Rick can't read my mind, eh?)

A great "buddy" song. I love the way it gives you an insight into the life of a really young Rick. The kid who was just looking to his idols dreaming of someday being just like them. The struggle to find his own identity while he was so busy trying to be everyone else...

There is kind of a sadness too. The loss of that old "normal" life that now seems like such a comfort from the craziness he was in the middle of at the time.

SONG FACTS:

This song is an autobiographical account of Rick growing up with his childhood friend - John Kennedy.

It appears on the following release:
Living in Oz, Legendary, and Anthology (written in rock).

ME & JOHNNY (words and music by Rick Springfield)

ME & JOHNNY
(words and music by Rick Springfield)