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Johnnie

by Kevin Simnacher

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"JOHNNIE"
Daniel J. Boddicker, Kevin Simnacher/©2012 SimRocker Publishing (BMI) All rights reserved.

The year was 1981, and inspired by a new guitar I'd purchased, I came up with this picking pattern and counter rhythm which I presented to the band. Dan Boddicker, one of the lead singers of our band at the time, immediately started writing lyrics while the rest of us jammed on the idea I'd come up with the night before. It fell together rather quickly as I recall, and we had a brand-new song! Our band at the time, "Ratler" eventually did a demo recording of the song and we played it hundreds of times over the course of our time together. I always wished we'd taken the song further, so that's why I decided to include it in this project.

lyrics

"JOHNNIE"
Daniel J. Boddicker, Kevin Simnacher/©2011 SimRocker Publishing (BMI) All rights reserved.

The soldiers in blue run to the attack
knowing that they might not ever come back
and the Ice Man laughs as Winter is drawing near.

The soldiers in gray run into the fray
trying to drive the blue soldiers away
and the Ice Man laughs as he begins his attack on the rear.

The dying died and the wounded cried
and everyone else got tired of the fight
which all turned towards the Ice Man's lines.

Johnnie left home when just a young man
but when he came home he was an old hand
at fighting and killing and maiming his fellow man.

Searching, he's been searching so long—hoping for a place where he can run
Searching, he's been searching so long—trying to find a place to hang his gun.

Summer finally came but the killing went on
no matter what he did Johnnie couldn't get warm
it felt like the cold was just tearing him apart.

The day that Johnnie met his death
he realized with his final breath
that the Ice Man was only the hatred in his heart.

Searching, he's been searching so long—hoping for a place where he can run
Searching, he's been searching so long—trying to find a place to hang his gun.

credits

released April 13, 2013
Lyrics by Dan Boddicker
Music by Kevin Simnacher
Produced by Kevin Simnacher

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Kevin Simnacher Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Kevin has played in various different bands over the years. Some just cover bands and a couple that actually wrote and recorded original material. One day, Kevin woke up, and decided to start his own album project, called "Window of Opportunity". Kevin has also released an all instrumental CD and is currently releasing songs for a third album, entitled, "Alternate Realities". ... more

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