Johnny Had a Real Hard Life

Johnny had a real hard life.  They sent him off from his wife, to fight a war that would change his life. 

He told me son never go to war.  It’s a living hell, you don’t understand it will destroy a real strong man.  I shot a man from far away.  I didn’t even know his name.  They told me he was enemy, this now I cannot see.  Did he have a wife at home?  A wife that I left alone.  Did he leave little ones here, little ones with no one to care?  Will his kids curse my grave?  I looked at him and he turned away.  I drink a beer and hope it goes away, it never does it is here to stay. 

Chorus:  He said son, love is stronger than hate, seek peace instead of war, always remember you reap what you sow, this I wish I would have known. 

They say Johnny was a crazy man.  They really don’t understand.  He lost his wife and family.  Johnny lost it all as you will see.  He told me stories of friends he made and how they landed in an early grave.  They were all great guys he would always say, guys the war took away.   He took a shot of whiskey to wash his tear, then he’d say kid buy me a beer, he tipped the bottle with little cheer.  I’ll tell you a story of long ago, I’ll tell you something they don’t want you to know.  I was a boy not yet a man, I pulled a trigger and killed a man. 

Chorus:  He said son, love is stronger than hate, seek peace instead of war, always remember you reap what you sow, this I wish I would have known. 

Johnny’s life was never the same, it haunted him til his dying day.  They say my father was a crazy man, I’ll tell you they don’t understand.  He lost his life on that foreign land, he lost his life when he killed that man.  What happened to his wife he’d say, he talked about it every day.  Did he have kids, he’ll never see, was it all because of me.  He’d drink a beer and look at me; he wished he could see a different life .   A different life without the foreign land and the day he killed that man. 

Chorus:  He said son, love is stronger than hate, seek peace instead of war, always remember you reap what you sow, this I wish I would have known. 

War heroes would brag and he’d turn away.  They weren’t there he’d always say.  He felt at home in the VFW, he felt at home with the other vets who were  suffering.  I lost my father on that foreign land.  I’d listen to him to try and understand, he lost his life when he killed that man. 

Chorus:  He said son, love is stronger than hate, seek peace instead of war, always remember you reap what you sow, this I wish I would have known.