Twenty summers passing away
Johnny is called for a soldier today
Twenty summers, see how they pass
Johnny was earning his living at last
Johnny must shoulder a gun
And be going
and fighting some people
he'd rather be knowing
Twenty summers the tree by the wall
Heavy with blossoms were starting to fall
One night when his mother did Johnny can see
that spring when his father came home for some leave
Now Johnny must shoulder a gun
And be going
and fighting some people
he'd rather be knowing
Rain was falling softly to earth
The day of the autumn that gave Johnny birth
Rain in the jungle when Johnny was born
The day that his father lay dying at dawn
Now Johnny must shoulder a gun
And be going
and fighting some people
he'd rather be knowing
Twenty summers look how they've flown
Johnny was planning a life of his own
Twenty summers of leaves on the bow
How many summers await Johnny now?
Now Johnny must shoulder a gun
And be going
and fighting some people
he'd rather be knowing
Johnny is called for a soldier today
Twenty summers, see how they pass
Johnny was earning his living at last
Johnny must shoulder a gun
And be going
and fighting some people
he'd rather be knowing
Twenty summers the tree by the wall
Heavy with blossoms were starting to fall
One night when his mother did Johnny can see
that spring when his father came home for some leave
Now Johnny must shoulder a gun
And be going
and fighting some people
he'd rather be knowing
Rain was falling softly to earth
The day of the autumn that gave Johnny birth
Rain in the jungle when Johnny was born
The day that his father lay dying at dawn
Now Johnny must shoulder a gun
And be going
and fighting some people
he'd rather be knowing
Twenty summers look how they've flown
Johnny was planning a life of his own
Twenty summers of leaves on the bow
How many summers await Johnny now?
Now Johnny must shoulder a gun
And be going
and fighting some people
he'd rather be knowing
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Album: Australian Broadside
Lyrics by Mona Brand
Music by Gary Shearston
According to the album notes, written by Edgar Walter (1965), the first song "Twenty Summers" was composed by Mona Brand: "Twenty Summers: Mona Brand's words were written as a comment on the recent decision to conscript young Australians for military service overseas. But they are a protest not so much against that decision in itself, as against all warfare.
The melody is by Gary Shearston".
Mona Brand was a theatre playwright, who taught English in Hanoi with her husband Len Fox in the 1950s.
It told the story of a young man, 20 years old, drafted to war: "Johnny is called for a soldier today". His father died in a previous war: "rain in the jungle when Johnny was born, the day that his father lay dying at dawn".
Vietnam War Song Project - #17