Happy Birthday, Johnny Lyrics
Remember one Christmas, I gave you Jim Carroll
Intended it as a cautionary tale
You said you saw yourself inside there
Dog-eared it like a how-to manual
Remember one summer, we walked in Times Square
I showed you the zombies with hundred-inch stares
You took a Bic, set your hotel on fire
We took the blame, took the bags to the train
[Chorus]
Happy Birthday, Johnny
Wherever you are
Happy Birthday, Johnny
Wherever you are
[Verse 2]
The last time you called it was on New Years' Eve
You asked me for dough to get somethin' to eat
Since we last spoke, you live on the street
Yeah, I wouldn't believe all the shit that you've seen
[Chorus]
Happy New Year, Johnny
Is it twenty-three?
Happy New Year, Johnny
Are there lights on the trees?
When I said, “Let me think,” and you yelled through your teeth
Accused me of acting like all royalty
Always for show, no true charity
You saw me on magazines and TV
[Verse 4]
But if they only knew the real version of me
Only you know the secrets, the swamp, and the fear
What happened to blood? Our family?
Annie, how could you do this to me?
[Outro]
Of course, I blame me
When you get free, Johnny
I hope you find peace
About
Another ode to Annie Clark’s (perhaps figurative, perhaps not) dear friend Johnny. “Happy Birthday, Johnny” could very well be interpreted as a continuation of St. Vincent’s original track, “Prince Johnny,” featuring the same self-destructive protagonist, but this time directly detailing the nature of their relationship.
Clark’s thoughts on “Prince Johnny” resonate here just as they do there.
Prince Johnny is about a mixture of compassion and hopelessness that you feel for a friend who’s being very self-destructive, but you also know that you can’t save them, but you can’t cast any judgment because you’re equally self-destructive.
Clark has gone on to call this the “third in the Johnny trilogy”. Its predecessors being “Prince Johnny” and “Marry Me.”
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Yes. “Johnny” appears prominently in a “trilogy” of songs, namely, “Happy Birthday Johnny”, “Prince Johnny” and “Marry Me”.
Indeed, it’s a follow-up. While it’s hard to say whether Johnny eventually resolved that struggle or not, it’s interesting to note that throughout the song, Annie Clark never assigns a pronoun or gender to Johnny.
- 1.Hang on Me
- 2.Pills
- 3.Masseduction
- 4.Sugarboy
- 5.Los Ageless
- 6.Happy Birthday, Johnny
- 7.Savior
- 8.New York
- 10.Young Lover
- 12.Slow Disco
- 13.Smoking Section