• Well the joint was jumpin', going 'round and 'round,
    Hey! realin' and a rockin', what a crazy sound,
    Well they never stopped rockin' till the moon went down.

    Well it sounds so sweet I had to take me a chance,
    I rose out of me seat Lord, I had to dance,
    Started moving my feet, well a clapping my hands.

    Well I kept on dancin', going 'round and 'round,
    Hey! reelin' and a rockin', what a crazy sound,
    Well they never stopped rockin' till the moon went down.

    Well at twelve o'clock Lord, the place was packed,
    The front doors was locked Lord, the place was packed,
    When the police knocked, those doors they flew back.

    Well I kept on dancin', going 'round and 'round,
    Hey! realin' and a rockin', what a crazy sound,
    Well they never stopped rockin' till the moon went down.

  • Deep down in Louisiana close to New Orleans,
    Way back in the woods among the evergreens
    There in an old cabin made of earth and wood
    There lived a country boy named Johnny B. Goode.
    He never learned to read or write so well,
    But he could play a guitar like ringin' a bell.

    Go go, go Johnny go, go; go Johnny go, go;
    go Johnny go, go; Go Johnny go, go; Go Johnny B. Goode.

    He used to carry his guitar in a gunny sack,
    Go sit up in the trees by the railroad track.
    The engineers seen him sittin' in the shade
    Strummin' to the rhythm that the drivers made.
    People passin' by would stop and say
    "My my, but that little country boy can play!"

    His mamma told him "Someday you will be a man."
    You will be the leader of a big old band
    Many people comin' from miles around
    To hear you play your music when the sun goes down.
    Maybe someday your name will be in lights.

  • Way up in the evening, down in Mobile, Alabama (note 1)
    Working on the railroad with a steel driving hammer
    Got to make some money, buy some brand new shoes
    Try to find somebody take away these blues
    She don't love me here, I'm singing in the sun Payday's coming and my work is all done (note 2)

    Early in the evening when the sun is sinking low (note 3)
    All day I've been waiting for the whistle to blow
    Sitting in a tee-pee built right on the track (note 4)
    Rolling them bones 'till the foreman come back
    Pick up your belongings boys and scatter about
    We got an off scheduled train coming two miles out

    Everybody's scrambling and running around (note 5)
    Picking up the money, tear the teep-pee down
    Foreman was in panic, 'bout to go insane
    Trying to get the workers out the way of the train
    Engineer blowing the whistle loud and long (note 6)

  • I left my home in Norfolk, Virginia
    California on my mind
    I straddled that Greyhound and rode him past Raleigh
    And on across Caroline (note 1)
    We stopped at Charlotte, we by-passed Rockhill
    We never was a minute late
    We was ninety miles out of Atlanta by sundown
    Rollin' 'cross Georgia State (note 2)
    We had motor trouble that turned into a struggle
    Half-way across Alabam'
    And that 'Hound broke down and left us all stranded
    In downtown Birmingham

    Right away I bought me a through train ticket
    Ridin' 'cross Mississippi clean
    And I was on the Midnight Flyer out of Birmingham
    Smokin' into New Orleans
    Somebody help me get out of Louisiana
    Just help me get to Houston town
    There are people there who care a little 'bout me
    And they won't let the poor boy down
    Sure as you're born, they bought me a silk suit
    They put luggage in my hand
    And I woke up high over Albuquerque
    On a jet to the promised land

    Workin' on a T-bone steak a la carte
    Flyin' over to the Golden State
    When the pilot told us in thirteen minutes
    We'd be headed in the terminal gate (note 3)
    Swing low sweet chariot, come down easy
    Taxi to the terminal zone
    Cut your engines and cool your wings
    And let me make it to the telephone
    Los Angeles, give me Norfolk, Virginia
    Tidewater four-ten-o-nine
    Tell the folks back home, this is the promised land calling
    And the poor boy is on the line