Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh!

Song lyrics to Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh! (1917) music by Abe Olman, lyrics by Ed Rose

Song lyrics to Oh Johnny, Oh Johnny, Oh! (1917) music by Abe Olman, lyrics by Ed Rose – originally written to tease a dating couple

All the girls are crazy about a certain little lad,
Al-tho he’s very, very bad,
He could be, oh, so good when he wanted to
Bad or good he understood ’bout love and other things,
For every girl in town followed him around,
Just to hold his hand and sing:

[Chorus]
Oh, Johnny! Oh, Johnny!
How you can love!
Oh, Johnny! Oh, Johnny!
Heavens above!
You make my sad heart jump with joy,
And when you’re near I just
Can’t sit still a minute. I’m so,
Oh, Johnny! Oh, Johnny!
Please tell me dear.
What makes me love you so?
You’re not handsome, it’s true,
But when I look at you,
I just, Oh, Johnny!
Oh, Johnny! Oh!

2nd verse

Johnny tried his best to hide from every girl he knew,
But even this he couldn’t do,
For they would follow him most everywhere,
Then his friends got him to spend a week or two at home
It’s worse now than before, ’cause the girl next door hollers thru the telephone:
(chorus)

Trivia

• According to an August 1945 United Press article, Ed Rose wrote the song when his friends, Mr. and Mrs. John Hansen of Akron, Ohio, began dating while attending college in Indiana.
• Partially sung by Lucille Ball in The Lucy Show episode, “Lucy’s Barbershop Quartet“.