Neil Young News: "Johnny Magic" Lyrics

Sunday, March 01, 2009

"Johnny Magic" Lyrics

UPDATE: 3/9 - "Johnny Magic" Video Premiere

Tonight, in the latest adventures in LincVolt, Neil Young and the LV Team went out for another test drive.

On this journey, viewers experienced an extraordinary first -- Neil debuted a song while driving. Singing to a soundtrack on his Mac laptop, Neil performed the new song "Johnny Magic" while playing air guitar.

The song is dedicated to Neil's mechanic Johnathan Goodwin.

"Johnny Magic"

Johnny Magic had a way with metal

Had a way with machines

One day in a garage far away

He met destiny

In the form of a heavy metal Continental

She was born to run on a Proud Highway

Then the whole world started running out of money

People losing their jobs

Right here in Wichita

Wichita

The home of the heavy metal Continental

Where the Motor-Head Messiah was tuning the system in

Johnny Magic, Johnny Magic

Johnny Magic, Johnny Magic

She burst from the garage in a blaze of silence

Disappearing down Douglas at lightning speed

Before the big metal door came crashing down

In Wichita

The home of the heavy metal Continental

Where the Motor-Head Messiah was tuning the system in

Johnny Magic, Johnny Magic

Johnny Magic, Johnny Magic

Wichita

The home of the heavy metal Continental

She was born to run on a Proud Highway

Now she goes long range on domestic green fuel

100 miles per gallon is the Continental Rule

Out on the Kansas two-lane flats near Wichita

Wichita

The home of the heavy metal Continental

She was born to run on a Proud Highway

Johnny Magic, Johnny Magic

Johnny Magic, Johnny Magic

The Motor-Head Messiah went to Washington

To show them what he’d done

The senators and congressmen came down

In Washington

And they rode in the heavy metal Continental

She was born to run on a Proud Highway

Johnny Magic, Johnny Magic

Johnny Magic, Johnny Magic

Wichita

the Motor-Head Messiah was tuning the system in

(repeat)

The LV Team rocks! Thanks S, C & P!!!

We understand that a music video of "Johnny Magic" will be available soon. How much you wanna bet it won't be on YouTube 1st? Go Vimeo!

Listen to samples of "Johnny Magic" and other new songs from "FORK IN THE ROAD".

Links to this post:

<$BlogBacklinkTitle$>: <$BlogBacklinkSnippet$>
posted by <$BlogBacklinkAuthor$> @ <$BlogBacklinkDateTime$>

34 Comments:

At 3/01/2009 10:53:00 PM, Mother Nature on the Run said...: Thrasher, thanks for providing the Platomania link ... I love "Get Behind the Wheel" best of all. I'm still hoping he includes "Get Around" and "Interstate."

I know, get in line, right?
At 3/01/2009 11:16:00 PM, Doonerak said...: Live To Ride!
At 3/02/2009 12:00:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Zzzzzzzzzzzz

sorry Neil - but all these car songs - IMHO - absolutely SUCK.

This is some of the most despicable music you've ever recorded. I'm glad to be alive, but not glad to be listening to this garbage.

Release it and i wont buy it. It's pretty simple. Car songs......ewwwwwww

Long May You Run
At 3/02/2009 12:08:00 AM, Anonymous said...: What else can one say about the lyrics other than simply not good. Wish I could write otherwise. I truly do.
At 3/02/2009 12:29:00 AM, dr dip said...: ANONYMOUS,ANONYMOUS,ANONYMOUS where out thou anonymous?..
Must be some sort of Shakespearian troll name.
"my face has launched a thousand ships but could not stop one car!"
Extract from the movie "Troll"
At 3/02/2009 12:40:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Dr Dip
when you post your name and address then you can talk. You are an anonymous troll, nothing more.

BTW, this new music is so riveting.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Dr. Dip
At 3/02/2009 03:43:00 AM, Anonymous said...: The lyrics suck but hopefully the song sounds good music wise.

Matt
At 3/02/2009 04:43:00 AM, dr dip said...: Jeez, I finally got a bite!
Thanks Anonymous!Wherever that name and address is. Now I feel part of the team....Hang on, I've just gotta change a bed pan.
BTW Neil's next project...he's bringin out an album of 'elevator music' should be uplifting!
At 3/02/2009 04:57:00 AM, dr dip said...: oh, and Anonymous, I can fix that bad case of stuttering..without the risk of repeating myself.
luv dip
At 3/02/2009 04:59:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Anonymous 3/01/2009 11:00:00 PM says:

"Release it and i wont buy it. It's pretty simple. Car songs......ewwwwwww

Long May You Run"

Um... is this sarcasm? I can't be the only one to see the irony here, right...?

Davie from Scotland
At 3/02/2009 05:31:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Hopefully with this album Neil has touched bottom and now the only way is up. Really bad.

-- Glenn Cooper
At 3/02/2009 07:47:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Zzzzzzzzzzzz

sorry Long May You Run and Glen - but all these whining comments - IMHO - absolutely SUCK.

This is some of the most despicable comments you've ever written. I'm glad to be alive, but not glad to be reading over and over again this garbage.

Post it and i wont read it. It's pretty simple. Whining comments..... ewwwwwww

Car
At 3/02/2009 08:59:00 AM, Anonymous said...: Ok, so let's stop whining (also, let's stop bashing whiners). It's all about the music, right?
So let's listen closely to what manic Neil has been putting out this time, to stay ahead of his own Archives. For starters, it's great the man keeps churning out music at all! Nevertheless, it's a fair question to ask if it's good music - and to my ears, it's not. For years now, Neil has been working on his rusted-out, angry, express-yourself electric guitar sound, with mixed results. I loved Ragged Glorty, but thought "Love and only love" was a boring riff, a throw-away. Was I crazy or what? Almost twenty years on, it's Neils favourite song to kick off his live shows. Don't get me wrong, I know repetitiveness is a Neil Young trademark (i.e. Southern Man, Down by the River etc etc etc), but way back then, the repetition was embedded in, let's call it a kind of "electric lyricism". The melodies of the songs really were great.
Now, to "Fork in the Road"; I feel it's the high water mark (or the low point) of Neil's gravitating even more towards simplicity, but alas, the Dumb Version. Simple riffs, brainless lyrics - except for the title song which is, putting the populist politics aside, at least a great piece of comedy. But the rest sounds as if it's all been hammered out in a bar at 3 a.m. after too many Buds with the boys.....
Maybe Neil was trying to recreate the mind-numbing experience of driving those endless highways that "mean a lot", from St. Louis to Denver and back again. But hey, people don't call that experience boring for nothing as well.
At 3/02/2009 09:36:00 AM, Anonymous said...: It ain't the fire,
it's the burn.
At 3/02/2009 10:22:00 AM, Anonymous said...: I think we need to bear in mind that the projected release date for this album is still 3 months away. Given Neil's history that makes the odds of this album being released as currently conceived, what, maybe 50:50?

A difference is that today, we can witness beforehand what we couldn't in the past.

On numerous occasions in the past Neil has changed his mind abruptly after releases were announced. Albums have been shelved or radically reworked but we relied almost entirely on rumors and third hand information as to what the original conception was.

Now, the process is far more public because of both the easy almost instantaneous dissemination of live shows by "pirates" and his own choice to provide previews.

I don't really think that Neil's decision will be directly influenced by feedback (positive or negative) but, assuming FITR will be released at all or that it won't include substantial surprises is premature at best.

Obviously, the "eco-car" thing is very important to Neil but the possibility that he might decide that the album isn't "right" still looms large. I don't think, however, his decision will hinge much on what other people have to say about it.

He's heard people ponder his judgment, taste and even sanity before. Maybe that came after releases rather than before, but I find it hard to believe he could not anticipate the reaction to some of his more idiosyncratic choices.

If Neil changes his mind, he will change his course. If he doesn't he won't. I think, however, the notion that his mind will be changed by external reaction is misplaced.

---Not Above Suspicion
At 3/02/2009 10:48:00 AM, Love And Only Love said...: Anon,

Heh, It must suck to be you... do you really think the man who was once sued for "not being himself" gives a rat's ass what we think? You just don't get it, do you? Linkvolt IS what Neil is into right now. We should be thankful that he's touring at all and not pouring his everything into his Lincvolt project.

I'd love to have The Archives in my hands right this minute, but the decision isn't mine. I'd love to have some new "classic" Neil... but I don't control that either...

I am very thankful for all I've been given over all these years and I'll take whatever Neil gives... whenever he decides to give it to us. Until then, all you critics sit alone... I'm going to ride the wave of the future with Neil and Johnny Magic.

Peace and love,
Ron
Love And Only Love
At 3/02/2009 11:31:00 AM, Mother Nature on the Run said...: Oh Snap! They took the sample songs off the web link!

I neeeed "Get Behind the Wheel" to get started this morning ... cool, cool song ...
At 3/02/2009 11:42:00 AM, Judas said...: You're a liar. i don't beleive you.
At 3/02/2009 12:05:00 PM, Record Co. clown said...: I won't attack you, but i won't back you
At 3/02/2009 01:18:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Can't wait to see finished video.

Heard the LV broadcast yesterday wa a hoot & a half.

Go Neiler!
At 3/02/2009 02:30:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Well Ron, I guess you're right and I DO "just don't get it". Makes sense, I also didn't get that this was a religious blog instead of a music blog. (And yeah, it sucks to be me, man, let me tell you...)
You at least, as a good believer, confess that "I'll take whatever Neil gives".
But you know, Ron, that's exactly what gets me every time, as a non-getter: what you express is not an opinion, a view on music, or even just a plain feeling about Neil's work, it's just, well, a kind of religious sectarianism, tagged on to a musician. Whatever the master does is GREAT!
I mean, hey, I liked Everybody's rockin' too (even though I didn't get it), for what it was worth, but frankly, some years on, was is worth MUCH?
I don't think so. And I'm afraid FITR won't be much better. But yeah, I know, I"m a non-getter...
At 3/02/2009 02:59:00 PM, dr dip said...: New lyrics for Neil"
from the new song "A day in the Knife of"
"woke up,got outa bed, to the box. to read the thread"
"blogger's and trolls with the one bloody theme"
Always the same, was it only a dream!
I read through the blog,
it lead into a scream....
AWHAWH AWH AWH AWH AWH AWH AWH AWH
(well how else do ya spell it!)
(at this point I annihilate the strings on old black..good reaction).
Ok anyone...next verse..MNOT?..Shitty?..Anonymous?
At 3/02/2009 04:15:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Let me just say this.I for one am just thankful that Neil's still alive let alone making new music.Alot of people do alot of talking about alternative fuel/energy.At least Neil and his crew are actualy DOING something.And if their plan doesn't succeed (which I hope it does)at least they tried.As for the new music?If you don't like it don't buy it.I do have to say that it does pain me and I'm sure the rest of you too that Archives vol.1 is (I guess) ready to be put on the market Right now today. But we can't buy it yet.I do hope that Neil is true to his word and releases Archives vol.1 a "coupla months after FITR comes out."Later gators.
The Mugwump
At 3/02/2009 04:41:00 PM, Anonymous said...: I read the posts today oh, boy
Four thousand whiners did repeat themselves
And though the posts were rather small
I had to count them all
Now I know how many posts it takes to fill the Whiner's hall
I'd love to turn you off
At 3/02/2009 04:42:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Come gather 'round Neilheads
Wherever you roam
And admit that the bloggers
Around you sound stoned
And accept it that soon
Your thoughts will be boned
If your Neil to you
is worth saving

So get out on the highway
and extend your hand
For the Neil that you've
been craving

Come critics and comics
Throughout the land
Don't let up now
We must make a stand
For those who ignore
Will be those never scanned
There's a battle right here
In these pages

To lose her now
Will later be banned
For the Neil that you've been craving

(thank's doc.)

sony
At 3/02/2009 04:59:00 PM, Anonymous said...: How many roads must a LincVolt drive down
Before you can call it a car?
And how many times must a whiner look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, n how many ears must that whiner boy have
Before he can hear Neil's guitar cry?
Yes, n how many posts will it take till he knows
That too many words are in vain?
The answer, my friend, is driving on the road,
The answer is right there on the road.
At 3/02/2009 06:44:00 PM, dr dip said...: This is definitely were cuttin an album!
There is some talent out there!
Keep it comin'..As fleetwood Mac would say..You make Bloggin'fun!

Gotta think of a name for the band though...Thrash will definitely be on lead edit!Pinto would be floundering on whine guitar, Glenn would be on bong(os). Car will be rewritin' Glenn's lyrics..Anonymous will be on organ.. cause he strokes it so well! and Mother.. whoa.. you can be the manager!
How about stealin the name of Neil's Rap band..the Dead Geffen's.
At 3/03/2009 09:49:00 AM, Anonymous said...: doc

are you implying that I've been beating my wheat?

anon
At 3/04/2009 04:54:00 AM, dr dip said...: Nah, just wanted to fit you in the band...and the organ seems to be your favourite instrument!..but, if your feeling rather 'chaffed'..try going 'silo'
happy harvesting..luv dip
At 3/04/2009 09:10:00 AM, Anonymous said...: show me the way
and I'll follow you today -ay
At 3/05/2009 04:22:00 AM, Liza said...: Here you can watch Neil singing "Johnny Magic"

Watch here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvlrYOtd-Lo
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPRT2YdH4H4
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4upVm--eHzc

Enjoy, Neil seems to have a lot of fun....
At 3/05/2009 08:48:00 AM, dr dip said...: Ok trolls and dolls, here's our first track off our first album: the Dead Geffens/Ressurection, entitled;

'Oooh,Let Neil Be'(sung to the tune, 'oh lonesome me')

Everybody's goin out..
and gettin' some

I'm a tool for stayin home....
and gettin' none

I can't get over how bloggin's got to me!

ooooh, oooh....Let Neil be!

There must be some way
that I can lose these Neil blues.

Forget about his past, enjoy..
his current muse

I've thought of every song from Hey Hey to free(dom)

Oooooh, oooh ..Let neil be

I bet his not like me, he's out just bein'..he

Hasslin' all the heads.. with all his charm

But I still.. dig him so.. with Mother and PINTO!

We'd welcome him right back here.. with obaaaaaaaam(a)

There must be some way that I can lose.... these Neil blues....forget about his past...

enjoy his current muse

If I could drive his car.. and play.. his ol' guitar!

oooh oh ..let Neil be
At 3/10/2009 12:43:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Go back to Canada and take your crappy song and everyone who likes it with you.
At 3/10/2009 08:41:00 PM, Anonymous said...: Neil is the only artist from the 1960's that is still alive and relevant today. With the possible exception of Dylan no one else is even close.
Neil = God

Neil Young News

Sunday, March 01, 2009

"Johnny Magic" Lyrics

Links to this post:

34 Comments:

Previous Posts

Neil Young News Archives

Thrasher's Wheat Links

Neil Zeitgeist - Top Searches

Hot Topics

About Me