I Can't See You No More (When Johnny Comes Marching Home)

Annotation

Texas soul singer Joe Tex released another war-related track during the Vietnam era, called "(When Johnny Comes Marching Home) I Can't See You No More" (Dial # 4095) - following on from 1966's "I Believe I'm Gonna Make It". The title of the song was a play on the title of the well-known American Civil War song, while the theme fitted into the "Jody" category. The term "Jody" originated from "Joe the Grinder" (dated c.1939) - a mythical man in blues and jazz tunes who seduced the wives and girlfriends of soldiers, prisoners, and those away from home (for work or whatever). "Grinder" was an old slang word for sex (dated c.1647). It is thought to have been introduced into the army by African-Americans during the Second World War, used in military cadences (marches), such as "ain’t no use in going home, Jody’s got your girl and gone" - shouted out by a military officer, and repeated by the group of marching soldiers in unison. This type of marching later got the nickname of "jodies" or "jody calls".1 This one is narrated from the perspective of the "Jody", a man having an affair with a woman who "is waiting on a man; right now he is in the army". Of course, when he, "Johnny", returns, the narrator will "have to pack my toys". The narrator also feels that "what we are doing is wrong", so he asks that someone "kick me right dead in the seat...go get a rope" because "I ain't got the sense, that the good lord give a goose"! Once again, the song is written by Tex, and produced by Buddy Killen, founder of Dial.Sources1Wordorigins.org (archived copy)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Jody Songs

Texas soul singer Joe Tex released another war-related track during the Vietnam era, called "(When Johnny Comes Marching Home) I Can't See You No More" (Dial # 4095) - following on from 1966's "I Believe I'm Gonna Make It". The title of the song was a play on the title of the well-known American Civil War song, while the theme fitted into the "Jody" category. The term "Jody" originated from "Joe the Grinder" (dated c.1939) - a mythical man in blues and jazz tunes who seduced the wives and girlfriends of soldiers, prisoners, and those away from home (for work or whatever). "Grinder" was an old slang word for sex (dated c.1647). It is thought to have been introduced into the army by African-Americans during the Second World War, used in military cadences (marches), such as "ain’t no use in going home, Jody’s got your girl and gone" - shouted out by a military officer, and repeated by the group of marching soldiers in unison. This type of marching later got the nickname of "jodies" or "jody calls".1 This one is narrated from the perspective of the "Jody", a man having an affair with a woman who "is waiting on a man; right now he is in the army". Of course, when he, "Johnny", returns, the narrator will "have to pack my toys". The narrator also feels that "what we are doing is wrong", so he asks that someone "kick me right dead in the seat...go get a rope" because "I ain't got the sense, that the good lord give a goose"! Once again, the song is written by Tex, and produced by Buddy Killen, founder of Dial. Sources1Wordorigins.org (archived copy)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Somebody ought to take their foot down / And kick me right dead in the seat of my pants / I ain't got the sense, the good lord give an ant / This woman that I'm in love with tells me time and time again / That we can't see each other no more because she is waiting on a man / Right now he is in the army, and what we are doing is wrong / And according to the letter she got, any day he'll be home / When Johnny comes marching home again, I can't see you no more / Somebody go get a rope, yo and try to pull me and this woman loose / That's what you better do / I ain't got the sense, that the good lord give a goose / I fell for this woman when I knew all along that one day I'll have to pack my toys as soon as the man got home / I'm so in love with her I really don't want to go

Notes

Dial 45-4095 (DL-17883 SP), vocal; "(When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again) I Can't See You No More" (Tex), 2:45, Pub. Tree, BMI; produced by Buddy Killen; "Dist. by Atlantic Recording Corp., 1841 Broadway, N.Y., N.Y." [From the record sleeve and labels]

About the artist

American soul singer, born 8 August 1935 in Rogers, Texas ('I Believe I'm Gonna Make It'); died 13 August 1982 in Navasota, Texas. [Source: Wikipedia]

Themes

Home Front Perspective · Jody · Civil War

In collections

US Domestic Perspective Songs [War Years] · Jody Songs · Soul, Gospel, & Funk Songs