DREAMERS DREAM, WRITERS WRITE (Johnny One Note)

(John Redgate)
Begun in California, with inspiration from lyricist Ruth Feeley, this was finished upon my return to Connecticut, in the same bedroom where I learned to play guitar and did a lot of dreaming.


Johnny One Note lay in bed
A simple tune ran through his head
Hey! Come back, young Johnny cried
Please don’t run and hide

Jumping up he grabbed his pen
And wrote some words
Right there and then
A perfect match, a natural thing
A song that even he could sing

Johnny One Note, how’d ya do it?
Shucks, he says, there ain’t nothin’ to it
When ideas come at night
Dreamers dream, writers write

Johnny loved to sing his song
He wrote two more before too long
Now his output numbered three
Very proud was he
He sent one to his cousin Bill
Bill could write a song at will
So when he praised our hero’s tune
Johnny’s heart was on the moon

Johnny One Note, how’d ya do it?
Shucks, he says, there ain’t nothin to it
When the world is sleeping tight
Dreamers dream, writers write

Johnny’s fame spread far and wide
A million fans were on his side
The critics tried to drag him down
Johnny stood his ground

He found something he did well
He never dreamed his songs would sell
But when you love the thing you do
Even One Note songs ring true

Johnny One Note, how’d ya do it?
Shucks, he says, there ain’t nothin’ to it
When ideas come at night
Dreamers dream, writers write

When ideas come at night
Dreamers dream, writers write
Dreamers dream, writers write