Live 02 Nov 1984 version
[Spoken intro:] Thanks. I guess there's certain events that happen that people kind of mark their lives by. I know uh... I can remember exactly where I was. I was 13, I was in high school when John Kennedy was killed. I remember I was in gym class and somebody came running across the field and told me. And I remember where I was when uh... the day that Elvis Presley died. And uh... sometimes, sometimes a dream coming true is a dangerous thing.
Well she drew out all her money from the Southern Trust
And put her little boy on the Greyhound Bus
Leaving Memphis with a guitar in his hand
On a one-way ticket to the promised land
Well hey little girl with the red dress on
There's a party tonight down in Memphis town
I'll be going down there if you need a ride
The man on the radio says Elvis Presley's died
We drove down into Memphis, the sky was hard and black
Up over the ridge came a white Cadillac
They'd drawn out all his money and they laid him in the back
A woman cried from the roadside, "Ah he's gone, he's gone"
They found him slumped up against the drain
With a whole lot of trouble, yeah, running through his veins
Bye-bye Johnny, Johnny bye-bye
You didn't have to die, you didn't have to die
Hey! Hey!
Hey! Hey! Hey!
Train I ride, sixteen coaches long
The above lyrics are for the live 02 Nov 1984 performance of JOHNNY BYE-BYE at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, CA, during the Born In The U.S.A. Tour. The song was played in a full-band rock arrangement very similar to the official studio version and ending with a line from Junior Parker's (and Elvis Presley's hit) MYSTERY TRAIN.
This was the sixth of a seven-night stand at Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
List of available versions of JOHNNY BYE-BYE on this website:
JOHNNY BYE-BYE [Official studio version]