Johnny was a child
When the wheels of progress came
And slowed things down again --
Oh, when the wheat was high
And a big moon sailed in a rolling sky
And the stars came down so close
You could touch them just like rings
And you felt so happy-sad
It all seemed part of the same thing
Oh, when the days ran wild
And he was a child
And later on when the tractors came
And made light work, that would have taken days
So with nothing else to do
We just turned the days to rain
It would take an endless chain of circumstance
To get up and start again
Oh, when the tractors came
The the field of grain.
Johnny, now those days have ended
There's no more time on our side
They say, in a little while
It will all take on a new light.