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.