The Next Time You See Johnny (1990) – Kenny Marks

I was first introduced to the music of 1980s Christian rock artist Kenny Marks by my school friend Eric during our early high school years. At that impressionable age, I was deeply moved by it – and clearly, that impact has endured, as this marks the third song of his to feature here.

The Next Time You See Johnny stands out as an emotionally resonant portrayal of a single-parent family. What distinguishes it from the typical Christian outreach song (and I’ve encountered many over the years) is its highly relevant subject matter for today’s world and the extraordinary guitar solo that closes the track – starting at 4:20 in the video below.

When I first heard it, I was floored. Even now, I never want the song to end. I genuinely consider that solo one of the finest guitar passages I’ve ever heard to wrap up a song.

This is how developmental the story line is. Johnny is the ultimate in a series where Kenny Marks first wrote about a fictional couple Jeannie and Johnny from Franklin High School couple and appeared on his albums Attitude (1985) and Make It Right (1987). In the song, Growing Up Too Fast they are two individual kids dealing separately with emotions and impulses. In The Party’s Over they meet at a party and get together in the back seat of Johnny’s car, resulting in a pregnancy which robs them of their carefree teenage lifestyle.

Now onto the album Another Friday Night featuring today’s song, Johnny has left Jeannie with their son, who has become old enough to miss his father’s absence, yet innocent enough to hold forgiveness in his heart. The son’s prayer to Jesus becomes one his mother perseverates when She feels the presence of someone unseen and from the forgiveness which she also feels in that presence and expresses the following:

And the next time You see Johnny
Tell him it’s all right

There’s still never a dry eye in this house when this song comes to a close. To my senses it’s quite masterful songwriting and by golly that guitar throughout elevates it to a whole other level. His songs could be considered too religious, sanguine, sentimental and ‘rote by numbers’ by modern tastes, but I won’t shy away from it. Although Kenny Marx’s name may not be known to a younger generation of Christian music aficionados but at his height in the ’80s and ’90s he was a true CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) star with a string of US Christian radio hits. 

Bedtime
She sees her son on his knees
And the prayer that she hears
Through the door makes her ill at ease
“Jesus”
She hears a young boy pray
“Could You bring back my daddy?
I know that You’ll find a way”

“And the next time You see daddy
Tell him I’m all right
And there’s a fire in my heart for him
That’s always burning bright
Tell him that I pray for him
Each and every night”

Bedtime
Where she taught him to pray
“Now I lay me down to sleep”
Were the words he would say
“Jesus”
She hears him again
And she faces thе faith of a child
That’s no longer pretend

“And thе next time You see daddy
Tell him I’m all right
And there’s a fire in my heart for him
That’s always burning bright
Tell him that I pray for him
Each and every night”

Bedtime
In her room all alone
She feels the presence of someone unseen
Someone unknown
“Jesus”
She hears herself start
“Let the fire of forgiveness burn bright
In this broken-down heart”

And the next time You see Johnny
Tell him it’s all right
There’s a fire of forgiveness
That’s always burning bright
There’s Someone he can pray to
Each and every night”

Jesus

References:
1. Kenny Marks – Wikipedia
2. Kenny Marks Dies at 67 – GMA
3. Kenny Marks: Remembering the CCM star of the ’80s and ’90s – Cross Rhythms