I got a house full of walls
And utility bills, every Monday the company calls
I got a nice bed to sleep on
And a chest of drawers, where I keep those dreams of yours

Cause you're always mine to keep when you're gone
Two silvers rings, one's on my finger and the other one's gone
Went underground with you, oh John

Ten years pass
And I ended up with a house full of cats
But most of them went missing
Through that window you never fixed, the door you never latched

But you were on your way out the last time...

Cause you are always mine to keep when you're gone
Two silvers rings, one's on my finger and the other one's gone
Went underground with you, oh John

I knew what you were doing
That summer when Candie came around
But I had too much hurt to bother you
When we lost our first child I thought a little pain was overdue

And I wanted you so bad...

Cause you are always mine to keep when you're gone
Two silvers rings, one's on my finger and the other one's gone
Went underground with you, oh John

I miss you
I miss you
I miss you
I miss you...

Oh John....

Dear John,

What's wrong ? Why can't you just be anything you want ?
Why not ? Why not ? I tried to tell you then. You didn't understand.
They try and pigeonhole you. Buddy, they don't even know you.
But hang on my dear, dear, John.
Maybe you're not just like everyone, so what, so what.

And there's more to live for, than some abbreviated encore, much more, much more.
You can't define yourself in terms of someone else.
You can't say what you're thinking ? But I don't know what you've been drinking.
But don't cry. 'Cause life goes on.
Dear John, you could be anything you want.
Why not ? Why not ?
Why you could even be an astronaut, dear John, dear John.

I got home today
Took a look around
Trying to find that girl of mine
She could not be found

All her things were gone
She just left a note
It don't take no mastermind
To figure what she wrote

And she said dear John I'm moving on
By this time I'm gonna be long gone
Dear John c'est la vie
Dear John so long
You've seen the last of me

I don't want her back
I won't even try
This time ain't just au revoir
This time it's goodbye

We could not go on
Living like we were
I was just about to write
A Dear John note to her

I was gonna say
Dear John I'm moving on
By this time I'm gonna be long gone
Dear John c'est la vie
Dear John so long
You've seen the last of me

You came 'round today
You never even knocked on my door
Your note tried to say
That you don't love me no more

bridge:

I want you by my side cause
I wanna be your man
I'm burning up inside cause
I wanna be your man

I had to be told
From people that I meet in the street
They are turning cold
Without you I would not be complete

bridge:

Why did you write me in a letter
A word from you would be much better

lead

bridge

Don't cast me aside
Without you I could never survive
Why did you decide
To kill the love that keeps me alive

bridge:

1950 Country #8

Well when I woke up this mornin',
There was a note upon my door,
Said don't make me no coffee Babe,
'cause I won't be back no more,
And that's all she wrote, Dear John,
I've sent your saddle home.

Now Jonah got along in the belly of the whale,
Daniel in the lion's den,
But I know a guy that didn't try to get along,
And he won't get a chance again,
And that's all she wrote, Dear John,
I've fetched your saddle home.

Well she didn't forward no address,
Nor she didn't say goodbye,
All she said was if you get blue,
Just hang your little head and cry,
And that's all she wrote, Dear John,
I've sent your saddle home.

Now my gal's short and stubby,
She's strong as she can be,
But if that little old gal of mine,
Ever get's a-hold of me,
That's all she wrote, Dear John,
I've sent your saddle home.

Now Jonah got along in the belly of the whale,
Daniel in the lion's den,
But I know a man that didn't try to get along,
And he won't get a chance again,
And that's all she wrote, Dear John,
I've fetched your saddle home.

Now I went down to the bank this morning,
The cashier said with a grin,
I feel so sorry for you Hank,
But your wife has done been in,
And that's all she wrote, Dear John,
I've sent your saddle home.

Dear john,
Don't be hard on yourself.
Give yourself a break.
Life wasn't meant to be run.
The race is over, you've won.

Dear john,
Don't be hard on yourself.
Give yourself a break.
Life wasn't meant to be run.
The race is over, you've won.

Ha da do do do do
Do do do do do
(laugh)
September, november...

Dear john,
Don't be hard on yourself.
Give yourself a break.
Life wasn't meant to be run.
The race is over.

Ooooh.

Dear john,
Don't be hard on yourself.
Give yourself a break.
Life wasn't meant to be run.
The race is over.

And dear john,
Don't be hard on yourself.
Give yourself a break.
Life wasn't meant to be run.
The race is over.

Do-do,
Do-do-do-do,
Do-do-do-do-ooh, uh-hu,
Yeah, alright.

And dear john,
Don't be hard on yourself.
Give yourself a break.
Life wasn't meant to be run.
The race is over.

(whistle)

Dear john,
Put the tv on, have a snack.
Wash your mother's back.
The race is over.

I got home today
Took a look around
Trying to find that girl of mine
She could not be found

All her things were gone
She just left a note
It don't take no mastermind
To figure what she wrote

And she said dear John I'm moving on
By this time I'm gonna be long gone
Dear John c'est la vie
Dear John so long
You've seen the last of me

I don't want her back
I won't even try
This time ain't just au revoir
This time it's goodbye

We could not go on
Living like we were
I was just about to write
A Dear John note to her

I was gonna say
Dear John I'm moving on
By this time I'm gonna be long gone
Dear John c'est la vie
Dear John so long
You've seen the last of me

Dear John,

What's wrong ? Why can't you just be anything you want ?
Why not ? Why not ? I tried to tell you then. You didn't understand.
They try and pigeonhole you. Buddy, they don't even know you.
But hang on my dear, dear, John.
Maybe you're not just like everyone, so what, so what.

And there's more to live for, than some abbreviated encore, much more, much more.
You can't define yourself in terms of someone else.
You can't say what you're thinking ? But I don't know what you've been drinking.
But don't cry. 'Cause life goes on.
Dear John, you could be anything you want.
Why not ? Why not ?
Why you could even be an astronaut, dear John, dear John.

Cotton candy was king
On the midway that spring
When I saw you in the ring on the lawn

Dear John
Throwing kisses so Richmond's unfortunates can go on

Oh, the lectures I gave
So the girls would behave
While the band played all your favorite songs

Dear John
Throwing kisses so Richmond's unfortunates can go on

But numbers come up and you're left to the fates
Though I always thought you were one of the greats
Once somebody stationed in Kuala Lumpur
Said he thought you went out, but he couldn't be sure

And the midway I knew
Where the sky was so blue
With the memory of you is gone

Dear John
Throwing kisses so Richmond's unfortunates can go on
Throwing kisses so Richmond's unfortunates can go on
Throwing kisses so Richmond's unfortunates can go on
Throwing kisses so Richmond's unfortunates can go on
Throwing kisses so Richmond's unfortunates can go on

Everybody was talking to me
Like I was a child
In their words I could hear them saying
It's just a matter of time
Anyway it's a long long race been run
Anyway it's a sad sad song been sung

Dear John goodbye she said
Sometimes it's hard she said
Dear John I've broken away

Vanity is hard old lady
You can't read her mind
I'm a fool but I don't fool easy
While you're foolin' around
Anyway I can hold my own tonight
I admit I was wrong and you where right

Dear John Goodbye she said
Sometimes it's hard she said
Dear John I've broken away

Dear John goodbye she said
Sometimes it's hard she said
Dear John I've broken away

Dear John goodbye she said
Sometimes it's hard she said
Dear John I've broken away

Everybody was talking to me
Like I was a child
In their words I could hear them saying
It's just a matter of time
Anyway it's a long long race been run
Anyway it's a sad sad song been sung

Dear John goodbye she said
Sometimes it's hard she said
Dear John I've broken away

Dear John goodbye she said
Sometimes it's hard she said
Dear John I've broken away

Dear John goodbye she said
Sometimes..

Long were the nights when my days once revolved around you
Counting my footsteps,
praying the floor won't fall through, again
My mother accused me of losing my mind,
but I swore I was fine
You paint me a blue sky
and go back and turn it to rain
And I lived in your chess game,
but you changed the rules every day
Wondering which version of you I might get on the phone
tonight
Well I stopped picking up, and this song is to let you know why

Dear John,
I see it all now that you're gone
Don't you think I was too young to be messed with?
The girl in the dress,
cried the whole way home.
I should've known

Well maybe it's me and my blind optimism to blame
Maybe it's you and your sick need to give love then take it away
And you'll add my name to your long list of traitors who don't understand
And I'll look back and regret how I ignored when they said run as fast as you can

Dear John,
I see it all now that you're gone
Don't you think I was too young to be messed with?
The girl in the dress,
cried the whole way home
Dear John,
I should've known

You are an expert at sorry,
and keeping lines blurry
Never impressed by me acing your tests
All the girls that you run dry
with tired, lifeless eyes
cause you burned them out
But I took your matches before fire could catch me,
so don't look now:
I'm shining like fireworks over your sad, empty town

Dear John,
I see it all now that you're gone
Don't you think I was too young to be messed with?
The girl in the dress,
cried the whole way home.
I see it all now that you're gone

Don't you think I was too young to be messed with?
The girl in the dress wrote you a song
You should've known
You should've known

I see it all, now it was wrong
Don't you think 19 is too young to be played by your dark twisted games, when I loved you so?
I should've known

You are an expert at sorry,
and keeping lines blurry
Never impressed by me acing your tests
All the girls that you run dry
with tired, lifeless eyes
cause you burned them out
But I took your matches before fire could catch me,
so don't look now:
I'm shining like fireworks over your sad, empty town

Dear John,
I see it all now that you're gone
Don't you think I was too young to be messed with?
The girl in the dress,
cried the whole way home.
I see it all now that you're gone

Don't you think I was too young to be messed with?
The girl in the dress wrote you a song
You should've known
You should've known
Don't you think I was too young?
You should've known

Oh yeah, oh

You had just walked in from work
And there's a letter in the kitchen with your name on it
Inside, you will find an
Answer for each question you had
You had to know the day would come
That I'd find out that you are a liar
And a player, and the list goes on
So it hurts you now
But it would hurt even more if I stayed, so

Hope that you can understand
That you were once my man
But it's time to move on
Since you're playing games, oh

You thought the day would never come
Never ever thought that you
Would be reading Dear John
You be sure to read each line
Line by line, and take your time

You thought the day would never come
Never ever thought that you
Would be reading Dear John
By the time you read this letter
I'll be feeling much better
So long, it means I'm gone

Guess that you are wondering
How did she know that I
Was the type to play you
If you read, you'll find out

I have to end it
Bet I was right from the start
And I never took the time to ask myself
Why, oh, why would you waste your time
On a nigga in the club with a group of thugs
You shoulda known it was on
When I kept callin' your job
And they said that you were sick
So I paged you, don't get no call back
Now it all makes sense

The two of us are not meant to be
So by the time you read this letter
And try to make things better
Save your lines
But read each one of mine

Wish you'd see your game was not
Strong enough to keep me holding on
You be strong, time for me to go cuz

You thought the day would never come
Never ever thought that you
Would be reading Dear John
You be sure to read each line
Line by line, and take your time

You thought the day would never come
Never ever thought that you
Would be reading Dear John
By the time you read this letter
I'll be feeling much better
So long, it means I'm gone

You thought the day would never come
Never ever thought that you
Would be reading Dear John
You be sure to read each line
Line by line, and take your time

You thought the day would never come
Never ever thought that you
Would be reading Dear John
By the time you read this letter
I'll be feeling much better
So long, it means I'm gone

I wish I could see the look on your face
Ha ha ha, ha ha ha
And you wish you could just see my face
No no no, no no no
You thought I was playin' when I said you had
One more time, one more time
But if you can play this game
Then I can play it too, cuz...

You thought the day would never come
Never ever thought that you
Would be reading Dear John
You be sure to read each line
Line by line, and take your time

You thought the day would never come
Never ever thought that you
Would be reading Dear John
By the time you read this letter
I'll be feeling much better
So long, it means I'm gone

(Tommy Shaw)
Dear John I knew you
About as well as anyone
We were the wild ones
So sure those days would never end
Now they're only memories my friend

Dear John I'll see you
Some day again

I swear I saw you
On a crowded street today
I almost called your name
Thinking of all those yesterdays
Heaven help me
How I miss my friend

Dear John I'll see you
Some day again

There'll be a celebration
When all will be revealed
We'll have a reunion
High on a hill

Dear John how are you
God know it's heaven where you are
Find some peace there
May it never end

Dear John my heart knows
We'll meet again
Dear John I'll see you....
Some day again