I was young, I was just sixteen then,
when you came up from Burma one day.
And you told me to pack up my suitcase,
and I did, and you took me away.
When I asked how you earned your living
Oh, I can still hear what you said to me
You had some kind of job with the railroad,
and had nothing to do with the sea.
You said a lot, Johnny. All one big lie.
You sure had me fooled, Johnny, from the minute we met.
I hate you when you laugh at me like that.
Now, you take that pipe out of your mouth, you rat.

Surabaya Johnny. Why'd you treat me so rough?
Surabaya Johnny. And I do love you so.
Surabaya Johnny. Why am I feeling so low?
You have no heart, Johnny, and I do love you so.

At the start, every day was Sunday
'til I packed up and went off with you.
And it lasted two weeks until one day
you laughed at me and you hit me too.
You dragged me all over the cities,
up the river and down to the sea.
Now when I look at myself in the mirror,
there's an old woman looking back at me.
You didn't want love, Johnny, you wanted cash.
But I saw your lips, Johnny, and that was that.
You wanted it all, Johnny. I gave you more.
Now you take that damn pipe out of your mouth, you rat.

Surabaya Johnny. Why'd you treat me so rough?
Surabaya Johnny. And I do love you so.
Surabaya Johnny. Why am I feeling so low?
You have no heart, Johnny, and I do love you so.

I would never have dared to ask you
how you got that peculiar name,
but at every hotel that we stopped at,
I found out, but I love you all the same.
And one day in a Cuban flophouse
I wake up to the roar of the sea.
And you leave without one word of warning
on that ship waiting down on the Key.
You have no heart, Johnny. You're just no good.
How can you go, Johnny and leave me flat?
You feel my love, like that very first day.
Now you take that goddamn pipe out of your mouth, you rat.

Surabaya Johnny. Why'd you treat me so rough?
Surabaya Johnny. And I do love you so.
Surabaya Johnny. Why am I feeling so low?
You have no heart, Johnny, and I do love you so.