John Willie Come on

AKA
First Published 1909
Writer/composer George Formby Snr Roud RN43173

Music Hall Performers George Formby Snr
Folk performances none? 

I'm a man that's fond of seeing life, and my wife, by the way
She said to me 'John Willie, you shall have a holiday'
She brought me up to London the sights to let me see
And when we arrived at St Pancakes my wife she said to me

'John Willie, come on! mind you don't get run o'er'
A lady came up to me and said, 'Have we not met before?'
My wife said, 'Miss, how dare you.
That's my husband so begone.
You know it's mine, I found it first
John Willie, come on!'

She took me by the hand into the picture gallery
I saw a champion picture there, it fairly tickled me
It was a woman in the sea with long hair on her head
I was getting interested when my wife turned round and said

'John Willie, come on! that picture makes you stare
It's only Venus rising from the sea, so don't stand there
I couldn't take my eyes off it, when the wife shouted 'John
The tide's coming in, it's not going out
John Willie, come on!'

We went in Madam 'Two Swords' waxwork show, and it was grand
And there we saw all waxwork kings and queens all shaking hands
There was Mary Queen of Scots, and Queen Elizabeth you see
And they rather took my fancy, when my wife she said to me

'John Willie, come on! It's closing time, you see
The lights went out and all was dark and quiet as could be
On turning round to my surprise, I found my wife had gone
And I'm sure I heard Queen Elizabeth say
'John Willie, come on!'

It's very nice to have a wife like mine that likes her drops
She often takes me round with her to look at all the shops
The other day we passed a building, it was plain to see
A mother's meeting, all on men - my wife she said to me

'John Willie, come on! It's free we'll go in here
The place it was a lecture hall, the speaker got a cheer
When she said 'Man came from Monkeys' at me looked every one
My wife said, 'She's getting personal, John Willie, come on!'

The Bystander –  20 June 1917

John Willie, the comic Lancashire everyman, first appeared in this song by George Formby Snr – father of the now more famous George Formby Jnr. He first performed it in 1909 and such was the success of the character that John Willie rapidly appeared in other songs, sketches and pantomimes – continuing to do so for many years. As far as I can tell this song has not appeared in the repertoire of many traditional singers, but John W does turn up as a character in comic songs by Lancashire artists like The Oldham Tinkers and Houghton Weavers.

Some early songs featuring John Willie are:

  • Fetch John Willie (sung by Jack Pleasants, 1910)
  • The bells were ringing (George Formby Snr, c1910)
  • Where’s my John Willie? (Alice Craven, 1911)
  • Have you seen my John Willie? (1914)
  • John Willie’s Jazz Band (George Formby Jnr, 1924)
  • Our John Willie’s Farm (Gracie Fields, 1932)

[An aside: Fred Kitchen played an earlier comic stage character called John Willie Jaggs in several of Fred Karno’s Productions, starting with Saturday to Monday in 1903, but as far as I can tell Jaggs was not from Lancashire]

The original John Willie song:

John Willie features in many Oldham Tinker’s songs.including:

Sources: