I'm sorry you couldn't make it You should have seen him, so weathered and dated He was a Johnny Come Lately And I know that you would hate him If you'd seen his botanical leanings First prize exhibit and all down to good spirit He was a Johnny Come Lately And I know that you hate me If I envied the things that he spoke of How I envied the things that he thought of He was a Johnny Come Lately And I know that you would hate me If I told you that i made some time and stayed behind To find out how to make a garden grow Where the sun no longer shines If I asked too many questions and stayed behind To find out how to make a garden grow But he never gave away the secret of his god forsaken soil He didn't need us, just tempted and teased us You could've been here, wishing you were here This was a Johnny Come Lately And I know that you would hate me He was a Johnny Come Lately And I know that you would hate me If I told you that I made some time and stayed behind To find out how to make a garden grow Where the sun no longer shines He assured me that the seeds you sold were sound But I must have cast them all on stony ground And now the sun won't shine I must have asked too many questions And I stayed behind to find out how to make a garden grow But he never ever gave away the secret of this godforsaken soil