Lyrics
(Folk song from Trinidad and Tobago)
Call: Johnny Grotto was a fisherman’s son
Response:Â Yeah yeah yeah ho
Call: Johnny Grotto was a fisherman’s son
Response:Â A long time ago
When he set out to sea he had one thing in mind
Yeah yeah yeah ho
He wanted to see how much fish he could find
A long time ago
It was late in the evening when fish start to bite
Yeah yeah yeah ho
Just before dark when the fish start to bite
A long time ago
When the fishing was good he was feeling alright
Yeah yeah yeah ho
Said the fishing was good he was feeling alright
A long time ago
And the night was so bright that a star was in sight
Yeah yeah yeah ho
Said the night was so bright that a star was in sight
A long time ago
He catch so much fish that he stayed out all night
Yeah yeah yeah ho
He catch so much fish that he stayed out all night
A long time ago
See also
- Country: Trinidad and Tobago
- Form: call and response
- Harmony: chords I & V
- Scale: hexatonic
- Tones: drmslt
- more lyrics
YouTube
- Song with chords (PDF)
- MIDI file
- Listen to the song
6 thoughts on “Johnny Grotto”
My wife is from Trinidad and her version has the following additional verses.
He went out to sea to catch jack fish for me…
The sea was all rough and them fish pulling tough…
If he catch plenty fish we go cook a nice dish.…
The land is in sight we go reach before night…
Thanks for sharing!
I am from Trinidad and Tobago and I’ve never heard these extra verses in my life until now. My dad is from Tobago and I lived there for quite a while. I participated in singing a lot of our tradition songs especially from Tobago because this is from Tobago. I know it to have just three verses and only the first verse sync with the original folk song.
Verse 1
Johnny Grotto was ah fisherman son, yeah yeah yeah meh boy
Johnny Grotto was ah fisherman so, ah long time ago
Verse 2 –
We go catch plenty fish we go make ah nice dish, yeah yeah yeah meh boy
We go catch plenty fish we go make ah nice dish, ah long time ago
Verse 3
De land is insight we go reach before night, yeah yeah yeah meh boy
D land is insight we go reach before night, ah long time ago
Yes!
Thanks for the reminder, these verses are familiar!
Who is the author of Johnny Grotto?
This is a folk song, which means the song has been passed down without a known composer.