Joanna

Album: The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine: The Very Best of Scott Walker (1968)
Charted: 7
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This MORish composition by the husband and wife team Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent was released as Scott Walker's second solo single. However it proved to be a particular tension for the ex-Walker Brothers frontman. Former Walkers bandmate Gary Leeds, who played on the track, recalled to Mojo magazine January 2013: "Scott got really fed up with doing 'The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)' but the one he really hated singing was 'Joanna.' I'd be, Everybody likes it! And he'd say, 'I just don't like singing it.' I think it was because he was so gifted, and singing was so easy for him, almost like talking, y'know? And Scott wasn't satisfied with just that, he wanted new lyrics, to test the voice, to push everything else into another art form. All Maurice (King, manager) wanted to do was make Scott another Andy Williams or Sinatra."
  • An instrumental arrangement on the song was used as the theme for Walker's 1969 BBC TV series, Scott.

Comments: 2

  • Michael from Devon UkA beautiful song, an amazing voice, evoking such memories of 1968...
  • Tony Lawrence from Victoria. Bc. Canada“You breathed your smile, and dimmed your eyes completely”. (This is the correct line in the lyrics)
see more comments

Editor's Picks

David Bowie Leads the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired Men

David Bowie Leads the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired MenSong Writing

Bowie's "activist" days of 1964 led to Ziggy Stardust.

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine Band

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine BandSongwriter Interviews

Harry Wayne Casey tells the stories behind KC and The Sunshine Band hits like "Get Down Tonight," "That's The Way (I Like It)," and "Give It Up."

Don Dokken

Don DokkenSongwriter Interviews

Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real Group

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real GroupSong Writing

The leader of the Modern A Cappella movement talks about the genre.

Steven Tyler of Aerosmith

Steven Tyler of AerosmithSongwriter Interviews

Tyler talks about his true love: songwriting. How he identifies the beauty in a melody and turns sorrow into art.

Joan Armatrading

Joan ArmatradingSongwriter Interviews

The revered singer-songwriter talks inspiration and explains why she put a mahout in "Drop the Pilot."