Song · Fine Young Cannibals
“Johnny Come Home” by Fine Young Cannibals
From the album Fine Young Cannibals (1985)
“Johnny Come Home” by Fine Young Cannibals appears on 11 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 1985 and 2026. It was first released in 1985 on the album Fine Young Cannibals. Its best result is #68 on the 91X Top 91 Songs of 1986. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #148 alternative song of 1985 and #2,503 alternative song of all time.
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"Johnny Come Home" was the song that introduced Fine Young Cannibals, the first single from their self-titled 1985 debut, and it lays the band's cards on the table in one go: rock and ska rubbing shoulders, a jazzy trumpet solo, and Roland Gift's voice, which sounds like nobody else's. Gift wrote it with David Steele, and Steele produced it with Andy Cox.
The story is a hard-bitten one. The verses belong to a runaway kid finding out the big city isn't what he was promised, and the chorus switches to the parents back home, wishing he'd come back to them. The groove is nervy and taut, the ache in the words pulling against a beat you can dance to. It became one of the group's best-loved hits.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 73 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1985 | 107 |
| 1986 | 68 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 1986 | 90 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 161 | Live 105 | Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988) | 501 |
| 1989 | 448 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989) | 495 |
| 1989 | 89 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) | 500 |
| 1991 | 113 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) | 500 |
| 1991 | 967 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) | 1002 |
| 1992 | 208 | KROQ | KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) | 500 |
| 1999 | 783 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) | 1002 |
| 2021 | 656 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s | 909 |
| 2026 | 894 | KXT | KXT 917 Song Countdown | 917 |
Also listed as: Johnny Comes Home.
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