Jonny and Betty went to high school together
and Jonny and Betty went steady.
Because Jonny and Betty knew that someday
they'd be ready to say:
" Forget what we've learned, we're gay."
Jonny and Betty went to high school together
and Jonny and Betty went steady.
Because Jonny and Betty knew that someday
not today they'd be ready to say:
" Forget all the lessons we've learned, we're gay."
When the rings are going on to the fingers everywhere
and everybody asking these two if they're gonna tie the knot,
they nod shyly and say, "well maybe...."
then they smile wisely and say, "well maybe not."
Betty learned to sew her own dress and
Jonny was a champion at chess
Ordinary kids, you know, just plain folks,
but 'keep the love stuff to yourself, and laugh at all of their jokes'
Swimming with the tide until the tide goes out
Swimming with the tide until
Well, we know the world's not perfect and the world's not strong
so we know someone will suffer by the end of the song
Someone will get bashed before the end of the verse,
the only question is, who got bashed first -
and it was Jonny, discovered in what they call Boytown
High school buddies out of nowhere grab him and spin him around
and then they hit him in the face and laugh and kick him to the ground.
Jonny with a swollen face
and Betty's puffed from crying,
agreed there's no going back,
being attacked is like dying
and dying is like leaving, so they ran.
They didn't take much, they took what they could carry
They talked about the future and decided they should marry
They should live their secret lives,
but keep it quiet, keep it calm -
keep their love to themselves and keep themselves away from harm
Swimming with the tide until the tide goes out
Swimming with the tide until
And what a lovely day on the beach it will be
for our heroes Betty and Jonny
and all of their friends as the crowd swooshes out to sea
leaving all of the different ones shining and free