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Morning Open Thread Saturday September 6, theme: songs about Johnny [1]
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Date: 2025-09-06
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Note: I use a ‘theme’ for my diaries, in an attempt to keep my writings on a cohesive path while I compose the diaries. It is also fun to see comments that fit within that theme. However, here in MOTland, all topics are welcome, it is an open thread. There are no demerits for being so-called ‘off-topic’. Thanks!
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Preview: next Saturday September 13, songs about The Twist
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>>>>This diary is about songs with ‘Johnny’ as the theme. But, for a ‘clever?’ slight twist, the words are about ‘John’, as used colloquially, meaning a toilet or restroom. And why it is called by that term.
Here’s a link, with way more than you may want to know, about that subject: John
>>>>from the link:
The term ‘john’ is thought to derive from Sir John Harrington or, at the least, to have been popularized due to Harrington.
Sir John Harrington lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Harrington was one of the 102 god-children of Queen Elizabeth I, known as the “Saucy Godson”, for his proclivity to write somewhat risqué poetry and other writings, which often got him banished only to be allowed to return again sometime later.
Along with writing several notable works, Harrington also devised Britain’s first flushing toilet, which he called the “Ajax”. This derived from the term “Jakes”, which was a slang term for what we now call a toilet.
Shortly thereafter, Harrington wrote one of his more famous and popular works titled “A New Discourse upon a Stale Subject: The Metamorphosis of Ajax”. This, on the surface, was about his new invention, but more to the point was a political allegory on the “stercus” (excrement) that was poisoning the state.
The book itself got him banished from the court for a time due to its allusions to the Earl of Leicester. However, the actual flushing toilet device itself was real and was installed in his home and later one was made for the queen around 1596. The device worked by pulling a cord that would allow water to rush in from the “water closet”, which would flush away the waste.
Although Harrington wasn’t by any means the first to invent a flushing toilet (there are references to flushing toilets going all the way back to around 2600 BC), his invention was an innovation in Britain at the time and it was commonly thought that he was the inventor of the flushing toilet, which is why it is thought the flushing toilet today is often also called a “John”.
Enough of that — here’s some music about Johnny:
Johnny Angel by The Carpenters lyrics: Johnny Angel
Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry lyrics: Johnny Be Goode
Oh Johnny Oh by the Andrews Sisters lyrics: Oh Johnny Oh
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