“Joanna” tells the story of a man who was born with gender dysphoria who identified as a woman but everyone around him was not accepting of who he truly was and tried to push him to be something he was not
When I was young I had a friend
Father said she was make-pretend
Joanna was her name and life was innocence
Doctors tried to claw her out
And pills tried to push her down
She was part of me, she came back again
But not before long
When all was said and done
I knew that it was really her and me
The boys in the crowd
They said they’d beat her out
They’d exorcise this little witch in me
By the time that all
The teachers had arrived
It was too late
They bludgeoned her to death
Outside the gate
She slipped away
Into the summer rain
And never was the same
Oh Joanna dear
I thought this song would make you disappear
And banish you somehow
Though as I sing it now
I hear your voice so loud
So there can be no doubt
That somehow you crept out
Joanna was written by Achilleas Sarantaris & Duc Peterman & Henry Chisholm & James Donovan & Nick Mohnblatt.
Joanna was produced by Rodaidh McDonald.