Johnston is famous for writing many of the memorable entrance theme songs for WWE, including the theme songs for The Undertaker, The Rock, and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, amongst hundreds of others superstars. In addition, Johnston has also composed music for the majority of WWE's PPV and Television productions, including show themes, music videos, vignettes, commercials and tributes.
Johnston has mentioned in past interviews that he suffers from stage fright and a fear of live audiences, and it was this fear that led to him seeking a more 'studio oriented' music career. His first job in the entertainment business was working with MTV and VH1 to create bumpers and commercial cues, before a chance meeting in a sushi restaurant with a WWF producer led to him joining Vince McMahon's professional wrestling company. Initially composing TV themes for shows and commercial buffers, Johnston gravitated towards wrestlers' entrance themes, before eventually becoming a complete music composer for the company.
In 1989, Johnston composed original music for No Holds Barred, a movie starring Hulk Hogan. Although the score was never commercially released, the theme "No Holds Barred", with vocals by John Joyce, was later released on WWE Anthology album in 2002. Johnston also contributed the score to the 2010 WWE Studio's release, "Legendary", starring John Cena.
Johnston is well known for writing, composing and producing all his compositions, in addition to playing all instruments, and occasionally recruiting outside vocalists or additional musicians to contribute when the piece requires.
Johnston appears on the videotape Piledriver - The Wrestling Album 2 to introduce the video for Girls in Cars. He orchestrated the live band at the WWF Slammy Awards ceremonies, and traveled across the U.S. in 1995 as part of the "Raw Band". He also appeared on camera at WrestleMania XIV and the 1998 SummerSlam playing the DX theme with the Chris Warren Band. Johnston also had a brief clip in the film Beyond the Mat discussing his reasoning behind Vader's theme music. Johnston also appears on the bonus DVD for WWE Originals the 2004 album by the same name. The DVD features a 30 minute behind-the-scenes documentary on Johnston, offering insights into the composing, producing and directing of the album. There are also some humorous interactions of Johnston with Jonathan Coachman and Steve Austin. Johnston also appears on The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior discussing the Ultimate Warrior's theme song, and how it was able to be truly representative of the character. Johnston also appeared on the WWF WrestleMania XV DVD Extras, commenting on WWF's music, and how music is crucial in the World Wrestling Federation, now World Wrestling Entertainment.
James Alan Johnston composed the music for two films recently produced by WWE Studios, 'Legendary' (starring John Cena), and 'Knucklehead', starring The Big Show. He also wrote the score for "No Holds Barred" starring Hulk Hogan, and contributed the track, "Ahmed Johnson" to Beyond the Mat.
My Time
James A. Johnston Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I’ve been tryna maintain you still stuck up on my mind
I ain’t got no feelings but no you is just a dime
I’ve been calling you but you the one wasting my time
Why you gotta waste my time
I’ve been working hard life get hard sometimes
I know you feeling off I just hope that you are fine
But you ain’t gotta waste my time
I’ve been tryna talk to you, you act like something’s up though
Always asking you about it, but I guess no
You always telling me about another thing to take slow
Hate it when you do that
I don’t wanna go back
Every time I hear it I feel like I'm in a flashback
I know that it will take sometime but I don’t wanna show that
Keep blowing up my phone I don’t got the time to text back
I do what I want to
I ain’t gonna call you
You gonna try and manage me but that ain’t what we gonna do
Feeling like I’m always off but I swear I'm gone come through
I don’t wanna show you things in my past that I've gone through
I ain’t tryna waste no time
I’ve been tryna maintain you still stuck up on my mind
I ain’t got no feelings but no you is just a dime
I’ve been calling you but you the one wasting my time
Why you gotta waste my time
I’ve been working hard life get hard sometimes
I know you feeling off I just hope that you are fine
But you ain’t gotta waste my time
You really think that you know me
I’ve been stressing out way too much think I'm going crazy
I ain’t have no one to help me you just gone be lazy
Getting to the point I only care about what they see
Every time I ask you ‘bout it, it’s a maybe
You getting way to caught up about all the things you may be
I’m telling you it’s not a real good reason to go crazy
My head is getting cloudy I feel everything is hazy
But why you gotta waste my time
I’ve been tryna text you, you say you gotta decide
Always feel like I’m at war but that’s just me inside
You saying I ain’t do enough at least I say I tried
I ain’t tryna waste no time
I’ve been tryna maintain you still stuck up on my mind
I ain’t got no feelings but no you is just a dime
I’ve been calling you but you the one wasting my time
Why you gotta waste my time
I’ve been working hard life get hard sometimes
I know you feeling off I just hope that you are fine
But you ain’t gotta waste my time
The lyrics of James A. Johnston's song "My Time" speak about a person who is tired of being treated like an option rather than a priority by someone they care for. The singer of the song is trying hard to maintain a meaningful relationship, but their partner seems indifferent and neglectful. They feel like they are always wasting their time on this person who doesn't reciprocate their feelings. The singer voices their frustration with the situation, as they have been put in a position where they have to constantly chase after their partner who is always too busy or unavailable.
Throughout the song, the singer acknowledges that they have been trying their best to communicate with their partner but the effort has been futile. They express that they don't want to go back to the old ways of feeling neglected, and they don't want to be managed or controlled in the new relationship either. The singer seems to be on the edge of giving up on the relationship, but they are still hopeful that things will get better. In the end, they plead with their partner not to waste their time, as they have already invested a lot in their relationship.
Overall, the song captures the feeling of being caught in a one-sided relationship where you are always left wanting more. It conveys the universal theme of the importance of being valued and respected in a romantic partnership.
Line by Line Meaning
I ain’t tryna waste no time
I don't want to waste any time because it is valuable.
I’ve been tryna maintain you still stuck up on my mind
I have been trying to keep myself busy, but I still can't stop thinking about you.
I ain’t got no feelings but no you is just a dime
I don't have any romantic feelings towards you but I still consider you valuable.
I’ve been calling you but you the one wasting my time
I have been trying to communicate with you but it seems like you are not interested and you are just wasting my time.
Why you gotta waste my time
Why do you have to be the one to waste my time instead of trying to work things out with me?
I’ve been working hard life get hard sometimes
Life can be tough sometimes and I have been trying to work hard to get through it.
I know you feeling off I just hope that you are fine
I know that you are not feeling great and I just hope that you are okay.
But you ain’t gotta waste my time
But you don't have to keep wasting my time when I am trying to communicate with you.
All the things that you don’t know
There are many things that you are not aware of.
I’ve been tryna talk to you, you act like something’s up though
I have been trying to talk to you, but it seems like there is something bothering you.
Always asking you about it, but I guess no
I have been constantly asking you about what's bothering you but it seems like you don't want to tell me.
You always telling me about another thing to take slow
You keep telling me to take things slow instead of addressing the real problem.
Hate it when you do that
I don't like it when you avoid the issue by telling me to take things slow.
I don’t wanna go back
I don't want to revisit the past.
Every time I hear it I feel like I'm in a flashback
Every time I hear about taking things slow, it feels like I'm reliving a past situation.
I know that it will take sometime but I don’t wanna show that
I know fixing our problem will take time, but I don't want to be patient because it is frustrating.
Keep blowing up my phone I don’t got the time to text back
You keep sending me messages, but I don't have the time to reply because I am busy.
I do what I want to
I make my own decisions based on what I want to do.
I ain’t gonna call you
I am not going to call you because I don't have any reason to.
You gonna try and manage me but that ain’t what we gonna do
You are going to try to control me, but that is not what we are going to do because I value my freedom.
Feeling like I’m always off but I swear I'm gone come through
I feel like I am always struggling, but I promise I will come through eventually.
I don’t wanna show you things in my past that I've gone through
I don't want to reveal my past struggles to you.
You really think that you know me
You think you understand who I am, but you don't.
I’ve been stressing out way too much think I'm going crazy
I have been feeling stressed out and it's making me feel like I am losing my mind.
I ain’t have no one to help me you just gone be lazy
I haven't had any help, and it seems like you are just being lazy about trying to solve our issues.
Getting to the point I only care about what they see
I am getting to the point where I only care about what others see and not the real issue between us.
Every time I ask you ‘bout it, it’s a maybe
Every time I ask you about our problem, you give me a vague answer.
You getting way to caught up about all the things you may be
You are getting overly anxious about all the things that could happen and it's affecting our relationship.
I’m telling you it’s not a real good reason to go crazy
I am telling you that the things you are worrying about are not good reasons to feel crazy.
My head is getting cloudy I feel everything is hazy
I am feeling overwhelmed and it's making everything seem unclear.
Lyrics © DistroKid, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: James Curtis
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Chantelle Hurran
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ love this song can’t believe it’s finally released absolute gold
Celica Cabbe
Heard it just this morning and my oh my it gets my head spinning with pure joy! 🥰😍🥰
Ed's Equestrian
This is such a tune! Very talented. Going to have this on repeat at our yard 🐎🐴
Kevin Bailey
This song is the best song of the year so catchy and such a feel good song amazing work James Johnston 💙💙💙
Wanda
Love it James!!! Good job🎼🎼🎼🎼
Karol Chambers
Great song 👌🎼🎊
VikingWolfSpirit
Amazing i was so stoked to hear this masterpiece of a song 😍😍😍😍😍
Asher Ace
Same here I had a whole calendar counting down until it came out
Mikhial 12
I love this song!!!!! It’s a shame it’s not available in South Africa on Apple Music 😢
William steeles
Absolutely love it 😀