There are several artists by the name Robert Johnson:

1. An American… Read Full Bio ↴There are several artists by the name Robert Johnson:

1. An American blues singer, guitarist and songwriter (1911-1938) amongst the most famous of Delta blues musicians; ranked fifth in Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time; considered by some to be the "Grandfather of Rock 'n' Roll"

2. An English lutenist and composer of the late Tudorian and early Jacobean eras (c.1580-c.1634)

3. A 1970s Memphis-based American guitarist

4. A former drummer for KC and the Sunshine Band

1. Robert Johnson (Robert Leroy Johnson, Hazlehurst, Mississippi, May 8, 1911- Greenwood, Mississippi, August 16, 1938) was an American blues singer, guitarist and songwriter, among the most famous of Delta blues musicians.
His landmark recordings from 1936–1937 display a remarkable combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that have influenced generations of musicians. Johnson's shadowy, poorly documented life and death at age 27 have given rise to much legend.
The first songs to appear were Terraplane Blues and Last Fair Deal Gone Down, Terraplane Blues became a moderate regional hit, selling 5,000 copies.
Other songs Johnson recorded were Come On In My Kitchen, Kind Hearted Woman Blues, I Believe I'll Dust My Broom, and Cross Road Blues.
Come on in My Kitchen included the lines:
"The woman I love took from my best friend / Some joker got lucky, stole her back again / You better come on in my kitchen, it's going to be rainin' outdoors."
In Crossroad Blues, another of his songs, he sang:
"I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees / I went to the crossroads, fell down on my knees / I asked the Lord above, have mercy, save poor Bob if you please / Uumb, standing at the crossroads I tried to flag a ride / Standing at the crossroads I tried to flag a ride / Ain't nobody seem to know me, everybody pass me by."
Stones In My Passway and Me And The Devil are both about betrayal, a recurrent theme in country blues. Hell Hound On My Trail utilises another common theme: fear of the Devil. Other themes in Johnson's music include impotence (Dead Shrimp Blues and Phonograph Blues) and infidelity (Terraplane Blues, If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day and Love in Vain).

The most widely-known legend surrounding Robert Johnson says that he sold his soul to the Devil at the crossroads of U.S. Highway 61 and U.S. Highway 49 in Clarksdale, Mississippi in exchange for prowess in playing the guitar. Actually, the location Johnson made reference to is a short distance away from that intersection. The Faustian legend was told mainly by Son House, but finds no corroboration in any of Johnson's work, despite titles like Me and the Devil Blues and Hellhound on My Trail. With this said, the song Cross Road Blues is both widely and loosely interpreted by many as a descriptive encounter of Johnson selling his soul.
The older Tommy Johnson (no relation, although it is speculated that they were cousins), by contrast, also claimed to have sold his soul to the Devil. The story goes that if one would go to the crossroads a little before midnight and begin to play the guitar, a large black man would come up to the aspiring guitarist, retune his guitar and then hand it back. At this point (so the legend goes) the guitarist had sold his soul to become a virtuoso (A similar legend even surrounded virtuoso violinist Niccolò Paganini a century before.
His death remains a matter of controversy. Some accounts state that he was given poisoned whiskey at a dance by the husband of a woman he had been secretly seeing. Others claim that it was just The Devil collecting his debt after the old legend of Robert Johnson dealing with the devil.
However, the latest, and unfortunately less dramatic and more plausible theory (published by David Connell in the British Medical Journal) is that Robert Johnson suffered from Marfan's Syndrome. Marfan's is a genetic disorder characterized by disproportionately long limbs, long thin fingers, a tall stature — all of which can be seen in the two photos that exist of Robert Johnson. Marfan's Syndrome is a cause of heart defects, and a complication such as an aortic dissection could lead to Robert Johnson's excruciatingly painful death.

Eleven 78s were released on the Vocalion label during his lifetime, with a twelfth issued posthumously. All songs are copyrighted to Robert Johnson, and his estate.

The Complete Recordings: A double-disc box set was released on August 28, 1990, containing almost everything Robert Johnson ever recorded, with all 29 recordings, and 12 alternate takes. (There is one further alternate, of
Traveling Riverside Blues which was released on Sony's King of the Delta Blues Singers CD and also as an extra in early printings of the paperback edition of Elijah Wald's "Escaping the Delta."

Grammy Awards:
1990 — Best Historical Album The Complete Recordings (Sony/Columbia) Legacy Winner

Grammy Hall of Fame:
1998 — Cross Road Blues (Single) (1936, Vocalion)

National Recording Registry:
The Complete Recordings of Robert Johnson (1936-1937) was included by the National Recording Preservation Board in the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2003.
The board selects songs in an annual basis that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included four songs by Robert Johnson in the 500 songs that shaped rock and roll:
Sweet Home Chicago (1936),
Cross Road Blues (1936),
Hellhound on My Trail (1937),
Love in Vain (1937)

The Blues Foundation Awards:
Robert Johnson: Blues Music Awards
1991 Vintage or Reissue Album The Complete Recordings Winner

Honors and inductions
On September 17, 1994 the U.S. Post Office issues a Robert Johnson 29-cent commemorative postage stamp.
2006 — Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award Winner accepted by son Claud Johnson
2000 — Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame Inducted
1986 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inducted Early Influences
1980 — Blues Hall of Fame Inducted

He was also ranked fifth in Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
Considered by some to be the "Grandfather of Rock 'n' Roll", his vocal phrasing, original songs, and guitar style have influenced a broad range of musicians, including Muddy Waters, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Johnny Winter, Jeff Beck, and Eric Clapton.

2. Robert Johnson (c.1580-c.1634) was an English lutenist and composer of the late Tudorian and early Jacobean eras. He was the son of John Johnson.

3. Memphis-based Robert Johnson has been recording since the early '70s. Some early appearances were on recordings by the Hot Dogs, a band that featured Jack Holder and Greg Reding, later to cross the Mississippi River and become members of the raunchy hard-rocking Black Oak Arkansas.

By the late '70s, Johnson had recorded a single with the Bell Heirs and had established a somewhat regular playing relationship with a rhythm section featuring bassist Dave Cochran and drummer Blair Cunningham. The Infinity label released the premier Johnson effort as a leader, an album entitled Close Personal Friend, yet a collection entitled The Memphis Demos, which came out the following year, is considered to be a much better representation of his work, not the first time a musician's more casual performances beat out a supposedly more serious album project.

4) Robert Johnson was a former drummer for KC and the Sunshine Band

Where Do We Go From Here
Robert Johnson Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

When you're in love
Some things you take for granted
Until someone pulls it apart
And leaves you with half of your heart
How do I trade
The best I had for less
Without giving up
Should I slowly accept that we'll be no more than just friends

How do I know
When to let go
I know what I'm feeling inside
But part of me still wants to try

So tell me
Where do we go from here
Why's my heart filled with so much fear
When all that you are
Is all I need and more

There's no winning bets
The battle's just begun
I know it's over
But I still feel the same
You'll always remain number one

'Cause letting go
More and so much
I know what I'm feeling inside
But part of me still wants to try

So tell me
Where do we go from here
Why's my heart filled with so much fear
When all that you are
Is all I need and more

So tell me
Where do we go from here
Why's my heart filled with so much fear
When all that you are
Is all I need and more

Letting go
More and so much
I know what I'm feeling inside
But part of me still wants to try

So tell me
Where do we go from here
Why's my heart filled with so much fear
When all that you are
Is all I need and more

So tell me
Where do we go from here
Why's my heart filled with so much fear
When all that you are
Is all I need and more

So tell me
Where do we go from here
Why's my heart filled with so much fear
When all that you are
Is all I need and more

So tell me
Where do we go from here
Why's my heart filled with so much fear

When all that you are
Is all I need and more

Overall Meaning

Robert Johnson's song "Where Do We Go From Here" is an emotional lament about love lost and the struggle to let go. The singer, who has been left with "half of [their] heart," grapples with the difficult decision of whether or not to continue pursuing the relationship or to accept just being friends. The lyrics express the fear and uncertainty that comes with letting go of someone who was once everything to you, as well as the ongoing desire to hold onto what once was.

The opening lines, "When you're in love / Some things you take for granted / Until someone pulls it apart," suggest a sense of shock and disbelief that the relationship has come to an end. The line "How do I trade / The best I had for less / Without giving up" highlights the singer's struggle to make sense of the situation and come to terms with the loss. Throughout the song, there is a sense of inner turmoil as the singer grapples with whether to let go or keep trying.

The repetition of the chorus, "So tell me / Where do we go from here / Why's my heart filled with so much fear / When all that you are / Is all I need and more," emphasizes the singer's confusion and desperation for answers. The final lines, "Letting go / More and so much / I know what I'm feeling inside / But part of me still wants to try," speak to the internal conflict that comes with ending a relationship - even when you know it's the right thing to do.

Line by Line Meaning

When you're in love
Love is like an expectation that feels so good when it's met.

Some things you take for granted
Being in love with someone for so long makes you feel comfortable around them and you end up assuming things.

Until someone pulls it apart
Every good thing could come to an end abruptly when someone you love decides to call it quit.

And leaves you with half of your heart
Whenever a valuable relationship ends or something you've built falls apart, it sometimes feel like a part of you has been ripped apart and taken away.

How do I trade
Trying to replace something that worked well is like trying to buy a cheaper version of a kindle because you only read one book occasionally.

The best I had for less
Giving up something of high value for something lesser feels like a terrible trade and not worth it at all.

Without giving up
It's hard to let go of something really good even though you know it's no longer yielding the desired results.

Should I slowly accept that we'll be no more than just friends
It's difficult to deal with the fact that someone you used to have an amazing connection with can no longer be something more than just a casual friend.

How do I know
When the future holds so much uncertainty, it's hard to be sure of what to do, especially when it comes to matters of the heart.

When to let go
It's not always easy to let go of something especially when it has become such an important part of your life.

I know what I'm feeling inside
Your heart always knows for sure what you really want even if you try to convince yourself otherwise.

But part of me still wants to try
It's hard to ignore the desire to try and make things work even though there is doubt about it being the right thing to do.

So tell me
It's important to communicate so that you don't end up making decisions based on assumptions.

Why's my heart filled with so much fear
Fear of being alone, fear of losing something that was really good, and the fear of the unknown can all be very overwhelming.

When all that you are
It's rare to come across someone with a perfect combination of all the qualities you need in a partner.

Is all I need and more
When you find that someone who fits perfectly into your life, it fills your heart with all the love and care you need and more.

There's no winning bets
Relationships shouldn't be taken as a competition because there is no guaranteed winner.

The battle's just begun
Sometimes starting a relationship is the easiest part, keeping it going strong is where the real work begins.

I know it's over
When it's over, it's really over and it usually takes a while to accept that fact.

But I still feel the same
Despite the end of a relationship, the feelings usually linger and may even take a while to fully go away.

You'll always remain number one
The beautiful moments shared with someone you loved will always be cherished and close to heart.

Letting go
It's hard to let go of beautiful memories just because the future looks unsettling.

More and so much
When it comes to matters of the heart, it's almost impossible to quantify your feelings in words.

So tell me
Communicating can help gain clarity on important matters.

Why's my heart filled with so much fear
The fear of not finding someone else that could fill that void or fear of the unknown future can make the heart heavy.