Country Music

Josephine By Rory Feek – Joey Feek

Introduction

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Rory Feek’s “Josephine” is a deeply moving song born from a chance discovery that bridged history with heartfelt storytelling. In the mid‑1990s, Feek purchased a 150‑year‑old farmhouse in Maury County, Tennessee, and stumbled upon a trove of Civil War–era letters exchanged between a soldier named J.W. Robison and his wife, Josephine . Struck by the raw emotion, misspellings, and poetic longing in those letters—“unbelievably poetic,” Joey Feek later described—Rory’s imagination ignited .

By 2012, Rory and his wife Joey, known as the country duo Joey+Rory, channeled this inspiration into the song “Josephine,” featured on their His & Hers album . The track recounts a soldier’s yearning and his wife’s unwavering devotion, echoing the tone of the original letters. Critics hailed it as a “mini‑masterpiece,” steeped in historical reverence and emotional honesty .

The accompanying music video further cemented “Josephine” as a visual narrative, blending period drama with lyrical storytelling in a poignant Civil War tableau . But the song’s evolution didn’t end there. Inspired by the same letters and the songwriting process, Rory penned and directed a full‑length Civil War film, Finding Josephine, released in 2019. Acknowledged with the Grand Jury Prize at the 2016 Nashville Film Festival, the film weaves between Josephine’s 1860s struggle and modern reflections on love and legacy .

“Josephine” thus stands as a testament to the power of storytelling—from letters lost in time to a song, and finally a feature film. It reveals Rory Feek’s passion for preserving history through art, and his ability to transform archival fragments into universal stories of devotion. It’s not just a song but a heartfelt tribute, connecting past to present through music, memory, and deeply human emotion.

Video

https://youtu.be/DTrkq_41nv0?si=42iS72nQBsbUDjd_

Lyrics

I’m writing this letter, my darling, from high on the hill
We’ve been marching ten days and we’re just outside Hopkinsville
It’s been snowing all night and we ain’t got no more kerosene
It’s colder than hell, hope you’re doin’ well, Josephine
There’s a fever in camp and our boys are too sick to fight
We done lost old Calvin, Beaver won’t make it through the night
I hope I heard the captain say it’s the worst he’s ever seen
I’m losin’ some weight but I’m still standin’ up straight, Josephine
Tell my children I miss ’em and wish I could kiss ’em once more
Bet they’ve grown a foot since they waved me goodbye at the door
Tell mama and daddy I’m alright and just want one more thing
I love you, I love you, I love you, Josephine
There’s three thousand union troops camped at the river below
There’s six hundreds of us, least there was two nights ago
When Erwin deserted they hung him down by the tree
God I’m so scared, keep me in your prayers, Josephine
Well the orders come down, we’ll attack tonight at nightfall
If we can stop them right here we can win this war once and for all
You know, I killed a union boy last week, bet he wasn’t fourteen
He looked just like our son, forgive me for what I’ve done, Josephine
Tell my children I miss ’em and wish I could kiss ’em once more
Bet they’ve grown a foot since they waved me goodbye at the door
Tell mama and daddy I’m alright and just want one more thing
I love you, I love you, I love you, Josephine
And lastly my darling, in case I should be killed
Don’t breathe me too long, promise me that you will
Marry another, don’t let him treat our babies mean
When he’s holding you, would you think of me too, Josephine?
Tell my babies I miss ’em and wish I could kiss ’em once more
Bet they’ve grown a foot since they waved me goodbye at the door
Tell mama and daddy I’m alright and just want one more thing
I love you, I love you, I love you, Josephine
I love you, I love you, I love you, Josephine

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