Skeeter Davis and Bobby Bare’s Superb Version of “A Dear John Letter”

Skeeter Davis collaborated with country singer Bobby Bare to record a classic country song. Let’s find out what it is. “A Dear John Letter” is a heartbreaking country song recorded and made famous by Jean Shepard and Ferlin Husky in 1953. The song was written on the same year by Billy Barton, Fuzzy Owen, and Lewis Talley.

What will you do if you receive a letter that states that the woman you love is marrying someone else? This is perhaps a painful experience in one’s life. It’s tragic when the woman you love couldn’t wait for you anymore.

The Content of “A Dear John Letter”

In the song, the female character sent a letter to her lover who’s serving in the military during the Korean War. She wrote that her love for him no longer exists and she is finally marrying someone else.

In the second stanza of the song, it shifts to the male character who was happy about the end of the war and receiving a letter from his lover, whom he thought is waiting for him. As he read the letter, the words of the woman poured out, as sadness and betrayal fell upon him. His lover married his brother, and the sad part is she’s asking for her photo to give to her husband. Now that’s such a tragic thing to experience all at once.

Will you please send back my picture my husband wants it now
And when I tell you who I’m marrying well you won’t care dear anyhow
Now the ceremony has started and I’ll wed your brother Don

Can you ever move on with that news? Can you wish your lover and your brother happiness? Can you ever forgive them both?

Skeeter Davis and Bobby Bare’s Version

One version of this song is by Skeeter Davis and Bobby Bare. The song became part of Davis’ second studio album Here’s the Answer. It was added as a bonus track on the album when it was reissued. Other songs that were added as a bonus track were “A Little Bitty Tear,” “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You,” and “We’ll Sing in the Sunshine.”

In Skeeter’s album, only two songs were released as a single and it entered the top ten of the country chart (“(I Can’t Help You) I’m Falling Too” and “My Last Dance (With You).”)