Donovan - Josie Lyrics






Josie, I wont fail ya,
I wont fail you have no fear,
Josie, I wont fail ya,
Give me one more chance to be as near.

The meadows they are bursting
the yellow corn is in your hands,
and with the night comes sorrow
as the tide of dawn slips on the land.

The long breezes are blowing
all down the sky into my face,
I've a worried kind of feelin
that my time has come and gone to waste.

I love you darling Josie,
the trees of pine they grow so tall,
how can you come to love me
when you didn't love me at all.

Josie, I wont fail ya,
I wont fail you have no fear,
Josie I wont fail ya
Give me one more chance to be as near.

My Josie looks a child now
as she lies beyond my breast,
in the night I think about her
in the day I get no rest.

I cut me a young pine cone
And gave it to the river deep,
It sailed way by your window
where you lay so long in sleep.

God bless you darling Josie
with your sparkling eyes so bright and clear,
Josie, I wont fail you have no fear,
Josie, I wont fail ya
Give me one more chance to be as near.





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Donovan Josie Comments
  1. T.... G....

    This song is about the optimism we all felt during this era; the loves we had then and the love we felt for everyone. We were so optimistic about what was to come but instead........
    This song hasn't changed its appeal in 50 or more years.

  2. F.... U....

    Play Geraldine

  3. W.... R....

    Bob Dylan reminds me of this guy.

  4. K.... T....

    donovan plays the sweet guitar. i'm getting so sentimental, i'm in tears 🌜🌷🌛

  5. t.... p....

    Living in Kent once upon a time,trying to get clean..i was given puppy..called her josie after the donovan song..of course i did fail her in the end...anyway had to teach her quick about walking on the inside coz there was no pavements..to do that you had to be stern..so i made sure she paid attention to my voice..and gave her a smack every now & then when she ignored it..a must when there are sheep,cows,horses and cars as a distraction..a couple of times i got pulled up by so called animal lovers who thought i was being cruel...i told em would you rather she got shot or run over and ignored em..i found out this worked when one day she went bounding in a field full of sheep..the guy was rounding em up and a couple strayed from the herd...josie went running after em..i called her back..the guy said let her tire the fuckers out...so i let her go with a wave of the arm..when she tired em and was starting to snap at em the guy said enough...i called her back and she came..made me proud as punch that mongrel did...loved her to bits..never used a lead on her against my principles..thought if she loved me enough she would know everything i did i did because i cared for her..had to give her up when i moved to canterbury..i'm sorry i failed ya josie

  6. c.... h....

    j'adore ,Donovan ! merci

  7. J.... S....

    Named my daughter Josie in 1973, after this song. Can't hear it here.

  8. L.... M....

    I love Donovan💃🌹🔥♥️great song💥💥♥️ Thank you❤️👍🌹😊😘💃💃💥♥️🔥Hugs😊💃

  9. J.... L....

    I was named after this song to.....

  10. a.... g....

    i always tried to figure out how donovan made his guitar play so mellow and clean. learned a bit and failed a bit.

  11. L.... M....

    Great singer🌟⭐️🥰💃💃love his music🔥🔥💃💃

  12. i.... ....

    I find it very easy to memorize a song with this kind of beat.   Love it

  13. E.... ....

    Thanks for posting this!

  14. M.... S....

    One of the Greatest Songs by one of the Greatest Singers of the 1960's - great to hear it again! Mike from Australia.

  15. m.... d....

    I met Donovan. Nice guy. I also saw him in Denver in 1970. It was a great show.

  16. M.... V....

    Donovan singing Josie A clip from the 1966 Donovan TV film in St Ives. Featuring amongst others: Derrol Adams,Tinks (June Stone), Sue Nightingale, Lyn Rumbold, Jane Val Baker, Demelza Val Baker and many other St Ives extras...all on £3 per day !. one scene required cooking mackerel on Porthminster beach - there were’nt any in St Ives on that day so six were brought from Newlyn by taxi....!

  17. J.... L....

    Excellente initiative. Merci.

  18. B.... M....

    soooooo goood!!!!!!

  19. D.... N....

    His music always makes me want to cry in the good way

    D.... N....

    Dallas Nash me too

  20. d.... l....

    Han er fantastisk, min søster har lige været til koncert med ham i København den 8 december, hun sagde at det var fantastisk 2

  21. E.... J....

    I first heard this song in Anaheim in a motel across from Disneyland.  He was on a local show hosted by Lloyd Thaxton.  It was also the first time I saw Donovan on TV.

  22. J.... M....

    I'm 13 and it makes me sad a majority of my generation listens to mindless dribble. Born to late

    J.... M....

    Ugh shut up. If you were born back then you'd have to buy all the music with real money and store it on big ass shelves taking up so much room, no headphones to listen through, or maybe just catch the odd single on the radio. The very fact that you can act all smug about your music snobbery is a privelige you wouldn't have in the past, when there wasn't as much music availiable to even listen to.

    J.... M....

    im 15 and agree with you completely

    J.... M....

    Paul Olsen it's the original 'Jerry' here and I'd just like to say you are absolutely correct, I mean it's only been a year, it's not like I'm old and wise or anything but this is one thing I can definitely agree with you on, have a good one.

    J.... M....

    Jerry Mill I'm 29 and feel the same

    J.... M....

    So very very true.... I'm soon to be 70 and the music of my life and the years just before, was brilliant.... Obviously less in these recent years. You are right.

  23. r.... r....

    OMG my name is Josie ^-^ This is my dads account lol :D Btw I'm 16

  24. m.... d....

    I met Donovan in the 1990's. He remains one of my musical heroes. A great writer and performer.

    m.... d....

    I would have loved to have met him personally.   His music has help me through so many times.

  25. C.... B....

    love Donovan Dillon

  26. F.... V....

    I was lucky to catch him and this song this in concert in San Francisco (Think it was at the Fillmore '65, '66?). I used to play a lot of Donovan back when I was halfway good at gitpick'n. Just don't find the time anymore as a busy landscaper. As a note he was a follower of Edgar Cayce's as am I. He was known to some folks at the A.R.E. headquarters. Thought about this song in connection with the disappearance of Josie Outlaw [https://www.youtube.com/user/JosieTheOutlaw1/videos], whom I think was either killed or renditioned by the authorities.

    https://www.youtube.com/user/JosieTheOutlaw1/videos

  27. M.... N....

    I feel like I am way to young for donovan which is sad (I'm 13) but honestly even tho I love punk rock from the 90s' this song will always have a special place in my heart. I had 4 dogs and they were all named after songs or artist (billie-Billie holiday, Josie-this song, lucille- song by little Richard and Carmen after the opera) Carmen is dead now but the rest are alive just not mine anymore, I miss them so much ❤

    M.... N....

    +Idunn Gorham
    So sorry to hear about your dogs. You must really miss them. Hope they're being well looked after, wherever they are.
    I first heard Donovan when I was around your age, back in the 1960s. He was like a breath of fresh air, just blown in from the countryside, in his baggy old denims and battered hat, singing about meadows bursting and throwing pine cones in the river, like some kind of gypsy from a gentler planet.
    :-)

  28. H.... M....

    My friend (R.I.P.) played me this song in sixties from his vinyl. Good memories.

  29. E.... M....

    this song was wrote for my Nan I can't believe it my dad told me he told me the story and the man who sang this met my Nan I don't no much about it tho and he said he's gonna Wright this song for her and he did I love my Nan and it makes me cry every time I listen to this song because I no it was made for her ❤

    E.... M....

    +Ernst Roberts u no what your a complete dxxk I would never lie when it came to my Nan ever and if my Nan was here I could prove to u but she's not any more I don't care if u don't believe me I no it's true and I dont give a sxxt

  30. L.... D....

    Heard it in the sixties and loved it. Played it over and over. I am in my seventies now and it still makes me cry. What incredible times they were.

    L.... D....

    They were incredible times. Nothing like it ever and sadly, will never be again. Makes me cry too.

    L.... D....

    I miss the sweetness of those times; how we tried, we tried.

    L.... D....

    Hi Lizze Dee,
    Yes they were wonderful times, we were so optimistic and looking for the utopia we hoped would follow. Instead.........
    This song really hits home even after 50 or more years.
    Sending love from the West of England.

  31. T.... ....

    This sweet boy, Donovan, became the most true and soulful soundtrack of our lives in the 60's . He sings " I cut me a young pine cone and I gave it to the river deep. It sailed way by your window where you lay so long in sleep."  That's true love; there's nothing sweeter.  She is in his heart. Young men, this is what your woman wants to know about you. That you love her that much and that you are not playing. If you are, if this is not the one for you, move on. Be honest. Tell her.  Let her find her true love. But if she is the one, be real, be true, be kind, be there. Always.

    T.... ....

    +Laurel Garza Yes, that's a lovely lyric, but your comments about it are amazingly on point. In youth we do anything just to feel connected to the first loves we have, loves that we don't really understand or appreciate fully. It all becomes so complicated as we get older, we have no idea what's ahead. Ever see an old person's face look wistful when conversation turns to young love? There are memories behind those looks....

    T.... ....

    You've been reading too many romance novels. You may appreciate those things but most women don't. Most guys learned that long ago.

  32. B.... ....

    @Keith Fitzsimons   Only those who uncritically repeat others' nonsense believe that Donovan was "a Dylan imitator." He was a folksinger with a guitar and harmonica. The same description could be applied to HUNDREDS of other folksingers of the day. Outside of their common estimation of Woody Guthrie, there is little similarity at all between Dylan and Donovan in terms of the actual music and lyrics they created...which a simple comparative listening to what they were both doing in 1965 would easily reveal. What specific Dylan song does "Josie" make you think of?

  33. K.... F....

    In his first two albums he was a Dylan immitator,but without the complex lyrics.Nice song,but hard not to think Of Dylan when Don did this kind of stuff..

    K.... F....

    I agree to a certain extent, Donovan had his own style, but I definitely see the resemblance.

    K.... F....

    yes,he quickly moved away from it,because anyone who was getting compared to Dylan was not going to end well. Dylan is Dylan and nobody else can be him.

    K.... F....

    No donavon is his own man always has been

    K.... F....

    @wilkol31 Dylan is fake, very brave and good singer songwriters have said it, besides in some of his songs he does not even sing because his voice is disgusting like pigs being slaughtered

  34. J.... S....

    I was named after this song. So lovely to hear it again after so many years

    J.... S....

    I was named after this song too :) thats so cool, when i was about 5 my parents cut a pine cone and put it in the water and let it flow past my window

    J.... S....

    My daughter was also named after this song in 74' by my ex, her older sister Arwen, named by me:-)

    J.... S....

    My daughter was also named Josie because of this song.

    J.... S....

    My uncle was also named after this song! what a wild world!
    - love from the city in the amazon.

  35. A.... K....

    THANK YOU !

  36. R.... C....

    @Gazolba ~ Indeed.

  37. G.... ....

    It's the closest thing to time travel.

  38. G.... ....

    This was in the days when Donovan played true folk songs. This is a fantastic arrangement. The flat-picking and harmonica complement the vocals perfectly in this song.

  39. B.... B....

    fantastico!

  40. T.... ....

    Oh yes, you have 100% right!

  41. R.... C....

    @TheWiegos ~ Here's to you & yours memories. Funny how a song, like a smell or a photo, can be the vehicle used to travel back to another time & place in one's life.

  42. T.... ....

    Ron! Your comment is very, very nice and, I don't doubt, very hearty. I, similar to you, have many songs which associates with the past, especially with girls. I thing it is very fun our remembrance is open on music, concrete songs. Wishes!

  43. T.... ....

    Wow--Haven't heard this one in years--though, I'm not so sure about this good recording! It almost sounds to me like a different tune without the scratches, hiss, and skips. Thanks for the upload.

  44. R.... S....

    bacana de mais

  45. P.... D....

    One of my all time favs! thank you for posting!!

  46. T.... ....

    google youtube ublocker and enjoy the music :)

  47. M.... e....

    @MrRonnieG When you love someone, they're yours forever, no matter how much time intervenes. Thats the way it is.

  48. e.... ....

    Thanks for posting the lyrics . Very much appreciated.

  49. R.... C....

    It was the end of 1970 and I had just come home from Vietnam. On New Year's Eve ('70-'71) I met a young lady by the name of Karen, we were both 23. We dated for a short while and I dedicated this song to her. By the Spring of '71 it was over but I have never forgotten her or this Donovan recording. It's amazing how love can come, and go, in a mere heartbeat. That was in Long Beach, California and I wonder, to this day, what ever happened to my "Josie?"

    R.... C....

    I had a very similar experience and can identify with your grief.  Remember tho' that live goes on, and as for me I found someone else and we've been married for quite a while, but that girl is on her third husband now.

  50. R.... W....

    Just wonderful! Thank you!

  51. b.... ....

    Thank you for this song - what memories it brings back!