Chris Rea

His music is probably seen as too soft and inoffensive, if not derivative, given the comparisons often drawn between the artist and other, more celebrated peers, to the point of distorting the actual timeline of events: some, for instance, brand him a meek disciple of Mark Knopfler, likely unaware that the debut of Dire Straits, with their self-titled album, and Rea's debut, with "Whatever Happened To Benny Santini?", both date back to 1978. At most, then, the two simply share common sources of inspiration, in particular Eric Clapton and J.J. Cale (Knopfler later drifted toward country via Chet Atkins, while Rea leaned toward the blues-inflected sound of Ry Cooder).

Thanks to the skill he always showed in arranging and producing his music, the delicate, exotic, alluring atmospheres his songs managed to conjure, and also the surprising range of shades he covered, Rea in fact deserves a place of honor in 1980s British music, having been the leading exponent of homegrown soft rock.

Rea is a craftsman of song: he builds unassuming objects that are habitually denied any credit for genius or inventiveness, whose usefulness is almost taken for granted, but which on closer inspection turn out to be made with obsessive attention to detail, and which never fail to work as intended. The song that best embodies this side of him is "Josephine", one of his best-known tracks.

In the world of pop and rock, artists are usually rather reluctant to revisit their own songs: live performances aside, which are obviously a different matter, a new studio recording of an already-familiar song is often viewed with suspicion, as a sign that the well is running dry. For once, this isn't a misleading stereotype: new versions genuinely, rarely live up to the originals, if only because of everything the originals carry with them symbolically and in terms of listening habits.

Well, Chris Rea is an artist who has revisited his own catalogue countless times, and even though he did so under pressure from his record labels (from which he broke free in the 2000s, becoming an independent artist), the results have never disappointed: his ability to reshape the arrangements into quite different guises while keeping the original impact intact is something rare.

"Josephine" is his most significant song in this respect, since no fewer than six studio versions of it exist. How many other pop-rock classics can boast six official versions, all of them perfectly realized?

What follows is a quick guide to help you navigate them (there's a similar one on Wikipedia, but it's incomplete and mixes up the different recordings and their various edits).

"Josephine" was first recorded in December 1984 and released the following May as part of the album "Shamrock Diaries". The song is a loving dedication to Rea's daughter, born in 1983.

This first version runs 4'26" and is marked by an intimate feel, with a restrained rhythm section (for almost two minutes the drums rely solely on the kick), folk-derived acoustic guitars and atmospheric jazz-fusion keyboards, before breaking loose at 3'34" into a funk-grooved grand piano solo.

In June 1985 the track was released as a 7" single, in a new 3'35" version. While still a midtempo leaning towards the slow side, with a very laid-back approach, the arrangement shifts into heartland rock territory: nobody would have batted an eye if Tom Petty had put out a track like this, not to mention how much it anticipated the sound of War On Drugs (listen to it back to back with their "Disappearing"). A video for the song came out at the same time, using this same version, though with a longer intro that stretches its length to 3'52".

In 1987 a new version came out on 7" for the European market. The sleeve bore the label "Version lounge", though it would later become better known as "La version française" or "French Edit". It runs 5'39" and the arrangement features a long instrumental intro, with drums reminiscent of early house music and a distinctive funky guitar groove. This version would go on to become hugely popular in Ibiza's clubs.

There are both a shortened edit at 3'56" and an extended one at 7'08" (in both cases achieved by tweaking the intro), but they're always the same recording.

In 1988 the album "New Light Through Old Windows" came out, with a tracklist made up almost entirely (twelve out of thirteen tracks) of songs from his earlier albums, re-recorded from scratch. Among these is the best-known version of "Josephine": it runs 4'34" and is the one that most closely adheres to the conventions of 1980s soft rock, with its blankets of synthesized strings.

The album was also released in the United States, in two editions: the Atco one, identical to the European release, and the Geffen one, which trims the tracklist down to ten songs and contains yet another "Josephine": at 4'17", it's the fastest version of the song, clocking in at 123 beats per minute. While traces of Bernard Edwards of Chic's influence on the bassline can be found in other incarnations of the track too, it's never as evident as it is here.

For twenty years the aforementioned would remain the last versions the singer recorded, until 2008, when the German label Edel released "Fool If You Think It's Over" (subtitled "The Definitive Greatest Hits"), containing partly previously released material and partly reworkings of old hits, among them the most recent "Josephine" known to date: it's roughly a variation on the 1988 versions, save for a bridge in which the singer updates the lyrics to the present day, with the girl now grown up and having left home (this addition had actually already appeared in 2006, on "The Road To Hell & Back", Rea's only official live album, which features a particularly slow "Josephine", with the singer accompanying himself on banjo).

Where to find what:

– the original version and the first single version are included on the "Deluxe Edition" of the album "Shamrock Diaries" (Magnet, 2019);

– "La version française" appears on the "Deluxe Edition" of the album "Dancing With Strangers" (Magnet, 2019);

– the "New Light Through Old Windows" version appears on the album of that name, which hasn't been reissued in the European market since 1992, but is still easy enough to track down;

– the Geffen edition of the same album, on the other hand, is harder to come by: fortunately its version of the track is conveniently included on the "Deluxe Edition" of the album "Road To Hell" (Magnet, 2019).

Those who prefer streaming will find, in the dedicated section, a Spotify playlist created by OndaRock's account, containing all the versions.

There's rain on my window

But I’m thinking of you

Tears on my pillow

But I will come through

Josephine, I'll send you all my love

And every single step I take

I take for you

Josephine

There's a storm on my radar

But I can still fly

And you are the reason

The blue in my sky

Josephine

A life without meaning

I was walking away

In the coldest of winters

Night becomes day

Josephine, I'll send you all my love

And every single step I take

I take for you

Josephine