About the Song

Joey+Rory, the beloved country music duo, captured the hearts of listeners with their heartfelt and deeply personal songs. One of their most touching and memorable tracks is “When I’m Gone,” a song that resonates with anyone who has ever faced the inevitability of parting ways with a loved one. Released as part of their 2016 album Hymns That Are Important to Us, the song carries with it an undeniable emotional weight, blending the beauty of country music with themes of love, loss, and eternal devotion.

In “When I’m Gone,” Joey Feek, the female half of the duo, delivers a poignant and soulful performance that brings the song’s message to life. The lyrics, written with deep vulnerability, reflect the poignant reality of knowing that time is limited, but love can endure beyond death. Joey’s tender vocals, paired with Rory Feek’s harmonies, create a soothing and deeply moving atmosphere. Together, they convey a powerful sense of hope and faith, even in the face of sorrow.

The song’s lyrics explore the desire to leave behind a legacy of love, one that will carry on long after a person has gone. It’s about finding peace with the inevitability of death, and knowing that the love shared will remain in the hearts of those who were touched by it. The gentle, acoustic instrumentation adds to the somber yet hopeful tone, creating a reflective, almost spiritual atmosphere.

“When I’m Gone” was especially significant for the duo, as Joey Feek was battling terminal cancer at the time of its release. Her courageous fight against the illness and her unwavering faith in God and family added even more depth and resonance to the song. It became not only a tribute to her own life and legacy but also a comfort to those who are left behind when a loved one passes.

For fans of Joey+Rory, “When I’m Gone” is more than just a song—it’s a heartfelt farewell, a reminder of the love that transcends the physical world. It’s a testament to the power of music to heal, comfort, and inspire, offering solace to anyone grappling with the loss of a loved one. The track is a beautiful tribute to the enduring power of love and faith, and it remains one of the duo’s most cherished and celebrated songs.

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Lyrics: When I’m Gone

A bright sunrise will contradict the heavy fault that weighs you down
In spite of all the funeral songs the birds will make their joyful sounds
You wonder why the earth still moves, you wonder how you’ll carry on
But you’ll be okay on that first day when I’m goneDusk will come with fireflies and whippoorwill and crickets call
And every star will take its place and silvery gown and purple shawl
You’ll lie down in our big bed, dread the dark and dread the dawn
But you’ll be alright on that first night when I’m goneYou will reach for me in vain
You’ll be whispering my name
As if sorrow were your friend
And this world so alien

But life will call with daffodils and morning glorious blue skies
You’ll think of me some memory and softly smile to your surprise
And even though you love me still you will know where you belong
Just give it time we’ll both be fine when I’m gone

 

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SHE HAD BEEN SINGING MOUNTAIN MUSIC SINCE BEFORE BLUEGRASS EVEN HAD A NAME. THEN, AT 80, WILMA LEE COOPER COLLAPSED ON THE OPRY STAGE WITH THE SONG STILL IN HER THROAT. Wilma Lee Cooper came out of Valley Head, West Virginia, where music was not something you studied in a conservatory. It was family. Church. Radio. Coal-country evenings. Her father worked in the mines. Her mother played pump organ. Wilma started singing when she was five, then sang with her family gospel group before she ever became part of country music history. She met Stoney Cooper in the early 1940s. He played fiddle. She sang and played guitar. Together they built a sound that sat between mountain gospel, old-time string band music, and the country music that had not yet decided how polished it wanted to become. They did not wait for genre labels. They drove. They broadcast. They played wherever people would listen. The roads were part of the act. Their daughter Carol Lee sometimes slept in the car under the upright bass while Wilma and Stoney went from show to show. They raised a family while keeping a band alive. They recorded songs like “Big Midnight Special,” “There’s a Big Wheel,” and “Wreck on the Highway.” By 1957, they had joined the Grand Ole Opry. The Smithsonian later called Wilma Lee the “First Lady of Bluegrass.” But that title came after decades of work. It came after she and Stoney had already spent years carrying the mountain sound through a country business that was moving toward smoother voices and cleaner suits. Then Stoney died in 1977. Wilma Lee did not leave with him. She stayed with the Opry. She kept leading the Clinch Mountain Clan. The old mountain voice remained onstage, older now but still carrying the same hard edge. She had already sung for more than sixty years by the time she walked onto the Ryman Auditorium stage on February 24, 2001. She was eighty. During that performance, Wilma Lee suffered a stroke. The career ended there. Not in a retirement announcement. Not in a farewell special. Onstage, in the place where she had kept the old sound alive for generations. The illness affected her speech and voice, and doctors doubted she would walk again. But Wilma Lee did return once more. In 2010, at the reopening of the Opry House after the Nashville flood, she came back for a group sing-along. Not to reclaim the old career. Not to prove anything. Just to stand in the room one more time and thank the people who had carried her. For most of her life, Wilma Lee Cooper sang as if the mountain had come down from West Virginia and entered the microphone. Her last great silence came on the same stage where she had spent decades refusing to let that mountain disappear.