*Dear John Oh! how I hate to write Dear John I must let you know tonight That my love for you has gone There's no reason to go on And tonight I wed another Dear John* <spoken> I was overseas in battle When the postman came to me He handed me a letter And I was as happy as I could be Cause the fighting was all over And the battles they'd all be won But then I opened up that letter And it stated Dear John(*)
I was overseas in battle When the postman came to me He handed me a letter Won't you please send back my picture My husband wants it now 給約翰的一封信
這首歌據說是源自一段真實的故事。女孩因為男友在海軍服役,被分派至海外駐守,在時空阻隔之下,女孩愛上另一位男孩,而原先的男友一直被蒙在鼓裡,等到他看到這封信,女友早已琵琶別抱,生米煮成熟飯。 這個故事,使得A dear John letter成為「絕交信」的代名詞,比較齊全的英漢字典中可以查到相關的說明。如果有女孩說:I'm gonna write a dear John letter.意思是說她準備要寫封信和男友分手。