This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
I'm so blue, lonesome, too
And I wonder where you are tonight
Not one word have I heard
If you think of me, why don't you write?
Oh, dear, how I need one sweet letter from you
How I'd love to read one sweet letter from you
You know that you left me so worried and blue
I always keep singing, oh, what'll I do
Though it's not fair, and you don't care for me dearly
Drop me a line, if you just sign, 'Yours sincerely'
You know that I'm praying the night and day through
Just hoping I'll get one sweet letter from you
Mail for Missus Jones
Missus Jones don't need it
Missus Jones is happy all the day
Mail for Missus Brown
Missus Brown don't read it
Opens them and throws them right away
Mail man rings, then he sings
"Got some letters for you"
Here's what he brings
Mail for the baker
My dress maker
Word from the landlord, too
I get letters from everybody
Not a single word from you
Here's what to do, even though you never crave me
And though you lie, say that you cry, it might save me
You know that I'm praying the night and day through
Just hoping I'll get one sweet letter from you
Since you're gone, I keep on
Feeling just as sorry as can be
I just wrote you a note
I'd be happy if you'd answer me
Oh, dear, how I need one sweet letter from you
How I'd love to read one sweet letter from you
You know that you left me so worried and blue
I always keep singing, oh, what'll I do
Though it's not fair, and you don't care for me dearly
Drop me a line, if you just sign, 'Yours sincerely'
You know that I'm praying the night and day through
Just hoping I'll get one sweet letter from you
And I wonder where you are tonight
Not one word have I heard
If you think of me, why don't you write?
Oh, dear, how I need one sweet letter from you
How I'd love to read one sweet letter from you
You know that you left me so worried and blue
I always keep singing, oh, what'll I do
Though it's not fair, and you don't care for me dearly
Drop me a line, if you just sign, 'Yours sincerely'
You know that I'm praying the night and day through
Just hoping I'll get one sweet letter from you
Mail for Missus Jones
Missus Jones don't need it
Missus Jones is happy all the day
Mail for Missus Brown
Missus Brown don't read it
Opens them and throws them right away
Mail man rings, then he sings
"Got some letters for you"
Here's what he brings
Mail for the baker
My dress maker
Word from the landlord, too
I get letters from everybody
Not a single word from you
Here's what to do, even though you never crave me
And though you lie, say that you cry, it might save me
You know that I'm praying the night and day through
Just hoping I'll get one sweet letter from you
Since you're gone, I keep on
Feeling just as sorry as can be
I just wrote you a note
I'd be happy if you'd answer me
Oh, dear, how I need one sweet letter from you
How I'd love to read one sweet letter from you
You know that you left me so worried and blue
I always keep singing, oh, what'll I do
Though it's not fair, and you don't care for me dearly
Drop me a line, if you just sign, 'Yours sincerely'
You know that I'm praying the night and day through
Just hoping I'll get one sweet letter from you
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
One Sweet Letter From You Lyrics as written by Lew Brown Harry Warren
Lyrics © BOURNE CO., FOUR JAYS MUSIC PUB , SHAPIRO BERNSTEIN & CO. INC.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.