Is the letter a lost art?

The obvious answer is yes; after all, when was the last time you wrote or received a letter? E-mails don’t carry the same weight, and tweets and text messages are more disposable than fast food wrappers. The strongly worded letter has been wiped out by Yelp, social media, and myriad online petitions.

On the other hand, one can argue that technology has amplified the power of the letter by several magnitudes. If I want to complain about not getting a baking soda boat in my Fruity Pebbles, rather than sending a letter to Battle Creek, Michigan, I can post it for thousands to read. I can share letters of apology, hope, outrage, despair, joy–whatever I’m feeling–and thanks to the internet, my missive will find like-minded readers. That’s pretty cool.

So the paper letter may be dead, but the letter itself is alive and well. Long live the letter.

Here’s a few epistolary songs:

“E-Bow the Letter,” REM.

“Letter To Memphis,” Pixies.

“Open Letter To A Landlord,” Living Colour.

“Tear Stained Letter,” Johnny Cash.

“Letter To Hermione,” David Bowie.

“An Open Letter To NYC,” Beastie Boys.

“Please Read the Letter,” Robert Plant and Alison Krauss.

‘Island Letter,” Shuggie Otis.

There you have it: Eight songs for that long overdue letter you need to write. What did I miss? I’m listening.