"The Letter" is a song recorded by American country music artists

Conway Twitty Harold Lloyd Jenkins (September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993), better known by his stage name Conway Twitty, was an American singer and songwriter. Initially a part of the 1950s rockabilly scene, Twitty was best known as a country music performer. ...

and

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as " You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My M ...

as a duet. It was released in June 1976 as the first single from their album ''United Talent''. The song peaked at number 3 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart. It also reached number 1 on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Country Tracks chart in Canada. It was written by Twitty and Charles Haney. The song – spoken wall-to-wall, with Twitty and Lynn trading spoken parts and set to a ballad-type musical background – is about a young man who is unfaithful to his girlfriend, resulting in the end of the relationship. Some time later, the two meet up again and she asks him to make good on a promise they made that if one ever needed to help the other, he or she would. She asks him to write a letter that affirms love and faithfulness, regret and willingness to repent under the guise that it would be seen by her current boyfriend (who, like the male protagonist was unfaithful) and that he would realize his mistake and that he had a good thing. The letter turns out to be ironic: It is a type of a

Dear John letter A Dear John letter is a letter written to a man by his wife or romantic partner to inform him that their relationship is over, usually because his partner has found another lover. The man is often a member of the military stationed overseas, alth ...

, and it is the letter writer who, in writing the letter, admits his own mistakes and expresses his willingness to change.

"B" Side: "God Bless America Again"

The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

, "

God Bless America Again ''God Bless America Again'' is the twentieth solo studio album and third gospel album by American country music singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn. It was released on June 5, 1972, by Decca Records. This was Lynn's last album of religious material for ...

," did not chart as a flip side or on its own, but still received significant airplay due to its release close to the

United States Bicentennial The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the United States of America as an independent republic. It was a central event ...

. Twitty recites the spoken word part while Lynn signs the refrain, with Twitty joining on the final refrain. This song still receives airplay today on

classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on innov ...

radio stations.

Chart performance

References

Songs about letters (message) 1976 singles Conway Twitty songs Loretta Lynn songs Songs written by Conway Twitty Song recordings produced by Owen Bradley Male–female vocal duets MCA Records singles {{1970s-country-song-stub