Letter To You has a theme running through it of mortality and aging. The losses of E Street Band members Danny Federici and Clarence Clemons in 2008 and 2011, and the 2018 death of George Thiess - founding member of Springsteen's first band, The Castiles - had a large influence on the project. The Boss starts the record with this preface about mortality and death that lets the listener know what the album is going to encompass.
The song starts solemnly as Springsteen evokes the traditional blues, country and folk metaphor for death. Big black train comin' down the track Blow your whistle long and long A loved one has passed away without warning, and Springsteen is feeling their absence. One minute you're here Next minute you're gone In spite of his sadness, Springsteen can still celebrate their lives together. Autumn carnival on the edge of town We walk down the midway arm-in-arm Autumn is figuratively a season of maturity or decay, which precedes winter or death. "The edge of town" goes back to Springsteen's 1978 album, Darkness on the Edge of Town, and its title track.
Springsteen explained to Apple Music the song "just sort of a little tip of the hat to where the record was going to go and a little slightly connected to [his previous album] Western Stars. It was a little transitional piece of music."
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