A key component of Pop Music might eventually be forgotten…

So last night I was pleasantly surprised when, checking my mail, I saw a traditionally written letter. Stamped and all, and written by hand. Written by hand by someone who was born in the digital age…a 25 year old!

This got me thinking about letters, and where we are today as a society.

And of course I thought about music, I always go to music.

In one of his greatest songs, a letter asks Elvis to travel by night over mountains and through valleys to reach a distant love.

Two of Rod Stewart’s most charming songs, ‘You Wear It Well’ recorded during his prime and ‘Lost In You,’ a bouncy little gem found along the long slope of his decline, are literally sentimental letters to loved ones from transient workers.

A letter (and the inspiration written correspondence has provided to songwriters and other artists) will soon be as archaic as a record shop or a typewriter.

Whatever happened to these letters? Were they stored in a trunk in the corner along with bills? Did they make their way back-stamped ‘Return to Sender’? Was the recipient waiting at the door begging, ‘Please Mr. Postman’?

Digital culture has awarded a type of immortality upon numerous aspects of pop culture.

It’s a curious thing to consider that some day a young listener who stumbles across one of these tracks in cyberspace may very well be confused by their context:

”Hey ma, what the hell is a letter????” “What do they mean by Post? A Blog Post?”