Boz Scaggs (born William Royce Scaggs on 8 June 1944 in Canton, Ohio) is an… Read Full Bio ↴Boz Scaggs (born William Royce Scaggs on 8 June 1944 in Canton, Ohio) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He gained fame in the 1960s as a guitarist and sometimes lead singer with the Steve Miller Band and in the 1970s with several solo Top 20 hit singles in the United States, along with the #2 album, Silk Degrees. Scaggs continues to write, record music and tour.

After learning guitar at the age of 12, Scaggs met Steve Miller at St. Mark's School of Texas in Dallas. In 1959, he became the vocalist for Miller's band The Marksmen. The pair later attended the University of Wisconsin together, playing in blues bands like The Ardells and The Fabulous Knight Trains. Leaving school, Scaggs briefly left Texas to join the burgeoning rhythm and blues scene in London. After singing in bands such as The Wigs and Mother Earth, he recorded his first solo album Boz in 1965, which was not a commercial success. He traveled to Sweden as a solo performer and did a brief stint with the band The Other Side with fellow American Jack Downing and Brit Mac MacLeod.

Returning to the US, Scaggs promptly headed for the booming psychedelic music center of San Francisco in 1967. Linking up with Steve Miller again, he appeared on the Steve Miller Band's first two albums Children of the Future and Sailor, which won over critical reviews. After being spotted by Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner, Scaggs secured a solo contract with Atlantic Records in 1968. Despite good reviews, his first Atlantic album was met with lukewarm sales, as were followup albums on Columbia Records. In 1976, he linked up with session musicians who would later form Toto and recorded his smash album Silk Degrees. The album reached number 2 on the US charts and number 1 in a number of countries across the world, spawning three hit singles: "Lowdown", "Lido Shuffle", and "What Can I Say", as well as the MOR standard "We're All Alone", later a hit for Rita Coolidge. A sellout world tour followed, but his follow-up album, the 1977 Down Two Then Left, lacked the cohesion of Silk Degrees.

Scaggs' 1980 album Middle Man would spawn two top 20 hits, "Breakdown Dead Ahead" and "Jojo," and Scaggs would enjoy two more hits over 1980 and 1981 ("Look What You've Done to Me" from the Urban Cowboy soundtrack, and "Miss Sun" from a greatest hits set).

Scaggs continued to record and tour sporadically throughout the 1980s and 1990s, although he semi-retired from the music business and turned owner of the San Francisco nightclub Slim's. His lengthy hiatus from the music industry slowed his chart career down dramatically.

Scaggs recorded Other Roads in 1988, took another hiatus, and then came back in 1994 with Some Change. In the late 190s he released Come On Home, an album of blues, and My Time, an anthology. He garnered good reviews with Dig, although the CD, which was released on September 11, 2001, was lost in the post-911 melée. In May, 2003, Scaggs released But Beautiful, a collection of jazz standards that debuted at number 1 on the jazz charts.

In 2013 he released the album Memphis

You Got My Letter
Boz Scaggs Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You got my letter
But you must not read your mail
You got my letter baby
But you must not read your mail
Well I'm a happy man if I can get to you
And I'm a sad man if I fail

Should have known better

Than to leave it to the postal lines
I should have known better baby baby baby
I'm like a man running out of time
Mmm hmmm
I laid my heart out in that envelope
Now I'm laying it on the line mmm hmmm

Ooh hoo hoo hoo hoo
Yes I'm laying it on the line mmm hmmm
Ooh hoo hoo hoo
And you could take a big load off of my mind

I hope you're gonna read it now
And give me some kind of sign
Don't take much to read it now
You don't have to read between the lines
And shine a little light on me
And take away this mystery
I need a reason to be here
I need a reason to be
And you're the reason to me
Don't fail me now

Hoo hoo
Hoo hoo hoo hoo

I laid my heart out in that envelope
Now I'm laying it on the line mmm hmmm

I know you're gonna be here
I know you're gonna be here soon
And make it so much better
By the light of the big old moon
Send me some good news
To chase away these yearning blues
You give me reason to be here
You give me reason to be
And you're the reason for me
Don't fail me now baby

Hoo hoo hoo
Woah oh hoo hoo
Hoo hoo hoo
Woah oh hoo hoo

You give me reason to be
You give me reason to be here

I need a reason to be
Oooh hoo

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Boz Scaggs’ song “You Got My Letter” tell the story of a man who poured his heart out in a letter to a woman he loves, but there’s no indication that she’s ever read it. He’s left waiting and hoping for a sign that she feels the same way, and he’s consumed by the uncertainty of not knowing. The first stanza sets the tone, with Scaggs singing that he’s a happy man if he can get to her, and a sad man if he fails. He’s put himself on the line by laying his heart out in that envelope, and he’s anxious to know whether she’ll reciprocate.

The second stanza is a bit more reflective, with Scaggs expressing regret for leaving his fate to “the postal lines.” He’s running out of time and knows that he made a mistake by sending a letter instead of expressing himself more directly. However, there’s a sense of hope that runs throughout the song, with Scaggs asking the woman to “shine a little light on me” and take away the mystery. He needs a reason to be here, and she’s the reason for him.

Line by Line Meaning

You got my letter
I sent you a letter

But you must not read your mail
You haven't read my letter yet

Well I'm a happy man if I can get to you. And I'm a sad man if I fail
My emotional state depends on whether or not we can connect

Should have known better
I made a mistake

Than to leave it to the postal lines
I shouldn't have trusted the mail system

I'm like a man running out of time
I'm anxious and worried about the outcome

I laid my heart out in that envelope
I poured my heart and soul into that letter

Now I'm laying it on the line
I'm being honest and direct with you

And you could take a big load off of my mind
Your response would ease my worries

I hope you're gonna read it now
I'm anticipating your response

And give me some kind of sign
Let me know you received my letter