Eva Cassidy was the third of four children born to Hugh and Barbara Cassidy. From an early age, she displayed artistic and musical talent. When she was nine years old, her father taught her to play the guitar, and she began to play and sing at family gatherings.
While a student at Bowie High School, she did sing with a local band, called Stonehenge, and received considerable praise.
At the age of eighteen, Cassidy began her professional career, singing and playing guitar in a Washington, D.C., area band, called Easy Street. This band performed in a variety of styles, at weddings, corporate parties, and pubs.
During the summer of 1983, Cassidy sang and played guitar, six days per week, at Wild World, in Maryland. Her brother Dan was also a member of this working band.
Throughout the 1980s, Cassidy worked with a number of other bands, including the soul and Motown-oriented band The Honeybees, and the techno-pop band Characters Without Names, later called Method Actor.
During this period, Cassidy also worked as a propagator at a plant nursery and as a furniture painter in Annapolis, Maryland. In 1986, she met (bassist and recording engineer) Chris Biondo, who encouraged her and helped her find work as a backup singer for various acts. In 1990, Biondo and Cassidy hired the so-called "Eva Cassidy Band", composed of Chris Biondo, Lenny Williams, Keith Grimes and Raice McLeod, and she began to perform frequently in the Washington area.
In 1992, Biondo played a tape of Cassidy's voice for Chuck Brown. Best known as the "Godfather of Go-go", Brown is also a jazz and blues vocalist. This led to the first commercial recording of Cassidy, the duet album with Chuck Brown, The Other Side; which featured performances of classic songs such as "Fever", Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child" and Cassidy's signature tune "Over the Rainbow". The album was released and distributed by Liaison Records, the label that also released Brown's Go-go albums. The duet CD attracted the attention of various record companies, but the offers all required Cassidy to pigeonhole herself within a single style (e.g., pop or jazz), something she adamantly refused to do.[citation needed]
In 1993 Eva Cassidy was first honored by the Washington area music community when she was awarded two Wammie awards for "Female Vocalist Roots/Traditional R&B" and "Vocalist Jazz/Traditional." The next year she was chosen to perform for the awards ceremony.
In January 1996, Cassidy recorded the album Live at Blues Alley, about which The Washington Post later commented that "she could sing anything and make it sound like the only music that mattered". [1] Cassidy was unhappy with her singing on the album, because she had a bad cold on the night of the recording; she began recording a studio album which was eventually released as Eva by Heart posthumously in 1997.
During a promotional event for the Live at Blues Alley CD in July 1996, Cassidy noticed an ache in her hips, which she attributed to stiffness from painting murals. The pain persisted, and, a few weeks later, Cassidy was diagnosed with melanoma. By the time of her diagnosis, the cancer had spread throughout her body. Cassidy's health rapidly deteriorated, and her final performance was in September 1996. At the performance, she had used a walker to reach the stage, sang "What a Wonderful World" in front of an audience of friends, and was subsequently admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital.[citation needed]
Eva Cassidy died on November 2, 1996, at the age of 33. She was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Washington Area Music Association.
The Letter
Eva Cassidy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I ain't got time to take a fast train
Lonely days are gone I'm coming home
My baby wrote me a letter
I don't care how much I got to spend
I gotta get back to my baby again
Lonely days are gone I'm coming home
My baby wrote me a letter
Well he wrote me a letter said
He couldn't live without me no more
Oh listen mister can't you see I gotta get back
To my baby once more anyway
I don't care how much I got to spend
I gotta get back to my baby again
Lonely days are gone I'm coming home
My baby wrote me a letter
Well he wrote me a letter
Said he couldn't live without me no more
Oh listen mister can't you see
I gotta get back to my baby once more anyway
I don't care how much I got to spend
I gotta get back to my baby again
Lonely days are gone I'm coming home
My baby wrote me a letter
Send me a ticket for an airplane
I ain't got time to take a fast train
Lonely days are gone I'm coming home
My baby wrote me a letter
The lyrics to Eva Cassidy's "The Letter" tell a narrative of a man who has received a letter from his lover stating his longing to be reunited with him. The man is so eager to see his love that he asks for a ticket to an airplane so that he may return home as quickly as possible. He is happy that his "lonely days are gone" and speaks of how he doesn't care how much he has to spend as long as he can be back with his baby. The man repeats this sentiment throughout the song, emphasizing the importance of being with his love.
The themes of love and longing are evident throughout the song's lyrics. The man's desperation to be reunited with his love is palpable, and the repetition of certain lines throughout the song serves to reinforce the message of his love's importance. The song's upbeat tempo is in contrast to the lyrics' content, emphasizing the urgency of the man's desire to return home to his love. In this way, the song takes on an almost joyful tone, despite the content of the lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
Send me a ticket for an airplane
Please provide me with the means to return home quickly
I ain't got time to take a fast train
I am in a hurry to get back to my loved one and cannot afford to waste any time traveling slowly
Lonely days are gone I'm coming home
My days of being lonely are over, as I am finally returning home to my beloved
My baby wrote me a letter
My beloved wrote to me, expressing their desire for and need to see me soon
I don't care how much I got to spend
I am willing to spend any amount of money necessary in order to make my journey back to my beloved
I gotta get back to my baby again
I must return to my beloved as soon as possible, without any delay
Well he wrote me a letter said
My beloved wrote to me, expressing their desire for and need to see me soon
He couldn't live without me no more
My beloved felt incomplete and unhappy without my presence, and needed me to come back ASAP
Oh listen mister can't you see I gotta get back
I implore you, please understand my urgency in returning to my significant other
To my baby once more anyway
I must be with my beloved once again, regardless of any obstacles that stand in my way
Lonely days are gone I'm coming home
My days of being lonely are over, as I am finally returning home to my beloved
Well he wrote me a letter
My beloved wrote to me, expressing their desire for and need to see me soon
Said he couldn't live without me no more
My beloved felt incomplete and unhappy without my presence, and needed me to come back ASAP
Oh listen mister can't you see
I appeal to you, please understand my need and urgency to get back to my beloved
I gotta get back to my baby once more anyway
I must be with my beloved once again, regardless of any obstacles that stand in my way
I don't care how much I got to spend
I am willing to spend any amount of money necessary in order to make my journey back to my beloved
I gotta get back to my baby again
I must return to my beloved as soon as possible, without any delay
Lonely days are gone I'm coming home
My days of being lonely are over, as I am finally returning home to my beloved
My baby wrote me a letter
My beloved wrote to me, expressing their desire for and need to see me soon
Send me a ticket for an airplane
Please provide me with the means to return home quickly
I ain't got time to take a fast train
I am in a hurry to get back to my loved one and cannot afford to waste any time traveling slowly
Lonely days are gone I'm coming home
My days of being lonely are over, as I am finally returning home to my beloved
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Wayne Carson Thompson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Steffi Sklenar
I ain't got time to take a fast train
Lonely days are gone I'm coming home
My baby wrote me a letter
[Bridge]
And I don't care how much I gotta spend
I gotta get back to my baby again
Lonely days are gone I'm coming home
My baby wrote me a letter
[Chorus]
Well he wrote me a letter
Said he couldn't live without me no more
Ohh listen Mister can you see
I gotta get back to my baby once more anyway
[Bridge]
[Chorus]
[Bridge]
Sell me a ticket for that airplane
I ain't got time to take a fast train
Lonely days are gone I'm coming home
My baby wrote me a letter
Russel Murray
She can do no wrong she can move a person like no one else damn powerful woman who should be here. Great arrangements and it's as if she could see into my heart n pull out the blocks n make me humble .
Horsey Horselips 🐎
One of the first songs I ever sang by the BoxTops
Great Version Eva RIP Angel 👼
carlos SP
Mais uma pérola para minha coleção de Eva!
Nola
Can't go wrong with a cover of this.
ole jørgensen
My fav from this unique and wonderful lady. I'd wish SO much i had a change to hear you play. Life is not fair.
Leo 01
maravilhosa
Steffi Sklenar
I ain't got time to take a fast train
Lonely days are gone I'm coming home
My baby wrote me a letter
[Bridge]
And I don't care how much I gotta spend
I gotta get back to my baby again
Lonely days are gone I'm coming home
My baby wrote me a letter
[Chorus]
Well he wrote me a letter
Said he couldn't live without me no more
Ohh listen Mister can you see
I gotta get back to my baby once more anyway
[Bridge]
[Chorus]
[Bridge]
Sell me a ticket for that airplane
I ain't got time to take a fast train
Lonely days are gone I'm coming home
My baby wrote me a letter
M S
Although nobody could touch Alex Chilton on this , Cassidy was a very unique and talented woman who could apparently do anything.
Ru I
Definitely better than the original or any versions out there.
I'm desperately looking for a karaoke version of this.
Ru I
@Trevor Morris hahahaaa that's sweet . Thank you