The Arbors were an American pop group formed in 1964 in Ann Arbor, Michigan… Read Full Bio ↴The Arbors were an American pop group formed in 1964 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The members, two sets of brothers, met at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and began playing local shows in Michigan before moving to New York. They recorded a single for Mercury Records which garnered little attention, but their next single, "A Symphony for Susan" (recorded for Carney Records), was reissued nationally on Columbia Records subsidiary, Date Records and hit #51 on the US chart; they followed with the singles "Just Let it Happen" and "Graduation Day" (US #59).

In 1968, they recorded the song "Valley of the Dolls", which was not used in the movie of the same name but which was released concomitantly; it was overshadowed by the title song from the movie. They bounced back with a 1969 version of "The Letter", which had been a hit two years before for The Box Tops. The cover became their biggest hit, reaching #20 on the US singles chart, and they followed it with the release of an album that included their interpretations of Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone", The Doors's "Touch Me", Blood, Sweat & Tears's "I Can't Quit Her" (US #67), and Simon & Garfunkel's "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her". It was the group's last recording for Columbia, and afterward, they began writing and playing music for commercials, and continued to do so for some thirty years thereafter.

The Letter
The Arbors Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Gimme a ticket for an aeroplane
Ain't got time to take a fast train
Lonely days are gone, I'm a-goin' home
My baby, just-a wrote me a letter

I don't care how much money I gotta spend
Got to get back to baby again
Lonely days are gone, I'm a-goin' home

My baby, just-a wrote me a letter

Well, she wrote me a letter
Said she couldn't live without me no more
Listen mister, can't you see I got to get back
To my baby once-a more
Anyway, yeah!

Gimme a ticket for an aeroplane
Ain't got time to take a fast train
Lonely days are gone, I'm a-goin' home
My baby, just-a wrote me a letter

Well, she wrote me a letter
Said she couldn't live without me no more
Listen mister, can't you see I got to get back
To my baby once-a more
Anyway, yeah!

Gimme a ticket for an aeroplane
Ain't got time to take a fast train
Lonely days are gone, I'm a-goin' home

My baby, just-a wrote me a letter
My baby, just-a wrote me a letter

Overall Meaning

The Arbors' "The Letter" is a song about a man who has received a letter from his lover and feels an urgent need to return to her. The first verse of the song is a declaration of the urgency of the situation, as the singer expresses his impatience with transporting systems that seem too slow to bring him back to his love immediately. The chorus of the song is a joyous celebration of the end of loneliness and the prospect of seeing the beloved. The second verse reveals the reason why the singer has been away from home: to secure funds to be with the lover. The song ends by repeating the chorus, underscoring the delight of the letter and the singer's intention of immediately returning to his lover.

Overall, the song is a tale about the power of love and the energy that it can arouse in the human soul. It suggests that, when true love is present, time and distance become mere trivialities that can be overcome with enthusiasm and excitement. The song's melody is simple and catchy, which adds to its upbeat mood and the joyous message that it conveys.

Line by Line Meaning

Gimme a ticket for an aeroplane
I need a plane ticket to quickly reach my destination

Ain't got time to take a fast train
I don't have enough time to take a train, I need to hurry

Lonely days are gone, I'm a-goin' home
I'm relieved that my lonely days are over, I'm heading back home

My baby, just-a wrote me a letter
My significant other sent me a letter

I don't care how much money I gotta spend
I'm willing to spend all the money required to reach my destination

Got to get back to baby again
I need to return to my significant other as soon as possible

Well, she wrote me a letter
My significant other sent me a letter

Said she couldn't live without me no more
My significant other can't imagine living without me anymore

Listen mister, can't you see I got to get back
I urgently need to return to my significant other

To my baby once-a more
I need to return to my significant other one more time

Anyway, yeah!
I'm determined to return to my significant other

My baby, just-a wrote me a letter
My significant other sent me a letter

Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Wayne Carson Thompson

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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Comments from YouTube:

Muffs 55mercury

3y↑4

Peaked at #20 in April, 1969 but it's my favorite version. My brother was in Vietnam at the time and his unit loved this song. A soldier first intent is to survive and then get mail from home especially from his special someone.
This was likely a bigger hit in Michigan as these guys went to the university.

Randy Poole

4y↑9

Box Tops had the #1 hit in the Magic Summer of 1967, and Joe Cocker did a rousing version, also, but this version hits my sweet spot. I love the whooshy cross-phasing at the fade--always have, but at 1:22, when the strings go to a higher tone, that's when the tingle goes up the back of my neck, The Hippy Chick images also remind me of a seemingly less complicated time in our lives.

Jake Blake

@John Santos I agree. . . . and I don't even wanna talk about Joe Cocker. What a mess.

John Santos

3y↑2

The Best Version !!! A Killer !!!...

John Santos

3y↑1

You said It all !!! Thank you !!!...

Ellen Germaine

2y↑1

So crazy! Ed was one of my voice teachers when I was a teenager. So cool to hear him.

Jim Southern

2y↑1

The Arbors were on tour with piano star Roger Williams back in '67. I saw the concert and was able to visit with them afterwards. It ended up being a very memorable night on the town. One of the joys of being a Disc Jockey back in the fun radio days was meeting the performers, lots of great memories!

Carol's Oldies/Soul

6y↑7

Hi Jim! A very impressive upload! Never heard of this group, but I really like their sound. Thanks for introducing this one! Have a great weekend.. Carol :)

themagicsinthemusic

6y↑1

A hit here, Carol. They started out when they were students at The University Of Michigan (GO BLUE), in Ann arbor. Thus the name "Arbors". Their biggest hit was "A Symphony For Susan" from 1967. So glad you liked this one! Wishing you a great weekend as well :))
Jim

tunanorth

3y↑4

This version got quite a bit of airtime in Los Angeles back in 1969, on radio station 93-KHJ "Boss Radio".

Brian G Burnett

First time I heard John Lennon's White album version of Revolution I think he was inspired by this

Brian G Burnett

Canada too..

sunryse111

6y↑8

A very different version from these guys. Gets a thumbs up from me, Jim.

gil val80

5y↑11

I like this version better it's slow and smooth rhythm and more drama sound to it.

Chris Hewitt

3y↑1

A big song for me, aged ten, growing up in Beirut in 1969.

TOM DAVIS

5y↑4

1969! The memories!

KutWrite

5y↑13

I much preferred this version to that of the Box Tops, especially when the phasing starts at 2:50.

...then, there's the Joe Cocker version!

Tomi Grguric

6y↑4

Great video thanks for sharing!

James R. Donovan

Along with Symphony for Susan, two terrific songs

John Tiggleman

4y↑3

I prefer The Arbors version over The Box Tops' original. Probably because of the slower pace...and the phaser effect.

Kenneth Andrysiak

2y↑1

A hat trick hit for the author... Wayne Carson. Timeless song even if letter writing is a bit passe, unfortunately. 3 unique interpretations. All great! Love the production on this version. It could have been a bland, easy to forget recording but the lush orchestration and phasing trick make it a solid memory! Stereo version even better than what we all heard back in 1969 on AM radio.

Christine Anne

6y↑2

well that's a new one for us jim, nice slow version, ray davies does this live at a tribute concert here on y/t. thumbs up from jane and brian.

juanunderground

5y↑4

Who knows really what they used to make the sound at the end as it were an airplane flying?.Answer: A PHASER MACHINE in a RECORDING STUDIO.I was too much used during the 60s and part of the 70s.

Gisleine Leite

The lyrics explain ... The guy asks Mr. to return from war because he needs to get back to his baby ... Probably from Vietnam 😥

bill Smith

3y↑1

I think it's meant to sound like an aeroplane.

Blaine Selkirk

4y↑1

It's a flange effect, not a phaser. Back then done with multiple reel to reel machines and a magic finger. But yes, overdone. Shades of Matchstick man?

juanunderground

5y↑10

This is the best version to smoke weed.Greatly produced.The sound developed made this version a masterpiece

Eliot Stein

Finding out something was totally different 53 years later. In 1969, some unknown group called The Arbors had a big hit with an Avant Garde version of the 1967 #1 record "The Letter"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVyyokC_aAo
which was originally done by the Box Tops. This new pop-experimental version had the song slowed way down, emphasized classical guitar, had the newest sound effects available and changed verses into unique key transpositions. It sounded like this new group was trying to imitate songs by The Left Banke who did "Pretty Ballerina." As there was no publicity about the group, I have pictured them all these years as hippies, beatniks, etc.
Suddenly having the desire to find out who these Arbors were--the big surprise is that they were nothing like the image that is projected with their version of "The Letter." It turns out that the group was made up of two sets of brothers who were trying to sound like The Lettermen. 99% of the rest of their recordings are all imitations of The Lettermen. And it turns out that they had some chart play with various middle of the road songs over the previous 5 years, but only on the East Coast. This is what they sound like on all their other recordings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF3FZPRks5w...

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