"dream letter" is as an ode and apology to his ex-wife, mary guibert, and his son jeff buckley. this is the second song buckley wrote about the pair, the first being "i never asked to be your mountain" on his previous lp, "goodbye and hello". in comparison to that song "dream letter" has a more apologetic tone, the lyrics reveal this with buckley lamenting "does he ever ask about me?" . it would be over five years later that buckley would meet with his son again. the name of the song would later be used for a live album: posthumous release "". the concert features much of the same personnel from the "happy sad".