Dear Sir is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Chan Marshall, also known as Cat Power, released in October 1995 on Runt Records.

Marshall recorded Dear Sir in December 1994 in a small basement studio near Mott Street in New York City at the same time she recorded Myra Lee (1996), which was released nearly two years later, with guitarist Tim Foljahn and Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley; Marshall and Shelley had initially met after she played a show opening for Liz Phair in 1993.

The text reads: dear CAT POWER sir i have heaviness with a dr. molkner sir it's rabbit stew with you it's you it's you sir we've got the rabbit stew this time – and i'm in you i'm in you sir with a heavy line a very fine line indeed mr. wolfe it's heavy – stew it's heavy stroot like it it's god i would like you to meet and marry and have many smaller ones with my cousin pete you're a lot alike believe it about mr. warner tell him to change the stuff fuck this shit i'm hit that's bobby clayton for ya that's bobby please come to dinner some nite with molkner we're having rabbit stew call pete say hello and eat him then put him into a rabbit with bobby molkner and eat him raw with dr. molkner dr. molkner's no joke – he's heavy like me we've got heaviness with a doctor it's doctortorial molk's no joke love you sissy ass candy person CAT POWER sir -- According to Marshall, the text came from a letter given to her friend by a mentally ill elderly man who lived in the same hotel as she did: "My friend Jennifer used to live in the hotel and there was this old man and I guess he was crazy and nobody wanted to say hello to him and she would always say hello to him and you know, kind of took a liking to him.

[8] Heather Phares of AllMusic wrote that the album "spotlights Chan Marshall's demanding but rewarding songwriting.

Her distinctive blend of blues, country, folk and punk creates songs like the dark, noisy "Itchyhead" and "Rockets," which mixes tension and hope, and tops it with Marshall's earnest, expressive vocals.

Aesthetically, though, Dear Sir is mostly a low-key, lo-fi indie rock album that displays Chan Marshall’s songwriting at its rawest.