[1] Dedicated to the memory of actor and musician River Phoenix, a personal friend of Stipe's who died in 1993 from an opioid overdose, "E-Bow the Letter" received critical acclaim, although some reviewers noted that it was an unlikely song to be chosen as the album's lead single, especially due to its introspective content and "pessimistic nature."

The title refers to the EBow,[2] an electromagnetic field-generating device that induces sustained vibration in an electric guitar string (creating a violin-like effect), and to a "letter never sent" by Michael Stipe.

[1] "E-Bow the Letter" is not the only song by the band in which she makes an appearance; she also provided the backing vocals for "Blue", the closing track of the group's last studio album Collapse into Now (2011).

Club said that the "dirge-like" song "dabbles in Middle Eastern sounds—thanks to the use of the titular instrument—and features Patti Smith's haunting backing vocals.

[10] The song's stream of consciousness lyrics, writes Jessica Kennedy of MTV News, "reveal a vulnerable side, full of doubts".

The band played the song during a soundcheck on the Monster Tour, and Stipe ran backstage to retrieve the letter and put its words to the music.

[13] According to biographer David Buckley, New Adventures in Hi-Fi, with its sombre, muted tone, had "no obvious singles or radio hits,"[14] although Consequence of Sound noted that R.E.M.

[14] Given its downbeat, "almost dirge-like" nature,[16] spoken word verses,[15] "Dylanesque vocal delivery" and funereal pace, it was considered an unusual and brave choice as it, says Buckley, "it was largely inappropriate for hit radio".

"[17] According to Patrick M. Reilly of The Wall Street Journal, executives at Warner Bros. said that "the band's choice of a droning, dirge-like first single" negatively impacted the album's sales.

"[19] David Stubbs of Uncut said the "heavy-duty avant-folk-rock" song was "another of REM’s unapologetic anti-single singles," with another to follow in 1997's "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us".

"Whatever is vexing them is inscrutable to the casual listener; indeed, obscurely compelling as the song is, it seems from one angle like a deliberate attempt to shed extraneous fans.

He added: Michael Stipe trounces through thickly textured patches of swelling organs, acoustic strumming, and razor-sharp, sparingly placed electric guitars with the sad, furrowed brow and eternally ponderous voice that has become his signature.

Patti Smith wraps the song with deceptively soothing incantations that effectively sneak up from behind the music to a full-frontal caterwaul by the track's close.

"[23] Masterton called the song "so totally weird" and compared it to Mott the Hoople's 1972 single "All the Young Dudes", which features similar instrumentation.

The critic stated: "E-Bow the Letter" is one of R.E.M's finest songs of the 1990s, and the centrepiece of one of their most neglected and undervalued albums, New Adventures In Hi-Fi.

Containing a terrific, guitar driven arrangement, and an unusual, but catchy melody, the song is essentially a showcase for Michael Stipe's quick-fire, somewhat oblique lyric, although containing some wonderful moments (such as 'Dreaming of Maria Callas/Whoever she is').

's Top 40 Songs, stating: "The band, joined here by Stipe's avowed heroine, Patti Smith, plays with divine fire on this magnificent track from the 1996 album.

Stipe genuflects before his idol, giving her the space to steal the show at the end of the song and concluded that this is an astonishingly powerful and appropriate collaboration.

[39] In Iceland, "E-Bow" the letter rose to number two on the Íslenski listinn chart after seven weeks, eventually ending 1996 as the country's 41st-most-successful single.

Elsewhere in Europe, "E-Bow the Letter" appeared on the charts of Austria, Flanders, Germany, and the Netherlands, achieving a peak of number 28 on the Eurochart Hot 100.

[46][47] The music video was directed by Afghan-born American filmmaker Jem Cohen and features clips and footage from Los Angeles, while other scenes show the band performing the song in a room filled with lights.

"[48] Matthew Perpetua of Rolling Stone praised the video by stating: Jem Cohen’s dim, romantic clip for “E-Bow the Letter,” R.E.M.’s 1996 collaboration with Patti Smith, is ideally suited to the sound and sentiment of the song, which remains one of the band’s finest and most distinct compositions.