Gary Troxel (b. November 28, 1939, Centralia, Washington) and Gretchen Christopher (b. February 29, 1940, Olympia, Washington) were two high school students waiting for Christopher's mother to pick them up after school. They started singing and humming a song together, and liked it enough to ask Christopher's friend and singing partner, Barbara Ellis (b. February 20, 1940, Olympia, Washington), to join them as a trio to perform it.
They performed the song twice at school functions, and their classmates wanted recordings of it so they could learn the song. After six months, they got the track recorded. They sang it a cappella, then dubbed the instrumental accompaniment, consisting only of Latin-styled acoustic guitar and the rhythmic shaking of Troxel's car keys. "Come Softly to Me" was also recorded by Frankie Vaughan and The Kaye Sisters, who had a chart hit in the United Kingdom with the song. The Fleetwoods' version of "Come Softly To Me" can be heard on a portable radio at one point in the 1986 movie, Stand By Me, which was set in Washington state.
Bob Reisdorf, the owner of Dolphin Records (later changed to Dolton Records), was responsible for the changes to the group name and song title. He thought that the title was too risque and not commercial-sounding enough, so he had it changed to "Come Softly to Me". He also thought that the group's original name wasn't commercial-sounding enough. The new name of the group, The Fleetwoods, was based on the telephone exchanges in the areas where the three members lived, Fleetwood2-xxxx and Fleetwood7-xxxx.
The Fleetwoods continued to record into the 1960s, with a number of other successes, although none so big as "Come Softly to Me". Their second hit, "Mr. Blue," was one of the few recordings by a white singing group to make the rhythm & blues chart. The beginning of the end for the group came when Troxel was drafted into the U.S. Navy. Additionally, the British Invasion of the mid 1960s ended the public's taste for sweet, melodic music.
By the late 1970s, Troxel was working in a plywood plant, Ellis was managing a trailer park in Canada, and Christopher was a housewife and modern dance teacher. In 2000, Troxel and his wife Jenifer lost a landmark grandparents' rights case before the Supreme Court of the United States. The court held that under the United States Constitution, non-parents seeking custody or visitation rights of a child against the wishes of the child's parents must prove that the parents are not acting in the best interest of the child in refusing custody or visitation.
Confidential
The Fleetwoods Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sentimental as a rose in the moonlight (I love you)
My love for you will always be (confidential)
Confidential to me (ooh ooh ooh ooh)
Confidential as a mother's prayer (confidential)
Too beautiful for other hearts to share (it's a secret)
My love for you will always be (confidential)
[Chorus]
Our love's our precious secret
A beautiful thing apart
There's no need for prying eyes
To look into my heart
Confidential as a baby's cry (confidential)
Sacred and holy as a lover's sigh (I love you)
My love for you will always be (confidential)
Confidential to me
Confidential as a baby's cry
Sacred and holy as a lover's sigh (I love you)
My love for you will always be (confidential)
Confidential to me (ooh ooh ooh ooh)
The Fleetwoods's song "Confidential" is a tender love song that expresses the singer's desire to keep their love private and confidential. The lyrics evoke a sense of secrecy and intimacy between two lovers. The singer compares their love to different things that are confidential, such as a church at twilight, a mother's prayer, a baby's cry and a lover's sigh. The lyrics suggest that the love between the two is too special to be shared with anyone else and needs to be kept confidential.
The song also emphasizes the preciousness of the love between the two, comparing it to a rose in moonlight, a baby's cry, and a lover's sigh, to convey the beauty and sacredness of their love. The chorus repeats that their love is a secret, a beautiful thing apart, and it should be kept confidential, away from prying eyes.
Overall, the song is a beautiful and heartfelt declaration of love that celebrates the intimacy and privacy of a couple's relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
Confidential as a church at twilight
My feelings for you are kept private and are as intimate as the solemnity of a church at dusk.
Sentimental as a rose in the moonlight
My emotions towards you are romantic and tender, as delicate and lovely as the bloom of a rose illuminated by moonlight.
My love for you will always be
My affection for you is eternal and will never fade.
Confidential to me (ooh ooh ooh ooh)
My emotions are locked away within my heart and only belong to me.
Confidential as a mother's prayer
My love for you is as solemn and holy as a prayer spoken by a mother for her child.
Too beautiful for other hearts to share
My affection for you is so precious and unique that it cannot be shared with anyone else.
[Chorus] Our love's our precious secret
Our love is a treasured secret that is shared only between ourselves.
A beautiful thing apart
Our relationship is special and separate from anything else.
There's no need for prying eyes
No one else outside of us needs to know about our love.
To look into my heart
No one else needs to try and understand the depth of my feelings for you.
Confidential as a baby's cry
My emotions are as confidential and vulnerable as the sound of a baby's cry.
Sacred and holy as a lover's sigh (I love you)
My feelings of love for you are pure, solemn and profound, like a lover's sigh or confession of love.
My love for you will always be
My love for you is everlasting and unchanging.
Confidential to me (ooh ooh ooh ooh)
My emotions for you are kept secret and belong only to me.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Peermusic Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: DORINDA MORGAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind