The Fleetwoods were a singing trio from Olympia, Washington, United States;… Read Full Bio ↴The Fleetwoods were a singing trio from Olympia, Washington, United States; formed in the late 1950s. They were responsible for the hit song "Come Softly to Me". The song was originally called "Come Softly", and the group was originally named Two Girls and a Guy, but both were changed en route to the song becoming a hit.

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.

Gone
The Fleetwoods Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Since you've gone
The moon, the sun, the stars in the sky
Know the reason why I cry

Love divine
Once was mine
Now you've gone (now you've gone)

Since you've gone
My heart, my lips, my tear dimmed eyes
A lonely soul within me cries

I acted smart
Broke your heart
Now you've gone (now you've gone)

Oh, what I'd give
For the lifetime I've wasted
The love that I've tasted
I was wrong
Now you've gone

Oh, what I'd give
For the lifetime I've wasted
The love that I've tasted

I was wrong
Now you've gone

Overall Meaning

The Fleetwoods' song "Gone" is a heartbreaking ballad about losing love. The opening lines "Since you've gone, the moon, the sun, the stars in the sky know the reason why I cry," speak to the all-consuming nature of grief, where even inanimate objects seem to acknowledge the loss. The chorus emphasizes the permanence of the loss, with the phrase "now you've gone" repeated after each verse. The second verse suggests that the singer may have played a role in the end of the relationship, with the lines "I acted smart, broke your heart, now you've gone." There's a sense of regret throughout the song, with the singer realizing how wrong they were to let their love go.

The third verse is particularly poignant, where the singer reflects on the wasted time and missed opportunities that they could have spent with their lover. The line "For the lifetime I've wasted, the love that I've tasted, I was wrong, now you've gone" communicates how much they regret losing the love they once had. The final verse repeats this sentiment, driving home the message that the loss is irreversible and that they would do anything to undo their mistakes. The song's slow tempo and melancholy melodies perfectly capture the sadness and longing that comes with a lost love.

Line by Line Meaning

Since you've gone
Ever since you left me, abandoned me

The moon, the sun, the stars in the sky
The celestial bodies that shine above us at night

Know the reason why I cry
Are aware of the reason I shed tears relentlessly

Love divine
Exemplary, God-like love

Once was mine
Once willing to be my partner in affection

Now you've gone (now you've gone)
It is now lost, gone forever, left me alone

My heart, my lips, my tear dimmed eyes
My body parts affected because of your absence

A lonely soul within me cries
My spirit is distressed and expresses it with tears

I acted smart
Behaved or acted boastful, overconfident, and conceited

Broke your heart
Unexpectedly or intentionally ended our love

Oh, what I'd give
Amidst regrets, a desire to go back in time or do something to change the situation