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.

Little Girl Blue
The Fleetwoods Lyrics

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I heard a poor girl praying (he heard her praying)
I heard a poor saying (he heard her saying)
""Please forgive me
For having hurt him so""

She'd prayed that love would restore them (she prayed, ah)
To what they had been before they drifted apart (before they drifted apart, ah)
I saw the tears (he saw the tears)

Running down her face (poor little girl)
As she said (poor little girl)
Her lonely prayer (poor little girl, poor little girl)
I saw the pain (he saw the pain)
Deep within her eyes
When she turned (she turned)
And saw me standing there (ah)

I heard a poor girl praying (he heard her praying)
I heard a poor saying (he heard her saying)
""If he leaves me
I don't know what'll I'll do""

And then I knelt down (he knelt beside her) beside her
And I knew (he knew he loved her) I still loved her

And that I (he could never) could never let her go (never let her go, never let her go)
Poor little girl (never let her go)

Overall Meaning

The Fleetwoods's song "Little Girl Blue" is a ballad about a poor girl who is praying for forgiveness from the man she loves. The singer hears her praying and asking for forgiveness for having hurt him. She then prays that love will restore their relationship to what it was before they drifted apart. The poor girl is shown to be in deep pain, with tears running down her face and a sense of loneliness in her prayer. When she turns, she sees the singer standing there and the pain in her eyes is revealed. She then confesses that she doesn't know what she would do if the man she loves leaves her.

The lyrics are poignant, as they explore the theme of lost love, and the despair and loneliness that come with it. The poor girl's distress shines through in her prayer, and the singer's response shows his deep love for her. He kneels beside her and knows that he still loves her and could never let her go.

Little Girl BlueThe Fleetwoods Lyrics

Little Girl Blue
The Fleetwoods Lyrics