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.
Skylark
The Fleetwoods Lyrics
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Have you anything to say to me?
Won't you tell me where my love can be?
Is there a meadow in the mist
Where someone's waiting to be kissed?
Skylark
Have you seen a valley green with spring?
Over the shadows and the rain
To a blossom covered lane
And in your lonely flight
Haven't you heard the music in the night?
Wonderful music, faint as a will o' the wisp
Crazy as a loon, sad as a gypsy serenading the moon
Oh skylark
I don't know if you can find these things
But my heart is riding on your wings
So if you see them anywhere
Won't you lead me there?
Oh skylark
I don't know if you can find these things
But my heart is riding on your wings
So if you see them anywhere
Won't you lead me there?
The song "Skylark" by The Fleetwoods is a poignant Romantic ballad that evokes the journey of the heart in search of love in the natural world. The first verse begins by asking the bird, Skylark, if it has any message for the singer about finding love. The second verse continues the conversation with Skylark by pleading for it to take the singer to a beautiful valley where they can journey to a blossoming lane.
But it is not just the natural world that the singer is seeking guidance from. The third verse takes a more mystical turn and speaks of hearing the music of the night while flying in loneliness. The lyrics also compare the music's beauty to that of a "will o' the wisp," a vapor that ignites at nightfall and is often seen in marshy and swampy places. The emotional complexity that the singer is grappling with continues in the final verse, where the Skylark is once again asked to guide the journey of the heart, wherever that may take them.
Line by Line Meaning
Skylark
The singer addresses the skylark, a symbol of freedom, asking it if it has any insight to share.
Have you anything to say to me?
The singer is asking the skylark if it has any messages or knowledge that it can share with them.
Won't you tell me where my love can be?
The singer is asking the skylark to guide them to where their love can be found.
Is there a meadow in the mist
The singer is questioning whether there is a place surrounded by fog and yet to be found where true love might exist.
Where someone's waiting to be kissed?
The singer is seeking a clear sign from the skylark if there is a place where someone is waiting to be loved.
Have you seen a valley green with spring?
The singer is asking if the skylark has witnessed a lush valley full of life and hope.
Where my heart can go a journeying
The singer is saying that they desire a place where their heart can experience joy and discover new things.
Over the shadows and the rain
The singer is saying that they want to reach a place beyond the darkness and sadness of life.
To a blossom covered lane
The singer wishes to find a path covered in flowers, symbolizing a happy and peaceful journey.
And in your lonely flight
The singer acknowledges the solitary nature of the skylark's existence.
Haven't you heard the music in the night?
The singer wonders if the skylark has experienced the beauty of music during its nighttime flights.
Wonderful music, faint as a will o' the wisp
The singer describes the beauty of the music the skylark might have heard, likening it to that of a ghostly light.
Crazy as a loon, sad as a gypsy serenading the moon
The singer continues to describe the mysterious and emotional quality of the music the skylark might have heard.
Oh skylark
The singer once again addresses the skylark, expressing their trust in its guidance.
I don't know if you can find these things
The singer acknowledges that they don't know if the skylark can lead them to the places they seek.
But my heart is riding on your wings
The singer emphasizes their faith in the skylark, saying that their heart is entrusting it with their hopes and dreams.
So if you see them anywhere
The singer is asking the skylark to let them know if it comes across any places that match their descriptions.
Won't you lead me there?
The singer is asking the skylark to guide them to the places they seek, entrusting their journey to the bird's wings and instincts.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, O/B/O CAPASSO, Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HOAGY CARMICHAEL, JOHNNY MERCER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind