Letter from America (song)
| Letter from America | |
|---|---|
| The Proclaimers | |
| publication | 1987 (United Kingdom) |
| length | 4:00 (original version 1987) |
| Genre (s) | Folk rock (celtic rock) |
| Author (s) | Charlie Reid, Craig Reid |
| Label | Chrysalis Records (UK) |
| album | This is the story |
Letter from America (English for letter from America ) is a song by the Scottish vocal duo The Proclaimers , which appeared on their first album This is the Story in 1987 . Along with I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) from 1988, Letter from America , produced by Gerry Rafferty and Hugh Murphy , which reached number three in the UK charts , is one of the most successful works by the twin brothers Charlie and Craig Reid. In Germany the song reached number 57.
content
Topic and historical background
The historical background of the song is the expulsion of the Gaelic-speaking population ( Highland Clearances ) from the Scottish Highlands to North America, especially in the 19th century. This mass emigration was at least partly forced by British, but also English-loyal Scottish landowners. The causes for the resulting depopulation of large parts of the highlands and the Western Isles were diverse: a life full of privation, characterized by poverty, economic difficulties, hopelessness, despair, bad harvests and potato rot (as with the Great Famine in Ireland ), the middle of the 19th century Century in Scotland to the Highland Potato Famine ( potato famine in the Highlands ).
Cover of the Single
Letter from America
Photographer: unknown
[1]
(Please note copyrights )
![[1]](http://streamd.hitparade.ch/cdimages/the_proclaimers-letter_from_america_s.jpg){kind=link}
The song was written at a time when British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's economic policy was known as " Thatcherism " . "Thatcherism" had serious economic and social consequences in the areas of Great Britain that were particularly hard hit by it, including parts of Scotland, especially the less developed "Highlands and Islands". As a result of emigration, this in turn led to renewed demographic changes such as the "Highland Clearances" once did. The original record cover shows a photomontage consisting of a colored image of a man and a woman from the time of the Clearances against the black and white background of a steel mill in central Scotland that was closed in 1986.
text
The melancholy song tries to put oneself in the minds of the emigrants: ... Tried hard to imagine / The way you felt the day you sailed / From Wester Ross to Nova Scotia ... ( I really tried to imagine what you felt the day you sailed from Wester Ross to Nova Scotia [Nova Scotia]. ). Finally, numerous localities and areas in the Highlands are listed which are symbolic of all those from which emigrants left for North America. The place names are followed by the words no more ( never again or never more ): Lochaber , Sutherland , Lewis , Skye , Bathgate , Linwood , Methil and Irvine . The refrain is: When you go will you send back / A letter from America? ( If you go, will you send a letter from America? ).
Chart placements
| Charts | Top ranking | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Chart placements | ||
 Germany (GfK)
|
57 (5 weeks) | 5 |
 United Kingdom (OCC)
|
3 (10 weeks) | 10 |
Web links
- Lyrics (in English)
- Letter from America sung by The Proclaimers on youtube.com