"Letter from America" is a song written and performed by Scottish band

The Proclaimers ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

, that appears on their 1987 debut album, ''

This Is the Story ''This Is the Story'' is the debut studio album from Scottish rock duo The Proclaimers, released in 1987. It was originally released with 12 tracks but after the success of the Gerry Rafferty-produced full band version of " Letter from America" ...

''.

Theme

Lyrically, the song reflects

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

's long history of emigration with Scots leaving behind economic depression in their own nation to start new lives in America and Canada ("the day you sailed from

Wester Ross Wester Ross () is an area of the Northwest Highlands of Scotland in the council area of Highland. The area is loosely defined, and has never been used as a formal administrative region in its own right, but is generally regarded as lying to the ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

"). There is also an allusion to the enforced emigrations of the

Highland Clearances The Highland Clearances ( gd, Fuadaichean nan Gàidheal , the "eviction of the Gaels") were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860. The first phase resulte ...

when wealthy landowners forcibly evicted whole communities in order to turn their land over to the more profitable enterprise of raising

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

, and comparison of the impact of the Highland clearances to that of 1980s

Thatcherite Thatcherism is a form of British conservative ideology named after Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher that relates to not just her political platform and particular policies but also her personal character and general style of manage ...

economic policies. Both of these themes are portrayed on the sleeve artwork for the single - a painted image of a man and woman from the time of the

(from the John Watson Nicol painting ''Lochaber No More'') superimposed onto a black-and-white photograph of the interior of

Gartcosh Gartcosh (Scottish Gaelic: ''Gart Cois'') is a village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The village lies a few miles east of Glasgow, and about northwest of the town of Coatbridge. According to a 2012 estimate, the population of Gartcosh was 2,13 ...

steel works after its closure in 1986.

Single version

The song was later recorded, as a single, in a fuller arrangement with producer

Gerry Rafferty Gerald Rafferty (16 April 1947– 4 January 2011) was a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was a founding member of Stealers Wheel, whose biggest hit was " Stuck in the Middle with You" in 1973. His solo hits in th ...

, and became a hit in November 1987, peaking at No. 2 and No. 3 on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

and

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in November 1987 and December 1987 respectively. The single was released in 7", 12", and 10" versions. The 10" vinyl single of the song featured an unusual double groove pressing, with the two versions - acoustic and orchestral - interwoven on the same side of the disc, so that placing the needle on the record would result in a random playing of one or the other version.

In popular culture

The song appears in the

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

film '' The Commitments'', playing in the background at a wedding, and also in the 2013 film '' Sunshine On Leith'', along with several other Proclaimers songs. In February 2014, the song was parodied by

Scottish Labour Party Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak o ...

leader

Johann Lamont Johann MacDougall Lamont (; born 11 July 1957) is a Scottish Labour Co-operative politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2011 to 2014. She was previously a junior Scottish Executive minister from 2004 to 2007 and Dep ...

during a session of First Minister's Questions after the savings and investment business

Standard Life Standard Life is a life assurance, pensions and long-terms savings company in the UK which is owned by Phoenix Group. History 1825–2010 The Standard Life Assurance Company was established in 1825 and was reincorporated as a mutual assurance ...

said it might leave Scotland if the country voted to separate from the United Kingdom. The Reid brothers (who are themselves both vocal supporters of Scottish independence and the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

) subsequently issued a statement criticising Lamont for "distorting our song as part of Labour's anti-independence cabal with the Tories".

Chart

References

1987 singles Chrysalis Records singles The Proclaimers songs Works about human migration {{1980s-rock-song-stub