A Letter From Fred

In today’s society the music that floods our radio stations are often top 40 pop songs. Past popular songs such as Thrift Shop, Timber or We Can’t Stop grow go viral in minutes, but think about their meaning. Most of out popular songs today talk mostly talk about parties, sex or alcohol. A new song that came to my attention was featured in a short documentary that has just gone viral called A Letter From Fred. This 9 minute documentary captures a glimpse of Fred Stobaugh’s journey at 96 to write a heartwarming love song for his wife.

Jacob Colgan and Green Shoe Studios had a singer, songwriter contest open to the public, which is how he came across the letter from Fred. The only mailed letter in the contest, Colgan was touched by the sweet lyrics and heartwarming story of Fred’s love for his recently deceased wife, Lorraine. Fred and Lorraine met in 1938 were married for 75 years, the best years of Fred’s life. When Colgan called Fred with the good news of making his dreams come true and told him “we’re doing this together”, the elderly heartbroken man began to cry.

The song was recorded, using Fred’s lyrics by a professional singer and instrumentalist. Touching lyrics such as “sweet Lorraine, I wish we could do the good times all over again” and “but the memories always linger on, oh sweet Lorraine, I don’t want to move on” touched the hearts of over 6 million viewers on YouTube. When hearing his song for the first time, Fred broke into tears, uttering that the song was wonderful. These are the kinds of videos that should become viral, because this true love story reminds us of what is important, and that music can touch the lives of many when there is great meaning behind it. It is that kind of passion and meaning that we are missing in popular songs today, and it is nice to see a video such as this go viral, sharing Fred’s love and story to the world.