"Letter From America" is a pop song written and performed by Scottish band The Proclaimers that appears on their debut album This Is the Story.

Lyrically the song reflects Scotland's long history of emigration with Scots leaving behind economic depression in their own nation to start new lives in America and Canada. There is also an allusion to the enforced emigrations of the Highland Clearances when wealthy landowners forcibly evicted whole communities in order to turn their land over to the more profitable enterprise of raising sheep.

The song was later recorded in a fuller arrangement with producer Gerry Rafferty and became a hit in December 1987 reaching #3 on the UK singles chart. The 12" vinyl single of the song featured an unusual 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.

The song is featured in the 1991 film The Commitments playing in the background at a wedding; it is cited as something approximating music after the music played by the trio performing at the wedding is criticised as "shite" by Jimmy Rabbitte.

Letter from America was a weekly 15-minute radio series on BBC Radio 4, previously called the Home Service, which ran for 2,869 shows from 24 March 1946 to 20 February 2004, making it the longest-running speech radio programme in history. The programme was also broadcast for many years on the BBC World Service.

It was presented by Alistair Cooke, who each week spoke of a topical issue in the USA, often tying together different strands of observation and anecdote. He frequently ended his letters on a humorous or poignant note.

Letter from America had its origin in London Letter, a 15-minute talk for American listeners on life in Britain that Cooke recorded during the 1930s while working as London correspondent for NBC. London Letter came to an end when Cooke emigrated to America in 1937, but it was not long before he suggested to the BBC the idea of continuing the idea in reverse. A prototype, Mainly About Manhattan, was broadcast intermittently from 1938, but the idea was shelved with the outbreak of World War II in 1939. The first American Letter was broadcast on March 24, 1946; the change of title to Letter from America came in 1950. Initially confirmed for only 13 instalments, the series lasted nearly 58 years and gathered an enormous audience, being broadcast not only in Britain and in many other Commonwealth countries, but throughout the world by the BBC World Service.

The Proclaimers are a Scottish band composed of identical twin brothers, Charlie and Craig Reid. They are probably best known for the songs "Letter from America", "I'm On My Way" and "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)". The band tours extensively throughout Europe and other continents. They have released nine studio albums from 1987 until the present, as well as two compilation albums and a DVD.

In 2011, the band scored history in Scotland when two of their tracks, "Sunshine on Leith" and "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" were featured on Scotland's Greatest Album (2011).

Craig Reid and Charlie Reid were born in Leith in 1962, and grew up in Edinburgh, Cornwall and Auchtermuchty. When they stayed in Auchtermuchty they attended Bell Baxter High School. After several punk rock bands at school they formed The Proclaimers in 1983.

The pair came to public attention when an Inverness based fan sent their demo to the British band The Housemartins, who were impressed enough to invite The Proclaimers on their 1986 UK tour. The exposure of the tour won them a January 1987 appearance on the British pop music television programme The Tube on Channel Four; "Letter from America" peaked at number 3 in the UK Singles Chart, whilst the album This is the Story went gold. The follow-up album Sunshine on Leith featured "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" and "I'm On My Way". They had a hit with their EP King of the Road, which reached number 9 in UK in 1990.

John Parr (born 18 November 1954, Worksop, England) is an English musician, best known for his 1985 US #1 hit single "St. Elmo's Fire". Parr has sold 10 million albums worldwide.

Parr's first entrance in to music was when he was 12 years old and formed a band with two fellow schoolmates named The Silence. The band had considerable success. They eventually became professional and started to tour Europe.

When Parr left the band, he joined a group called Ponders End who were hailed as the 'best live act around' in Newcastle, along with Dire Straits. In the end they did not secure a recording contract and the band's chapter in history was closed.

Parr secured a publishing deal with Carlin Music in 1983 and in the same year Meat Loaf asked him to write some songs for his new album. That led to the fateful meeting with John Wolfe (tour manager of The Who). Foreseeing the initial demise of The Who, Wolff was looking for a new venture and Parr seemed to be the one. 1984 saw Parr's first trip to America. He worked with Meat Loaf on Bad Attitude while Wolff struck Parr's solo Atlantic recording deal in New York.