We’ll Meet Again

Vera Lynn was another fixture in my childhood home. 

As I talked about in my post on Albinoni’s Adagio, my dad was a Veteran, and mum was a survivor of World War II. I remember today’s selection being a particularly poignant song for them, as was another wartime hit of Lynn’s, “(There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover.”

I quietly pondered on that latter one during a 27-kilometre walk along the white cliffs, the fields and beaches from Dover to Deal, England in 2008 with Sweety and her older son. (Deal is the adjoining town to Walmer, the site of a station of the Royal National Lifeboat Institute. RNLI is a charitable organization whose volunteers crew powered lifeboats to rescue those in peril on England’s seas and larger waterways. It’s a cause close to my UK family’s hearts as my uncle/their dad, spent all his adult working life in the Merchant Navy and my cousin/his son works on one of the ferry lines… the family has a profound and abiding respect for the Lifeboats. The three of us walked around the station in Walmer on that walk in 2008. In 2011 with the Liverpudlians, Sweety and I had a tour of the station at Hoylake, which is near where they all live.)

I learned today that Very Lynn died yesterday. Of course, that made some childhood and adult memories flood in as I thought of this woman and the powerful impact she and her music had on a country in the deep turmoil of war.

“We’ll meet again,
Don’t know where,
Don’t know when
But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day
Keep smiling through,
Just like you always do
‘Til the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away
So will you please say “Hello”
To the folks that I know?
Tell them I won’t be long
They’ll be happy to know
That as you saw me go
I was singing this song
We’ll meet again,
Don’t know where,
Don’t know when
But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day
We’ll meet again,
Don’t know where
Don’t know when.
But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day.
Keep smiling through
Just like you always do,
‘Til the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away
So will you please say “Hello”
To the folks that I know?
Tell them I won’t be long.
They’ll be happy to know
That as you saw me go,
I was singin’ this song.
We’ll meet again,
Don’t know where,
Don’t know when
But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day”

(“We’ll meet again,” by Hughie Charles, Ross Parker)

In addition to Lynn’s recording of the song, I have in my collection versions by Johnny Cash and two versions (the Reynolds Sisters and Soso Choir) that appear on The Battle of the Atlantic: 70th Anniversary Charity Album, released by the recording studio owned by Gary Millar, former Lord Mayor of Liverpool and city councillor, and entrepreneur whom I got to know over Twitter when I was very active on that platform some years ago.

Now you know a little about why this is my song of the day for today. Thanks for joining me here, and please enjoy.

Here’s the audio for the song from the Vera Lynn official YouTube channel: