We'll Meet Again (1939 song)
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| "We'll Meet Again" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Song by Vera Lynn | ||
| Released | 1939 | |
| Length | 3:01 | |
| Writer | Hughie Charles (lyrics) | |
| Composer | Ross Parker (music) | |
| Cover versions | ||
|
The Byrds, The Turtles, Johnny Cash, The Ink Spots, Sandy Coast |
||
"We'll Meet Again" is a 1939 song made famous by British singer Vera Lynn (#29 (US, 1954)) with music written by Ross Parker and lyrics by Hughie Charles.
The song is one of the most famous songs of the Second World War era, and resonated with soldiers going off to fight and their families and sweethearts. The assertion that "we'll meet again" is optimistic, as many soldiers did not survive to see their loved ones again. Indeed, the meeting place at some unspecified time in the future would have been seen by many who lost loved ones to be heaven.
The song gave its name to the 1943 musical film We'll Meet Again in which Vera Lynn played the lead role. Lynn's recording is featured in Stanley Kubrick's 1964 movie Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, and was also used in the closing scenes of the 1986 BBC television serial The Singing Detective.
During the Cold War, Vera Lynn's recording was included in the package of music and programmes held in 20 underground radio stations of the BBC's Wartime Broadcasting Service (WTBS), designed to provide public information and morale-boosting broadcasts for 100 days after a nuclear attack[1].
[edit] In popular culture
- We'll Meet Again is featured in the final scene of Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove. Peter Sellers, in a biographic documentary, was credited with suggesting the use of this track.
- Pink Floyd makes reference to this song and the performer in "Vera," in a song from their album The Wall: "Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn?/Remember how she said that we would meet again some sunny day?". A short clip of "We'll Meet Again" can be heard at the beginning of the first track on the Pink Floyd album Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81.
- The American folk rock band The Byrds used the song as the closing track on their debut album Mr. Tambourine Man (1965).
- Johnny Cash covered this song in his 2002 album American IV: The Man Comes Around.
- The Turtles released a cover of this song as a single.
- In 1972, P. J. Proby recorded a power-ballad rendition of the song. It was released by the EMI Group as Proby's last single for his recording contract that ran between 1961 and 1972.
- The song was featured in the closing credits for the 2006 film Severance, sung by Ed Harcourt.[2]
- After getting off The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror in Walt Disney World, Florida, riders hear the Vera Lynn recording of the song "We'll Meet Again", eerily echoing in the distance.
- The band Bomb the Music Industry!'s song "Future 86" is partly based on "We'll Meet Again."
- In 2002 Peter Doherty and Carl Barat of The Libertines covered of "We'll Meet Again" as part of Radio 1's Live Lounge with Jo Whiley.
- The song can be heard in the 2004 film Hellboy directed by Guillermo del Toro.
- Barry Manilow covered this song on his Barry Live in Britain album.
- The final scene of the last episode of the animated superhero comedy Freakazoid! in 1997 (made in 1996) features the cast singing this song at the Hollywood Bowl.
- The song is featured on the seventh episode (shore leave) of the popular series Salad Fingers by David Firth. Salad Fingers appears at the end of the episode in a wedding dress singing the song.
- The song appears briefly in the first installment of The Beatles Anthology.
- "We'll Meet Again" is heard briefly at the end of the documentary film "Flying the Secret Skies," which recounts the exploits of the British Air Ferry Command during World War II.
- The "Radio DA DA" episode of the Australian children's TV series Round The Twist has "We'll Meet Again" playing on the radio whenever the characters travel between the present and 1945, and vice versa.
- The song is played over the closing credits of the Season 1 Futurama episode "A Big Piece of Garbage."
[edit] References
- ^ Hellen, Nicholas (1999-07-11). "Julie Andrews to sing to Brits during nuclear attack". Sunday Times.
- ^ IMDb soundtrack information
