THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

172-Vera Lynn-We’ll Meet Again.

1939-It has never charted in the UK, there was no UK chart until 1952.

Best Bit-At 0.30. On the very first UK singles chart issued on November 14th, 1952, Vera Lynn had three of the top 12 singles, ‘Forget Me Not,’ (joint Number 7) ‘The Homing Waltz,’ (Number 9) and ‘Auf Wiederseh’n Sweetheart’ (Number 10.)

Dame Vera Lynn (see also best songs 49) was born Vera Margaret Welch, on March 20th, 1917, in East Ham, Essex, England, she died on June 18th, 2020, at the age of 103. Vera Lynn began performing publicly at the age of seven, and started using her maternal grandmothers maiden name when she was 11. She made her first record on February 17th, 1935, with a song called ‘It’s Home,’ and her first radio broadcast on August 21st, 1935, singing with the Joe Loss Orchestra.

It is for Vera Lynn’s contribution to morale during the Second World War (1939-1945) that she is best remembered. In a pole in 1940 the British newspaper the ‘Daily Express’ asked British servicemen to name their favourite musical performers, Vera Lynn came out on top, and as a result became known as ‘The Forces Sweetheart,’ an honorific title she would be known by for the rest of her life. During the War years she joined the Entertainments National Service Association, (ENSA) and toured Egypt, India and Burma, giving outdoor concerts for British troops, also between 1942-1944 she appeared in three movies, all with war time themes. Vera Lynn was associated with the work of many charities throughout her life, and that along with her contributions to the war effort was recognised in 1969 when she received the ‘Order of the British Empire’, (OBE) and then in 1975, when she was created a ‘Dame of the Order of the British Empire’ (DBE.)

Of all Vera Lynn’s recordings the one she is best remembered for is ‘We’ll Meet Again,’ which was co-written by Ross Parker, (1914-1974) and Hughie Charles, (1907-1995) the track was produced by Norman Keen, who also contributed to the writing of the song. Parker and Charles also co-wrote ‘There’ll Always Be an England’ in 1939, which too became highly popular following the breakout of the Second World War. ‘We’ll Meet Again’ 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 loved ones. The song is an optimistic message that one day we will meet again, as many soldiers did not survive the war, presumably the meeting again will take place in heaven. In 2009 Vera Lynn spoke about the music she recorded and sang during those war years,’I always tried to choose cheerful songs, that soldiers missing their wives and sweethearts could relate to. We weren’t psychologists, but we understood that it was important to express the right meaning, and we put a lot of effort into getting the songs right.’

‘And I will just say hello to the folks that you know, tell them you won’t be long. They’ll be happy to know that as I saw you go, you were singing this song.’