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So much of a presence that when Queen Elizabeth spoke to the nation regarding coronavirus she invoked words from the WW2 We'll meet again."
"We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return,” she said. “We will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.”
Growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, I had never heard of Vera Lynn. Later, however, as I met U.S. veterans who had been stationed in the U.K. during WWII, they also were very fond of Vera Lynn.
One reason that Vera Lynn perhaps had limited fame in the U.S. is because she was overshadowed by Kate Smith, who remained a cultural fixture in the U.S. into the 1950s and 1960s. Smith recorded many of Lynn's hits, but remained most closely associated with "God Bless America."
Both Lynn and Smith were popular radio stars in the era before television, let alone cable.
Kate Smith became the Philadelphia Flyers' lucky charm in the late 1960s. The Flyers discontinued using Smith's recording of "God Bless America" in 2019 due to Smith's alleged racism.
I know persons in their 20s who have never heard of John Wayne or Jimmy Stewart, so I'm certain that both Lynn and Smith have largely slipped into history, especially among younger Americans, at least those who aren't Flyers' fans in Smith's case.
Even Pink Floyd dug her (bassist Roger Waters lament to his father, who was killed in WWII):
"Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn?
Remember how she said that
We would meet again
Some sunny day?
Vera, Vera
What has become of you
Does anybody else in here
Feel the way I do?"
Vera, from "The Wall"
Hauntingly beautiful and sad song
So much of a presence that when Queen Elizabeth spoke to the nation regarding coronavirus she invoked words from the WW2 We'll meet again."
"We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return,” she said. “We will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.”
Queen Elizabeth, April 2020
Right. I didn't catch the reference, but a news commentator pointed it out.
That was a wonderful speech - no wild promises, no dark fear-mongering. If only we could have had a leader like that this year.
Growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, I had never heard of Vera Lynn. Later, however, as I met U.S. veterans who had been stationed in the U.K. during WWII, they also were very fond of Vera Lynn.
One reason that Vera Lynn perhaps had limited fame in the U.S. is because she was overshadowed by Kate Smith, who remained a cultural fixture in the U.S. into the 1950s and 1960s. Smith recorded many of Lynn's hits, but remained most closely associated with "God Bless America."
I know persons in their 20s who have never heard of John Wayne or Jimmy Stewart, so I'm certain that both Lynn and Smith have largely slipped into history, especially among younger Americans, at least those who aren't Flyers' fans in Smith's case.
Take heart - I didn't know old-time stars until I started going to old movies at college. Maybe all those 20 year-olds will come to learn about Wayne and Stewart, too.
Kate Smith became the Philadelphia Flyers' lucky charm in the late 1960s. The Flyers discontinued using Smith's recording of "God Bless America" in 2019 due to Smith's alleged racism.
Don’t think we had a solo female equivalent of Vera Lynn. Maybe the Andrews Sisters was America’s favorite female group.
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