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| "(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover" | |
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| Song | |
| Recorded | November 1941 |
| Composer(s) | Walter Kent |
| Lyricist(s) | Nat Burton |
"(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover" is a popular World War II song composed in 1941 by Walter Kent to lyrics by Nat Burton. Made famous in England by Vera Lynn's 1942 version, it was one of Lynn's best-known recordings and among the most popular World War II tunes.
The song was written about a year after the Royal Air Force and German Luftwaffe aircraft had been fighting over southern England, including the white cliffs of Dover, in the Battle of Britain. Nazi Germany had conquered much of Europe and in 1941 was still bombing Britain. With neither America nor the Soviet Union having yet joined the war, Britain was the only major power fighting the Axis powers in Europe (see The Darkest Hour). The American lyricist, Nat Burton, wrote his lyric (perhaps unaware that the bluebird is not indigenous to Britain, though the migrant Swallow 'Bluebird' is a well known British harbinger of Spring and Summer) and asked Kent to set it to music. [1] Notable phrases include "Thumbs Up!" which was an RAF and RCAF term for permission to go, and "flying in those angry skies" where the air war was taking place.
The lyrics looked toward a time when the war would be over, and peace would rule over the iconic white cliffs, Britain's symbolic border with the European mainland.
The full song includes two verses rarely found in recordings:
I'll never forget the people I met braving those angry skies.
I remember well as the shadows fell, the light of hope in their eyes.
And tho' I'm far away, I can still hear them say "Thumbs Up!"
for when the dawn comes up,... There'll be blue birds over...
When night shadows fall, I'll always recall out there across the sea
Twilight falling down on some little town;
It's fresh in my memory.
I hear mother pray, and to her baby say "Don't cry,"
This is her lullaby.... There'll be blue birds over...
While in England the song was made famous by Vera Lynn and sung by her to troops during the war, in the United States, "The White Cliffs of Dover" was first recorded by the Glenn Miller Orchestra in late 1941. Miller's version placed 10th in Billboard's Popularity Chart for the week ending Dec. 26, 1941, which was just 19 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. By January 1942 however, a version performed by Kay Kyser and His Orchestra, with Harry Babbitt providing the vocals, supplanted Miller's version on the charts. The song remained in the top 10 for several months with the public's favorite going back and forth between Miller and Kyser each week. [2] [3]
Singer Kate Smith's version of the song, also recorded in 1941, made it into the top 10 as well at No. 9 in February 1942. [4] Other versions by Sammy Kaye (No. 11) and Jimmy Dorsey (No 15) also made the Top 20 in 1942. [3]
Jimmie Baker frequently performed it in Europe during the war, [4] and the song was sung by the vocal group The King's Men on a 3 February 1942 episode of the Fibber McGee and Molly Show. Ray Eberle and Tex Beneke also included it in their repertoires. [4]
In 1944, a version was recorded by Louis Prima and his Orchestra. This version reached No. 9 on the Harlem Hit Parade chart. [5]
The song is the terrace anthem of the supporters of Dover Athletic F.C. [ citation needed ]
The Checkers, an American group, released an R&B version of the song in 1953 which became very popular. Other artists who have recorded the song include Connie Francis, Bing Crosby, Ray Conniff, Jim Reeves, Acker Bilk, The Righteous Brothers (a hit in the UK Singles Chart), Steeleye Span, Bert Kaempfert and The Hot Sardines on their debut album released in 2014. [6]
In 1995, British pop duo Robson & Jerome recorded the song as part of a double A-side release, coupled with "Unchained Melody"; the single stayed at No. 1 for seven weeks in the UK Singles Chart, selling over a million copies and also making it the number one song with the longest title, including brackets. The Jive Aces released a swing version in 2005 (similar to Acker Bilk's arrangement).
The song was present also in the 2007 historical drama Atonement .
On 18 February 2009, a story in The Daily Telegraph announced that Dame Vera Lynn was suing the British National Party (BNP) for using her version of "The White Cliffs of Dover" on an anti-immigration album without her permission. Lynn's lawyer claimed sales of the song would help boost the BNP's coffers and would link her name to the party's far-right views by association. [7]
On 12 October 2009, Ian Hislop presented a half-hour BBC Radio 4 programme about the song. [8]
On 9 May 2015, Elaine Paige performed the song at VE Day 70: A Party to Remember at Horse Guards Parade in London. [9]
On 31st Jan/ 1st Feb 2024, Florence and the Machine / Jack Antonoff released The White Cliffs of Dover, (The New Look: Season 1 (Apple TV+ Original Series Soundtrack)).
Bernard Stanley "Acker" Bilk, was an English clarinetist and vocalist known for his breathy, vibrato-rich, lower-register style, and distinctive appearance – of goatee, bowler hat and striped waistcoat.
The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus Sialia of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas.
"Stranger on the Shore" is a piece for clarinet written by Acker Bilk for his young daughter and originally named "Jenny" after her. The tune was written on a single scrap of paper by Bilk and handed over to Leon Young (1916-1991) who crafted the string arrangement, including the characteristic harmonic shifts at the very end.
Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was an American swing dance band formed by Glenn Miller in 1938. Arranged around a clarinet and tenor saxophone playing melody, and three other saxophones playing harmony, the band became the most popular and commercially successful dance orchestra of the swing era and one of the greatest singles charting acts of the 20th century. As of 2024, Ray Anthony is the last surviving member of the orchestra.
The White Cliffs of Dover are the region of English coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France. The cliff face, which reaches a height of 350 feet (110 m), owes its striking appearance to its composition of chalk accented by streaks of black flint, deposited during the Late Cretaceous. The cliffs, on both sides of the town of Dover in Kent, stretch for eight miles (13 km). The White Cliffs of Dover form part of the North Downs. A section of coastline encompassing the cliffs was purchased by the National Trust in 2016.
The White Cliffs of Dover are cliffs which form part of the coastline of England, facing the Strait of Dover.
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"Blues in the Night" is a popular blues song which has become a pop standard and is generally considered to be part of the Great American Songbook. The music was written by Harold Arlen, the lyrics by Johnny Mercer, for a 1941 film begun with the working title Hot Nocturne, but finally released as Blues in the Night. The song is sung in the film by William Gillespie.
World War II was the first conflict to take place in the age of electronically distributed music.
Walter Kent was an American composer and conductor. Some notable compositions are: "I'll Be Home for Christmas", "I'm Gonna Live Till I Die" and "(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover".
"Let There Be Love" is a popular song with music by Lionel Rand and lyrics by Ian Grant, published in 1940.
Dame Vera Margaret Lynn was an English singer and entertainer whose musical recordings and performances were very popular during World War II. She is honorifically known as the "Forces' Sweetheart", having given outdoor concerts for the troops in Egypt, India and Burma during the war as part of the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA). The songs most associated with her include "We'll Meet Again", "(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover", "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" and "There'll Always Be an England".
Tormé Meets the British is a 1957 studio album by Mel Tormé, of British songs, recorded in London.
"Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (with Anyone Else but Me)" is a popular song that was made famous by Glenn Miller and by the Andrews Sisters during World War II. Its lyrics are the words of two young lovers who pledge their fidelity while one of them is away serving in the war.
"Miss You Nights" is a song written by Dave Townsend and made famous worldwide by Cliff Richard. The song has been recorded by numerous other artists, most notably Westlife, who released it as the second track on a double A-side single in 2003. The Westlife single reached number 3 in the UK singles chart.
"A String of Pearls" is a 1941 song recorded by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra on RCA Bluebird that November, becoming a #1 hit. It was composed by Jerry Gray with lyrics by Eddie DeLange. The song is a big band and jazz standard.
Robson & Jerome is the debut studio album by British singing duo Robson & Jerome. It was released in the UK in 1995 by RCA Records, and reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. It was the Christmas number one album of 1995, and was the biggest-selling album of the year, with sales of 2,040,000. For almost 20 years, it held the record for selling 2 million copies in the UK in the fastest time, doing so in 42 days; in 2015, Adele surpassed the record when her album 25 took just 29 days to reach the landmark.
"I Know Why " is a 1941 song by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra. The song appeared in the 20th Century Fox movie Sun Valley Serenade. The song was also released as an RCA Bluebird 78 single.
"Elmer's Tune" is a 1941 big band and jazz standard written by Elmer Albrecht, Dick Jurgens and Sammy Gallop. Glenn Miller and his Orchestra and Dick Jurgens and his Orchestra both charted with recordings of the composition.
Her Greatest from Abbey Road is a 2017 compilation album by English singer Vera Lynn. Released on 10 March to mark her 100th birthday, the album, produced by Parlophone and Warner Music UK, compiles Lynn's recordings from Abbey Road Studios for the first time.
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