"I Love This Land" is a 1982 song by

Vera Lynn Dame Vera Margaret Lynn (; 20 March 191718 June 2020) 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 giv ...

that was released as a single in the aftermath of the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

. The song was written by

André Previn André George Previn (; born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved ...

, and credited to "Vera Lynn and The Victory Group". The B-side was "The Victory Theme". It was released on

State Records State Records is a British independent record label, established by Wayne Bickerton, Tony Waddington and John Fruin in 1975. The label released hits by many successful artists including The Rubettes, Mac & Katie Kissoon and Delegation. In ...

. Lynn performed "

We'll Meet Again "We'll Meet Again" is a 1939 song by English singer Vera Lynn with music and lyrics composed and written by English songwriters Ross Parker and Hughie Charles. The song is one of the most famous of the Second World War era, and resonated with ...

" and "I Love This Land" at

Portsmouth harbour Portsmouth Harbour is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Portsmouth and Gosport in Hampshire. It is a Ramsar site and a Special Protection Area. It is a large natural harbour in Hampshire, England. Geographically it i ...

upon the return of the troops from the war. Lynn also performed the song at close of the Berkleley Square Ball in July 1982. In his 2011 book ''A Patriotism for Today'', theologian Keith Clements described the song as a "syrupy number" and that "I Love This Land" was "...the final confirmation, if any were needed, that an exercise in nostalgia for the emotional certainties of the past was taking place rather than an encounter with the global realities of the 1980s". The song was also critiqued as an act of nostalgia in the Glasgow Media Group's book ''The Glasgow Media Group Reader, Vol. II: Industry, Economy, War and Politics'' who wrote that upon the release of the song "...the BBC not only treated this as news" but "also gave us an historical introduction and extracts from her song accompanied by wartime stills of the 'forces' sweetheart' and current film of her wandering through an English country garden". The Glasgow Media Group noted that other songs released for the Falklands War such as

Crass Crass were an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977, who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a way of life, and a resistance movement. Crass popularised the anarcho-punk movement of the punk s ...

's "How does it feel (to be the mother of 1000 dead?)" that "lack the patriotic element" of "I Love This Land" and "...do not make news in quite the same way".

References

{{authority control 1982 singles 1982 songs British patriotic songs Falklands War media Songs with music by André Previn Vera Lynn songs