"Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty" is a

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...

song written by Arthur J. Mills,

Fred Godfrey Fred Godfrey (17 September 1880 – 22 February 1953) was the pen name of Llewellyn Williams, a World War I songwriter. He is best known for the songs "Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty" (1916) and "Bless 'Em All" (1917), a 1940s hit record ...

and

Bennett Scott Bennett Scott (12 October 1871 – 1 June 1930)Richard Anthony Baker, ''British Music Hall: an illustrated history'', Pen & Sword, 2014, , pp.154-156 was an English writer of music hall songs. Born in London, of Jewish background, he started wo ...

in 1916. It was popular during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and tells a story of three fictional soldiers on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

suffering from homesickness and their longing to return to " Blighty" - a slang term for Britain.

Composition

Fred Godfrey wrote the song with Bennett Scott and A.J. Mills after passing a

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

where a show called ''Blighty'' was showing. He recounts: "One of us suddenly said “What an idea for a song!” Four hours later it was all finished, and the whole country was singing it soon afterwards. I got — not very much." The chorus lyric "Take me back to dear old Blighty/Put me on the train for

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

town" was included in '' The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations''.

Recordings

Recordings by

Florrie Forde Flora May Augusta Flannagan ( Flannagan; 16 August 187518 April 1940), known professionally as Florrie Forde, was an Australian popular singer and music hall entertainer. From 1897 she lived and worked in the United Kingdom. She was one of the ...

and

Ella Retford Elinor Maud Dawe ( Flanagan, 2 July 1885 – 29 June 1962), who used the stage name Ella Retford, was an English music hall comedian, singer and dancer, and later a stage and film actress. Biography She was born in Sunderland (not Ireland, ...

are the most commonly heard versions, though Dorothy Ward first sang it. Jolly Old Fellows performed the song in 1930. British singer

Kevin Coyne Kevin Coyne (27 January 1944 – 2 December 2004) was an English musician, singer, composer, film-maker, and a writer of lyrics, stories and poems. The "anti-star" was born in Derby, Derbyshire, England, and died in his adopted home of Nurember ...

also released a version on his 1978 album ''Dynamite Daze'', with piano accompaniment by Tim Rice.

Use in other media

Noël Coward used the song for his 1931 stage production ''Cavalcade (play), Cavalcade'', about British life in the first two decades of the twentieth century and in the 1944 film ''This Happy Breed''. It was also used in the 1954 Errol Flynn film ''Lilacs in the Spring''. A recording of the song by Cicely Courtneidge from the 1962 film ''The L-Shaped Room'' was sampled at the beginning of The Queen Is Dead (song), the title track of the album ''The Queen Is Dead'' by the Smiths. A version called "Bring it back to Blighty", with different lyrics, was recorded as the England national football team, England song for the 2010 World Cup. The song was also used in the 2006 film ''Flyboys (film), Flyboys''. The song is heard in part of the opening scene of the 2021 movie ''Six Minutes to Midnight'' in the background.

References

{{Reflist 1916 songs Songs of World War I Songs about the United Kingdom British songs Songs written by Fred Godfrey