"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
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
era, resonating with servicemen going off to fight as well as their families and loved ones.
Background
The song was published by Michael Ross Limited, whose directors included Louis Carris, Ross Parker and Norman Keen. Keen, an English pianist, collaborated with Parker and Hughie Charles on "We'll Meet Again", as well as many other songs published by the company, including " There'll Always Be an England" and "I'm In Love For The Last Time".
The song's original recording featured Lynn accompanied by Arthur Young on Hammond Novachord (an early electronic keyboard), while a rerecording in 1953 featured a more lavish instrumentation and a chorus of
British Armed Forces
The British Armed Forces are the unified military, military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests ...
personnel.
Composition
The song was originally written in the key of
D major
D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...
, set to a
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...
of 92 BPM.
Legacy after World War II
During the
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
, Lynn's recording was included in the package of music and programmes held in 20 underground radio stations of the BBC's Wartime Broadcasting Service (WTBS), designed to provide public information and morale-boosting broadcasts for 100 days after a nuclear attack. The song reached number 29 on the U.S. charts. Lynn sang the song in London on the 60th anniversary of VE Day in 2005 alongside
Petula Clark
Sally "Petula" Clark (born 15 November 1932) is a British singer, actress, and songwriter. She started her professional career as a child actor, child performer and has had the longest career of any British entertainer, spanning more than 85 y ...
and Bruce Forsyth.
In April 2020, a charity duet with
Katherine Jenkins
Katherine Jenkins (born 29 June 1980) is a Welsh singer. She is a mezzo-soprano and performs operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre, and hymns.National Health Service
The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...
charities. In May 2020 following the 75th Anniversary celebrations of VE Day, the solo version by Lynn also reached number 55 in the UK chart.
Use in media
The song inspired and gave its name to the 1943
musical film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...
'' We'll Meet Again'', where Lynn stars in a loose adaptation of her life as a Forces' Sweetheart during the war.
Lynn's 1953 recording is featured in the final scene of
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...
's 1964 film '' Dr. Strangelove'' with a bitter irony, as the song accompanies a
nuclear holocaust
A nuclear holocaust, also known as a nuclear apocalypse, nuclear annihilation, nuclear armageddon, or atomic holocaust, is a Futures studies, theoretical scenario where the mass detonation of nuclear weapons causes widespread destruction and radi ...
that wipes out humanity.
British director John Schlesinger used the song in his 1979 film '' Yanks''. The film focuses on British citizens and American soldiers during the military buildup in the UK as the Allies prepare for the
Normandy landings
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...
period drama
A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...
'' We'll Meet Again'' took its name from the song.
The song is used in the closing scenes of the 1986
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
and
Disney XD
Disney XD is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Entertainment units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven years old ...
Castle
A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
'' features this song in Season 6, Episode 9.
The 2019
Hulu
Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...
series '' Catch-22'' features the song at the end of Episode 5, as the plane piloted by Orr disappears over the horizon.
The 2025 Hulu series ''
Mid-Century Modern
Mid-century modern (MCM) is a movement in interior design, product design, graphic design, architecture and urban development that was present in all the world, but more popular in North America, Brazil and Europe from roughly 1945 to 197 ...
'' features this song in Season 1, Episode 9 as a tribute to the late actress Linda Lavin, who starred in the show before her untimely passing in December 2024.
Cultural impact
* The song has been credited as one of the first to make use of the Hammond Novachord, the first polyphonic synthesizer.
* Traditionally, this song is played on 5 May as a closure to the
Liberation Day
Liberation Day is a day, often a public holiday, that marks the liberation of a place, similar to an independence day, but differing from it because it does not involve the original creation of statehood. It commemorates the end of an occupation ...
Concert in Amsterdam, to mark the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
in the Netherlands.
* In 2024, the piece was performed by the South Netherlands Philharmonic at the Netherlands American Cemetery. "We'll Meet Again" closed out the program, which commemorated the 80th anniversary of The Netherlands' liberation.
*On 5 April 2020,
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
referenced the song in a rare televised address that aired to Britain and the Commonwealth, where she expressed her gratitude for the efforts people are taking to mitigate the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
virus and acknowledged the severe challenges being faced by families across the world. The reference spurred covers by
West End theatre
West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes"West End"in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1195, ...
stars with Lynn and
Katherine Jenkins
Katherine Jenkins (born 29 June 1980) is a Welsh singer. She is a mezzo-soprano and performs operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre, and hymns.NHS Charities Together.
* The song is one of several played in the waiting queue of the Tower of Terror ride at
Walt Disney World
The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...
.
* During the series finale of The Colbert Report, dozens of past guests of the show returned to sing the song together.
* The
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...
song " Vera", from '' The Wall'' (1979), references lyrics of "We'll Meet Again" as well as Lynn herself.
*
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray Davies, Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British ...
Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
''Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)'', often referred to simply as ''Arthur'', is the seventh studio album by the English rock band the Kinks, released on 10 October 1969. It was the first Kinks album to feature bassist Jo ...