WWII Songs

[Andykev]

This was a great song: Vera Lynn


WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER
words: Nat Burton Music: Walter Kent

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,
but though i'm far away,
I still can hear them say.
Thumbs up for when the dawn comes up:

There'll be bluebirds over,
The white cliffs of Dover,
Tomorrow, just you wait and see.
There'll be love and laughter,
And peace ever after,
Tomorrow when the world is free.

The shepherd will tend his sheep,
The valley will bloom again.
And Jimmy will go to sleep,
In his own little room again.

There'll be bluebirds over,
The white cliffs of Dover,
Tomorrow, just you wait and see.

 

[obxgyrene]

Although this post is ancient, I think the music of the era was an important part of the lives of the guys and gals who served during WW-II.

The White Cliffs of Dover is in my top-80 favorite list. Here are some others that were popular and are on my personal playlist:

A String Of Pearls - Glenn Miller
Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive - Bing Crosby & the Andrews Sisters
As Time Goes By - Rudy Vallee
Auld Lang Syne - Guy Lombardo
Beat Me Daddy, Eight To The Bar - Andrews Sisters
Besame Mucho - Andy Russell
Bless Em' All - Bing Crosby
Blue Moon - Jo Stafford
Blues In The Night - Jo Stafford, Johnny Mercer & The Pied Pipers
Boogie Woogie - Tommy Dorsey
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy Andrews Sisters
Candy - Jo Stafford, Johnny Mercer & The Pied Pipers
Cattle Call - Eddy Arnold
Chattanooga Choo-Choo - Glenn Miller
Chickery Chick - Sammy Kaye
Deep Purple - Artie Shaw
Did You See My Daddy Over There? - Eddy Arnold
Don't Fence Me In - Bing Crosby
Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree - Andrews Sisters
Dream - The Pied Pipers
Goodbye Mama (I'm Off To Yokohama) - J. Fred Coots
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Judy Garland
I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire - Ink Spots
I Don't Want To Walk Without You - Harry James & Helen Forrest
I Left My Heart At The Stagedoor Canteen - Bob Crosby Orchestra
I'll Be Home For Christmas - Bing Crosby
I'll Be Seeing You - Bing Crosby
I'll Never Smile Again - Tommy Dorsey, Frank Sinatra & The Pied Pipers
I'll Walk Alone - Dinah Shore
I'm Making Believe - Les Paul & Doris Day
I'm Sitting On Top Of The World - Al Jolson
In The Mood - Glenn Miller
Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall - Ella Fitzgerald & The Ink Spots
It Could Happen To You - Jo Stafford
It Had To Be You - Artie Shaw
It's Been A Long, Long Time - Bing Crosby & Les Paul
I've Got A Gal In Kalamazoo - Glenn Miller
I've Heard That Song Before - Harry James & Helen Forrest
Jingle, Jangle, Jingle - Kay Kyser
Let's Get Away From It All - Tommy Dorsey & Jo Stafford
Lili Marlene - Anne Shelton
Long Ago (And Far Away) - Jo Stafford
Mairzy Doats - Merry Macs
Manhattan Serenade - Tommy Dorsey & Jo Stafford
Moonglow - Benny Goodman
Moonlight Becomes You - Bing Crosby
Moonlight Serenade - Glenn Miller
Mother's Prayers - Eddy Arnold
My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time - Doris Day
On The Atchison, Topeka, And The Santa Fe - Johnny Mercer
Opus One - Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra
Over The Rainbow - Judy Garland
Paper Doll - Mills Brothers
Rum And Coca Cola - Andrews Sisters
San Fernando Valley - Bing Crosby
Saturday Night (Is The Lonliest Night Of The Week) - Frank Sinatra
Sentimental Journey - Doris Day
Sing, Sing, Sing (With A Swing) - Benny Goodman
Stardust - Tommy Dorsey & Frank Sinatra
Stars And Stripes On Iwo Jima - Sons Of The Pioneers
Stormy Weather - Lena Horne
Sunday, Monday Or Always - Frank Sinatra
Sunrise Serenade - Tommy Dorsey
Swinging On A Star - Bing Crosby
Taking A Chance On Love - Benny Goodman & Helen Forrest
The Trolley Song - Judy Garland
The White Cliffs Of Dover - Vera Lynn
Till The End Of Time - Perry Como
Till Then - Mills Brothers
Twilight Time - Les Brown
Vict'ry Polka - Bing Crosby
We'll Meet Again - Peggy Lee
What Is This Thing Called Love? - Artie Shaw
White Christmas - Bing Crosby
You Always Hurt The One You Love - Mills Brothers
You'll Never Know - Dick Hamyes
You'll Never Walk Alone - Frank Sinatra
Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart - Judy Garland

 

[AmateisGal]

I love the songs from the war. Bing Crosby's "Buy Buy Bonds" is good and we can't forget "Remember Pearl Harbor!".

 

[dhermann1]

Some specifically war related songs:

I Don't Want to Walk Without You
It's Been a Long Long Time
Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree
Any Bonds Today
Keep 'Em Flyin'
Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition
Coming in On a Wing and a Prayer
Home For a Little While
Ven der Fuhrer Says Ve Iss der Master Race
Johnny Got a Zero
American Patrol
Let's Hit Hitler Where He Lives (OK, I just stuck that in to see if you were paying attention. That was written by Felix Unger )

Many others.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

RAF Dance Orchestra (The Squadronnaires) -- Constantly (1941)
(vocal by Sgt. Jimmy Miller)
Decca F-7743

Kay Kyser and his Orchestra -- Johnny Doughboy Found A Rose In Ireland (1942)
Columbia 36558

Kay Kyser and his Orchestra -- He Wears A Pair Of Silver Wings (1942)
Columbia 36604

Bing Crosby -- Hello Mom (1942)
Decca 4367-A

Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys -- Stars And Stripes On Iwo Jima (1945)
(vocal by Tommy Duncan)
Okeh 6742

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

George Formby -- Out In The Middle East

A fellow in the Forces was writing a letter
From somewhere in the East, talk of a blinkin' feast
He said it's just like Blackpool Sands, we play with hand grenades
If we had known we would have brought along our buckets and spades

Out in the Middle East
You can have a lot of fun
Out in the Middle East
By the Mediterranean
Join the Forces they used to say
And see the world, it sounds okay
But you see nowt but sun all day
Out in the Middle East

And when you're honed to it
They never serve you wholesome hotpot
You never get a gentle breeze
A blowing round your topknot
On your head your hat's like saucepan lids
And you take off your well-I-never-dids
It gets a bit hot round the pyramids
Out in the Middle East

Out in the Middle East
You can have a lot of fun
Out in the Middle East
By the Mediterranean
The ladies don't wear too much gear
It's much too hot for that I fear
You ought to see what we see here
Out in the Middle East

And our old Sergeant, a little lad who comes from Preston
We hear him singing "Bless 'Em All" with nothing but his vest on
Our fat old cookie Corporal Platt, he's now as thin as a cricket bat
The sun got at his lump of fat
Out in the Middle East

 

[Italian-wiseguy]

Well, a sad one from Italy:
Sul ponte di Perati
(on the bridge of Perati, between Albania and Greece)

On the bridge of Perati, a black flag:
the mourning of the Alpini that are going to war
the mourning of the Alpini that are going to war
the best youth is going six feet under

in the last car of the train there was my beloved
she greeted my goodbye with her handkerchief
she waved me with her handkerchief
and sent me kisses with her mouth

she sent me kisses with her mouth
and the train kept going slower
those who went, are not returned;
they stayed on the mountains of Greece

between Greece's mountains, there's the Voiussa
she's became red with Alpini's blood
a chorus of ghosts comes down the mountains
is the chorus of the Alpini who are died

Alpini of the Iulia division, lift your hearts
our flag stays on the mountains of Greece
the Alpini are writing history, but a real one,
writing with their blood and their black feathers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTZwaXvTFQI&feature=related

sorry for the bad translation!

 

[dhermann1]

Sung by both sides during the Battle of El Alamein: Lili Marlene.

 

[Phantomfixer]

[/IMG]

I have this in 45!!! found it at a flea market. now I need to buy the cd version found here...

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Army-Air-Force-Band/dp/B00005NP08/ref=pd_sim_m_18

awesome set can't go wrong folks

BTW a nice set of tunes posted earlier.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Vera Lynn -- There'll Always Be An England

Even though I'm not a Brit, of all the songs from the war, I've always found this one to be the most moving and poignant.

[video=youtube;H4yWi06wwZQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4yWi06wwZQ&feature=related[/video]

 

[Slim Tim]

You can't get much better than American patrol by Glenn Miller
[video=youtube;oUgh6ivoQYc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUgh6ivoQYc[/video]

As for British songs, I love Flanagan and Allen.
[video=youtube;W_TGPYYqdzM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_TGPYYqdzM[/video]
(It says Henry Hall but the vocals are Flanagan and Allen, Henry provides the orchestra)
[video=youtube;SVdoZNxtL8k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVdoZNxtL8k[/video]

 

[KayEn78]

I thought of a few WWII songs that came out either right before the war, during or right after the war ended...

~Oh, Johnny! Oh, Johnny! Oh, Johnny! Orrin Tucker and His Orchestra
~Don't Get Around Much Anymore -- ???
~Goodnight Sweetheart -- (sung by many) I think this one originally came out in the 1930s, but I'm sure it was played on the radio or Victrola often during the war.
~Little Brown Jug -- I remember hearing this one while watching Ken Burns's documentary, The War.
~Faraway Places -- Vera Lynn (I'm not sure of Vera's version came out in 1945 or 1948). Margaret Whiting sang hers in 1948.

-Kristi

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Flanagan & Allen

[video=youtube;-nDp5V2n3Mg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nDp5V2n3Mg&feature=related[/video]

[video=youtube;UdYngwGUWzo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdYngwGUWzo&feature=related[/video]

 

[Davep]

One of the thing we try to do at the CHG with reenacting is explose everyone to as much war time culture. Music, Movies and the people involved. Our Allied and Axis pages have this for

http://www.chgww2.net/allies
American
British
Russian

http://www.chgww2.net/axis/
German

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

One of the thing we try to do at the CHG with reenacting is explose everyone to as much war time culture. Music, Movies and the people involved. Our Allied and Axis pages have this for

http://www.chgww2.net/allies
American
British
Russian

http://www.chgww2.net/axis/
German

Marika Rökk

Land In Sicht (Land In Sight) (1938)

Please excuse the dubbed in Russian dialogue

[video=youtube;sltMPHuTHso]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sltMPHuTHso&feature=related[/video]



Ich Warte Auf Dich (I Wait For You) (1944)

[video=youtube;UkgCHd2Tekg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkgCHd2Tekg[/video]

 

[Shangas]

One of my favourites is this one:

"Goodbye Mama, I'm Off to Yokohama" (Teddy Powell).

SON:
Goodbye mama, I'm off to Yokohama,
For the red, white and blue,
My country and you,

Goodbye mama, I'm off to Yokohama,
Just to teach all those Japs,
The Yanks are no saps!

A million fightin' sons of Uncle Sam if you please,
Will soon have all those japs down on their Japan-knees,

So goodbye mama, I'm off to Yokohama,
For my country, my flag and you!

MAMA:
Say goodbye to mama, You're off to Yokohama,
So be brave and be strong,
You won't be gone long,

Say 'bye-bye!' mama, the land of Yama-Yama,
Until April, I guess, will be your address,
On Christmas Eve when dad and I are trimming the tree,
You'll do your share of trimming out on land and on sea,

Say goodbye to Mama, you're off to Yokohama,
For your country, your flag and me.

SONS (Chorus):
Goodbye mama, I'm off to Yokohama,
For the red, white and blue,
My country and you,

Goodbye mama, I'm off to Yokohama,
Just to teach all those Japs,
The Yanks are no saps!

A million fightin' sons of Uncle Sam if you please,
Will soon have all those japs down on their Japan-knees,

Goodbye mama, I'm off to Yokohama,
For my country, my flag and you!

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

I mean, this song might sound all soppy today...but just imagine what it meant 60 or 70 years ago...A lot of the soldiers who went to Pacific theater were barely out of highschool...

 

[Renault]

[video=youtube;HM-E2H1ChJM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM-E2H1ChJM[/video]

Vive la France!

Vive la Legion!

Renault

 

[M. Jeffroy]

Le Chant des partisans

Continuing the French theme, here's one I've long been fond of (particularly this version by Germaine Sablon):
[video=youtube;GO8bui70-M0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO8bui70-M0[/video]

 

[Renault]

Absolument!!!!! Merci!

Renault

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Le Boudin
Official march of the French Foreign Legion performed at the traditional 88 steps per minute.

[video=youtube;FFtoXepOquI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFtoXepOquI[/video]