"We'll Meet Again" is a 1939 British song made famous by singer Vera Lynn with music and lyrics composed and written by English songwriters Ross Parker and Hughie Charles. The song was published by Michael Ross Limited, whose directors included Louis Carris, Ross Parker and Norman Keen. Keen, an English pianist also collaborated with Parker and Hughie Charles on "We'll Meet Again" and 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 is one of the most famous of the Second World War era, and resonated with soldiers going off to fight as well as their families and sweethearts. The song's original recording featured Lynn accompanied by Arthur Young on Novachord, while a rerecording in 1953 featured a more lavish instrumentation and a chorus of British Armed Forces personnel. The song gave its name to the 1943 musical filmWe'll Meet Again in which Lynn played the lead role. Lynn's 1953 recording is featured in the final scene of Stanley Kubrick's 1964 film Dr. Strangelove - with a bitter irony, as the song accompanies a nuclear holocaust that wipes out humanity. It was also used in the closing scenes of the 1986 BBCtelevision serialThe Singing Detective. British director John Schlesinger used the song in his 1979 World War II film Yanks, which is about British citizens and American soldiers during the military buildup in the UK as the Allies prepare for the Normandy landings. During the Cold War, 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, 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. In April 2020, a charity duet with Katherine Jenkins, released in 2014, reached number 72 on the UK Singles Chart, with proceeds going to NHS 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.
Other performances
Traditionally, this song is played on 5 May as a closure to the Liberation Day Concert in Amsterdam, to mark the end of World War II in the Netherlands, as the monarch leaves the concert on a canal boat.
The Byrds recorded the song as the closing track of their debut album Mr. Tambourine Man in 1965, inspired by the song's use in Dr. Strangelove.
In 1980 the Viennese singer Margot Werner released a German version called Muß ich auch geh'n. Unlike Lilli Marlene, which was popular with troops on both sides during World War Two, Muß ich auch geh'n is little known in Germany.
In film and television
On the final episode of The Colbert Report, the song was sung by Stephen Colbert in a more upbeat tempo with members of his family and an assembled crowd of many of his most prominent guests.
The song was sung by Alfie Boe and Katherine Jenkins during the final performance at at Horse Guards Parade in London in 2015.
On the film , John C. Reilly's character starts singing the song to a picture of his wife who he has not seen in decades, as he is on the way to be rescued. Vera Lynn's version then starts playing, and is also featured in the soundtrack album.
In the final episode of the Disney series Gravity Falls, "", the song is sung by the main villainBill Cipher when in the scene he unfreezes Ford Pines after having turned him to gold and brought him to the Fearamid in the previous episode. Upon unfreezing him, Bill rises out of the floor playing a piano and singing a brief section of the song.
