Dame Vera Margaret Lynn (Vera Margaret Welch, 20 March 1917 - 18 June 2020)… Read Full Bio ↴Dame Vera Margaret Lynn (Vera Margaret Welch, 20 March 1917 - 18 June 2020) widely known as "the Forces' Sweetheart", was an English singer, songwriter and actress. Her musical recordings and performances were enormously popular during the Second World War.

During the war she toured Egypt, India, and Burma (Myanmar) as part of ENSA, giving outdoor concerts for the troops. The songs most associated with her are "We'll Meet Again", "The White Cliffs of Dover", "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" and "There'll Always Be an England".

She remained popular after the war, appearing on radio and television in the UK and the US and recording such hits as "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart" and her UK Number one single "My Son, My Son". Her last single, "I Love This Land", was released to mark the end of the Falklands War. In 2009, at age 92, she became the oldest living artist to top the UK Albums Chart.

She has devoted much time and energy to charity work connected with ex-servicemen, disabled children, and breast cancer. She is held in great affection by veterans of the Second World War to this day and in 2000 was named the Briton who best exemplified the spirit of the 20th century.

On 20th March, 2017 Dame Vera celebrated her 100th birthday.

Vera Margaret Welch was born in East Ham, London. She began performing publicly at the age of seven and adopted her maternal grandmother's maiden name, Margaret Lynn, as her stage name when she was eleven. Her first radio broadcast, with the Joe Loss Orchestra, was in 1935. At this point she was being featured on records released by dance bands including those of Loss and of Charlie Kunz.
Vera Lynn made her solo recording debut with the song "The General's Fast Asleep" on the 3rd October 1935, accompanied by the Rhythm Rascals (A pseudonym for Jay Wilbur's orchestra). The 9" 78 rpm single was issued on the Crown Records label, which went on to release a total of 8 singles recorded by Vera Lynn and Charles Smart on organ. Early recordings include "I'm in the Mood for Love" and "Red Sails in the Sunset".
In 1938 the Decca label took over control of the British Crown label and the UK based Rex label, they had also issued early singles from Lynn in 1937, including "Harbour Lights". In late September 1939 Vera Lynn first recorded a song that continues to be associated with her: "We'll Meet Again" was originally recorded with Arthur Young on the Novachord.
In 1940 she began her own radio series, "Sincerely Yours", sending messages to British troops stationed abroad. In this radio show she and a quartet performed the songs most requested to her by soldiers stationed abroad. She also went into hospitals to interview new mothers and send messages to their husbands overseas. She toured Burma and gave outdoor concerts for soldiers.
In 1941 Vera Lynn married Harry Lewis, clarinettist, saxophonist and fellow member of Bert Ambrose's orchestra.
In 1942 she recorded the Ross Parker/Hughie Charles song "We'll Meet Again" while making the film of the same name. The nostalgic lyrics ("We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when, but I know we'll meet again some sunny day") had a great appeal to the many people separated from loved ones during the war, and it became one of the emblematic songs of the wartime period.
After the war, her "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart" became the first record by a British artist to top the US charts, doing so for nine weeks, and she appeared regularly on Tallulah Bankhead's US radio programme "The Big Show". "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart", along with "The Homing Waltz" and "Forget-Me-Not" gave Lynn a remarkable three entries on the first UK Singles Chart, a top 12 (which contained 15 songs owing to tied positions).
Lynn's career flourished in the 1950s, peaking with "My Son, My Son", a number-one hit in 1954. It was co-written by Eddie Calvert.
Throughout the 1940s and 1950s the Decca label issued all of Lynn's records, including several recorded with Mantovani and His Orchestra in 1942 and with Robert Farnon, from the late 1940s. Firstly they were only available as 78 rpm singles, which only feature two songs an A and a B-side. In the mid-1950s Decca issued several EP singles, which featured between two and four recordings per side, such as Vera Lynn's Party Sing Song from 1954 and singles were issued on two formats the known 78 rpm 10" and the recently introduced 45 rpm 7" single. In the late 1950s Lynn recorded four albums at Decca, the first; Vera Lynn Concert remains her only live recording ever to be issued on vinyl.
In 1960, after more than 20 years at Decca Records, Lynn signed to the US based MGM Records. In the UK her recordings were distributed by the His Masters Voice label, later EMI Records. Several albums and stand-alone singles were recorded with Geoff Love & His Orchestra. Norman Newell also took over as Lynn's producer in this period and remained with her until her 1976 album Christmas with Vera Lynn. Recording at EMI Records up until 1977, Lynn released thirteen albums with material as diverse as traditional Hymns, pop and country songs, as well as re-recording many of her known songs from the 1940s for the albums Hits of the Blitz (1962), More Hits of the Blitz and Vera Lynn Remembers – The World at War (1974). In the 1980s two albums of contemporary pop songs were recorded at the Pye Records label, both including covers of songs previously recorded by artists such as ABBA and Barry Manilow.
In 1982 Lynn released the stand-alone single "I Love This Land", written by André Previn, to mark the end of the Falklands War. Lynn's last recordings before her retirement were issued on the 1984 album Vera Lynn Remembers, produced by her husband, Harry. The album featured 17 re-recordings of songs known and associated with Lynn over her career.

Lynn was awarded the British War Medal 1939–1945 and the Burma Star.

She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1969 New Year Honours "for services to the Royal Air Forces Association and other charities", and was advanced to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 1975 Birthday Honours for charitable services.

In 1976 she received an honorary doctorate from the Memorial University of Newfoundland. In 1977 She was made an honorary citizen of Nashville, Tennessee. She received the Freedom of the City of London in 1978.

She was made a Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau in 1985. She was made an Officer of the Order of Saint John (OStJ) in 1998 and, in 2000, Lynn received a special "Spirit of the 20th Century" Award.
A street named in her honour, Vera Lynn Close, is situated in Forest Gate, London.

She was appointed Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to entertainment and charity.

A preserved example of the WD Austerity 2-10-0 class of steam locomotives at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway is named Dame Vera Lynn.

Medley
Vera Lynn Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Oh, give me land
Lots of land under starry skies above
Don't fence me in
Let me ride through the wide
Open country that I love don't fence me in

Let me be by myself in the evenin' breeze
Listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees

Send me off forever, but I ask you please
Don't fence me in

(Just turn me loose)
(Let me straddlе my old saddle)
(Underneath thе Western skies)
(On my Cayuse, Let me wander over yonder)
(Till I see the mountains rise)

I want to ride to the
Ridge where the West commences
Gaze at the moon till I lose my senses
Can't look at hobbles and
I can't stand fences don't fence me in

If I had my way, dear, forever there'd be
A garden of roses for you and for me
A thousand and one things, dear, I would do
Just for you, only you

If I had my way, dear, we'd never grow old
And sunshine I'd bring every day
You would reign all alone like
A king on a throne if I had my way

The stars at night are big and bright
(Deep in the heart of Texas)
The prairie sky is wide and high
(Deep in the heart of Texas)

The coyotes wail along the trail
(Deep in the heart of Texas)
The rabbit's rush around the brush
(Deep in the heart of Texas)

The sage in bloom is like perfume
(Deep in the heart of Texas)
Reminds me of the one I love
(Deep in the heart of Texas)

Cowboys cry ki yippee yi
(Deep in the heart of Texas)
The dogies bawl and bawl and bawl

(Deep in the heart, Deep in the heart)
Deep in the heart of Texas

Overall Meaning

"Don't Blame Me" is a song by Vera Lynn that captures a longing for freedom and a connection to the natural world. The lyrics express a desire for wide open spaces, unencumbered by fences or restrictions. The singer yearns to be surrounded by land under starry skies, to ride through the open country they love without limitations. They seek solitude and solace in the evening breeze, listening to the calming murmur of cottonwood trees. The plea to not be fenced in is a metaphor for not being confined or restricted in life.

The song reflects a yearning for independence and a rejection of societal constraints. It celebrates the beauty and tranquility of nature, symbolized by the Western skies, mountains rising in the distance, and the moon. It suggests that the singer's spirit can only truly be free in the vast expanses of the West, where they can lose themselves in the breathtaking surroundings.

Line by Line Meaning

Oh, give me land
I desire vast stretches of land

Lots of land under starry skies above
A multitude of land under the magnificent night sky

Don't fence me in
Please don't restrict me

Let me ride through the wide
Allow me to travel freely through the expansive

Open country that I love don't fence me in
Do not confine me to barriers within the countryside I adore

Let me be by myself in the evening breeze
Grant me solitude within the gentle wind of the evening

Listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees
Attentively hear the soft sounds emanating from the cottonwood trees

Send me off forever, but I ask you please
If you must bid me farewell eternally, I plead with you

Don't fence me in
Avoid constraining my freedom

(Just turn me loose)
(Merely release me)

(Let me straddle my old saddle)
(Allow me to sit atop my trusty saddle)

(Underneath the Western skies)
(Beneath the vast expanse of the Western heavens)

(On my Cayuse, Let me wander over yonder)
(Upon my horse, permit me to wander to the distant horizons)

(Till I see the mountains rise)
(Until I witness the majestic mountains emerge)

I want to ride to the
I yearn for a journey to

Ridge where the West commences
The peak where the western landscape begins

Gaze at the moon till I lose my senses
Stare at the moon till I become entranced

Can't look at hobbles and
I cannot bear to see restraints and

I can't stand fences don't fence me in
I detest enclosures, so please do not confine me

If I had my way, dear, forever there'd be
If I had complete control, my love, there would always exist

A garden of roses for you and for me
A beautiful garden filled with roses solely for us

A thousand and one things, dear, I would do
Countless tasks, my dear, I would undertake

Just for you, only you
Exclusively for you, without anyone else

If I had my way, dear, we'd never grow old
If my desires were fulfilled, my love, we would forever remain youthful

And sunshine I'd bring every day
I would provide sunlight every day

You would reign all alone like
You would rule as a solitary figure, similar to

A king on a throne if I had my way
If my wishes came true, you would be a majestic ruler

The stars at night are big and bright
During nighttime, the stars are immense and luminous