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.
More And More
Vera Lynn Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
More and more I'm caught in your caresses
Warmed by the breath of your sighs
Cooled by the blue of your eyes
More and more I find it more than thrilling
To share this dream that needed fulfilling
More and more I'm less and less I'm willing
More and more I find it more than thrilling
To share this dream that needed fulfilling
More and more I'm less and less I'm willing
To give up wanting more and more of you
The lyrics to Vera Lynn's song "More and More" express the feelings of a person who is falling deeper in love with their partner. The singer confesses that their heart is becoming weaker to their partner's love as they are becoming more and more caught in their caresses. They feel a sense of warmth and comfort every time they breathe in their partner's sighs and are cooled by the blue in their partner's eyes.
The singer finds it thrilling to share a dream that needed fulfilling with their partner. They feel as though they are becoming less willing to give up wanting more and more of their partner as their love continues to grow. The repetition of the phrase "more and more" emphasizes the singer's deepening feelings for the person they are in love with.
Overall, the song expresses the joy of falling in love with someone and embracing that feeling wholeheartedly. It conveys the idea that love can be a transformative and powerful force that changes people.
Line by Line Meaning
More and more this heart of mine confesses
My heart is admitting more and more that I have feelings for you.
More and more I'm caught in your caresses
I am becoming more and more enamored with your romantic gestures.
Warmed by the breath of your sighs
Your comforting breaths are like a warm embrace and make me feel safe.
Cooled by the blue of your eyes
The calming shade of blue in your eyes has a soothing effect on me.
More and more I find it more than thrilling
I am becoming increasingly excited about the prospect of being with you.
To share this dream that needed fulfilling
I want to share my aspirations with you in the hopes of making them a reality.
More and more I'm less and less I'm willing
I am becoming less willing to let go of my desire for you as time goes on.
To give up wanting more and more of you
I don't want to give up on the possibility of having a relationship with you and continue to long for your affection.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Capitol CMG Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: E.y. Harburg, Jerome Kern
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@alainadarling2520
It was my Nan's funeral today. They played this song and people cried and swayed to the music. This song made the funeral more human. It allowed more tears to flow while a occasionally smiling at happy thoughts of my Nan.
Thank you for sharing your story.
My Nan was 97 and experienced the war. But there was so little I knew about her due to family divide after my parents divorced. I came to know my Nan in my early adulthood. She was mischievous and had a glint about her, welcoming and always supplied a £10 note in my Christmas card.
I'm grateful for what I knew of her, but this song helps me imagine her younger, dancing and being her just with more energy and movement.
Your story has helped me today. I see more of her history.
Thank you
Alaina
@theaurastraw
This was put into my recommended again today.
My grandpa passed away two days ago from a heart attack. He had been developing more health problems since 2019 and had a heart attack before and was sent home with just 2 weeks left to live.
But not my grandpa, he was a fighter, and he lasted 3 more years. And he passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by his family. Although he had had a heart attack we were told it was the most peaceful way he could've gone, it was like he went to sleep. No pain, no more suffering, no more fighting.
He was an amazing man, he loved Jazz and was a professional Jazz musician for most of his life. Going professional at age 16 and being able to travel all over the world, meet amazing people, do multiple movies and TV shows, and support his family doing what he loved.
I never really had a father figure growing up and I lived with my grandparents so he was that figure for me, which made this loss so much harder for me. But I made sure to be there to take care of him in his last days, no matter how scared, stressed, and tired I was.
He fought for all of us and continued to do so until his very last breath, so it was time for us to fight for him too.
I love you, Grandpa. We'll meet again. <3
And to you, random stranger on the internet: thank you. For taking the time to read this and learn a little bit about my grandfather's story. I've always seen comments like mine over the years but never imagined the day I would be writing one myself.
Go make sure to tell your loved ones you loved them.
Last thing, my grandpa had a wide variety of music in his collection, some solo pieces, records, tapes, you name it.
I've made a YouTube channel for him to continue his legacy, if you'd like to check it out feel free to do so. As of writing this there isnt anything on it but there should be very soon.
Edit 2/4/24: The first video has finally been uploaded. It will premiere on 2/7/24 at 12AM PST. Go check it out if you'd like, I'd truly appreciate it.
[Check the first reply, if not its "@JackCoanMusic"]
Take care. <3
@vonvomit5666
To my wife Tammy K Church
1973-2021
We ride a roller coaster all the time. The last 10 years were the best of my life with you.....and I miss you...you are the best person I ever Knew and you knew no idea. You made me want to be a better man. I became the man I am Today. This is the greatest gift of all.
Thanks My Wife!
@buttergorl987
Oh I’m very sorry for your loss, I really didn’t expect to get this sad when looking at comments but here I am hehe
@isa_mcrr
🕊
@HorrorHeaven.123
She will meet you again one day
@nickstick2823
Don’t worry, you’ll meet again some sunny day
@kingcoz9039
RIP Tammy
@grahamluna6935
Played this song for my dad over skype (81)years old with Alzheimer's. He knew word for word with tears streaming. Bless him.
@bigmanbananas2219
I have never gotten so much happiness from one comment. Thank you for this information.
@nightshine5903
༎ຶ‿༎ຶ
@sp0rkb018
aww dude 🥺