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An English Icon - "The Forces Sweetheart"

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There'll be blue birds over the white cliffs of Dover.

Brought lots of hope to lots of folks in a very dark time.
 
The blue birds refered to the RAF uniforms, Bluebirds as a species are not present in the UK.
 
Also, "thumbs up" and "angry skies" - some of the lyrics most folks today may never understand.

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. And tho' I'm far away, I can still hear them say "Thumbs Up!" for when the dawn comes up,... There'll be blue birds over...


When night shadows fall, I'll always recall out there across the sea, Twilight falling down on some little town; It's fresh in my memory. I hear mother pray, and to her baby say "Don't cry," This is her lullaby.... There'll be blue birds over...

 
catfood said:
The blue birds refered to the RAF uniforms, Bluebirds as a species are not present in the UK.
Click to expand...

I've read that before, but doubt it. Much more likely that the American songwriter didn't know about bluebirds.
It was written some time after the Battle of Britain, so the RAF would have been there yesterday, not tomorrow.
 
a number fo years ago, they made a documentary either Queen Elizabeth's 50th or the 50th of the end of the war. At any rate, the whole Royal Family was on the balcony watching a Spitfire flypast as Vera Lynn sang There`ll be Bluebirds... The Queen had such a look of infinite sadness on her face as she (I think) remembered a world that used to be and would never be again. I`ll never forget it.
 
And speaking of HM Queen Elizabeth, a few days ago she celebrated 65 years of monarchy. The longest serving monarch in British history.

Quite an accomplishment for someone addressed as "Ma'am".

A young Elizabeth, King George VI and the Queen Mother, with Lieutenant General James Doolittle the 8th Air Force Commander.

View attachment 47120

She never sought the throne, and in 1952 accepted its responsibilities with honor and courage, as she continues to do so today. What a world of changes she's seen.

Tom M.
 
Amazing!
Here's another obscure reference: "Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn..." from Pink Floyd's "The Wall."

She also sang "A Nightgale Sang in Berkeley Square."
 
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