The White Cliffs of Dover

Song Name: (There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover

Year of Release: 1941

Written by: Walter Kent and Nat Burton

Released by: Glenn Miller Orchestra (original American version), Vera Lynn (British version). Other renditions also exist

Key Lyrics: "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."

"There'll be love and laughter/And peace ever after/Tomorrow/When the world is free."

Description: The song was written a year after the Battle of Britain began and recounted the ongoing aerial combat between the British RAF and the German Luftwaffe and described a desire for peace after the war. The white cliffs of Dover in the lyrics are a real geographic feature in the South of England that represents the symbolic boundary between the UK and mainland Europe. Though the versions performed by the Glenn Miller Orchestra and Vera Lynn are the most well-known, the song was widely covered and performed during World War 2 all over Europe and America, reflecting how popular it was regardless of who sang it. Ironically, despite the song's lyrics saying, "there'll be bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover," bluebirds are not native to the UK. 

Why It Was Important: The song both recounts the fierce nature of the aerial combat ("the angry skies") and a desire for tranquility after the war ended ("There'll be love and laughter/And peace ever after"). The song is written from the perspective of a person who admires the efforts of the pilots defending the homeland and who also wishes for a return to normalcy. The song was easily one of the most popular songs of the era given how many artists it was covered by, and it continued to be covered after the war by artists such as Bing Crosby and The Righteous Brothers, showing its enduring popularity even after the fighting had stopped. 

Recordings:

The White Cliffs Of Dover (studio version, Vera Lynn version)

(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover (studio version, Glenn Miller Orchestra version)