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Favorite WWII song? Lili Marleen.

Doctor Jones

Familiar Face
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97
Location
Orange County California
I'm going to go in a completely different direction, not a song per se but a tune, The Atholl and Breadalbane Gathering, a Highland bagpipe march.
Because that's what the massed Pipes & Drums of the 51st (Highland) Division are playing during their victory parade in 1945.


The Pipe Band I play in now plays that tune, so it's not only the historical aspect but it's a cracking tune I play regularly.
 

Edward

Bartender
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25,081
Location
London, UK
I'm going to go in a completely different direction, not a song per se but a tune, The Atholl and Breadalbane Gathering, a Highland bagpipe march.
Because that's what the massed Pipes & Drums of the 51st (Highland) Division are playing during their victory parade in 1945.


The Pipe Band I play in now plays that tune, so it's not only the historical aspect but it's a cracking tune I play regularly.

There's something that stirs me on a deeply instinctive, animal level when I hear bagpipes. I guess it's ancestral voices, some inherited memory that I can't quite consciously access, but has a shiver of the battlefield to it.

I keep meaning to take up the pipes - both bagpipe and Uileann.
 

Edward Reed

A-List Customer
Messages
494
Location
Aboard a B-17 Flying Fortress
As a pick me up the standard In The Mood (Glenn Miller arrangement.. as there was the Edgar Hayes & His Orchestra 1938 version which isn't quite a "swing-y" lol!) and Sing, Sing, Sing by Benny Goodman.
 

2jakes

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,680
Location
Alamo Heights ☀️ Texas
"Song of India
Tommy Dorsey Band
FT.png

First heard this song on a documentary about the A.V.G. in Burma as they
were preparing to take off.

Every time I hear it...I think of R.T. “Tadpole” Smith of the Flying Tigers.
02d_dj2017_rt0155_live.jpg

R.T. “Tadpole” Smith
WWII ace fighter pilot, American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers)
 
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Tiki Tom

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,398
Location
Oahu, North Polynesia
Thanks for this. Truly a noteworthy passing. Amazing woman, amazing voice... and those songs were iconic symbols of Britain’s refusal to back down when the going got tough. I can’t say enough good things. Honestly, I was surprised that she was still around. Passed away at the ripe old age of 103. A true national treasure. R.I.P.
 
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dirigoboy

New in Town
Messages
16
I'm only on here and there, but regarding music from the era, I'm haunted by Edith Piaf's song from Saving Private Ryan....well, that and the sound of that Tiger Tank backing up.
Here's to music from a great movie.
 

GHT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,794
Location
New Forest
Written in 1945, by Édith Piaf (lyrics) & Louiguy and Marguerite Monnot, "La Vie en rose." It would translate as: "Life in the Pink." But I like to think of it as: "Life Through Rose Tinted Spectacles." Not technically a WW2 song but it is always associated with that era.
The song became very popular in the US in 1950 with no fewer than seven different versions reaching the Billboard charts. These were by Tony Martin, Paul Weston, Bing Crosby, Ralph Flanagan, Victor Young, Dean Martin, and Louis Armstrong. It was popularly covered by Latin singer Thalia.

A version in 1977 by Grace Jones was also a successful international hit. "La Vie en rose" has been covered by many other artists over the years, including a 1993 version by Donna Summer. Harry James also recorded a version in 1950. Bing Crosby recorded the song again for his 1953 album Le Bing: Song Hits of Paris.

The diminutive version will always be by Piaf. It will take me a while to find but I have another version by our darling friend Lorraine, whom we lost to cancer a couple of years ago. When I find it I'll share it, but for now here's Édith.
 

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