Earlier this month, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography published its latest entries – including one on singer Dame Vera Lynn written by Christina Baade, chair of Communication Studies and Media Arts.
Lynn, who is best known for her songs “We’ll Meet Again” and “White Cliffs of Dover,” popular during World War II, has been a topic of interest to Baade for more than a decade. We asked her a little about Lynn’s life and legacy.
What drew you to study Vera Lynn?
I first became interested in Vera Lynn (or, Dame Vera) when I was researching popular music broadcasting at the BBC in World War II (which resulted in my first book, Victory Through Harmony).
Vera Lynn is utterly entwined with memory of the Second World War in the UK, and even for some in here Canada, so hers was the first name that people would think of when I described my work.
These associations are grounded solidly in history of the war: she really was one of the most popular singers, especially on radio and especially with the forces, as the BBC found in an early 1940 survey that earned her the title “No. 1 Sweetheart to the Forces.”
She was also a polarizing figure: while she had a huge fan base, she also inspired a lot of antipathy in people, including some in leadership roles that thought her sentimental singing was demoralizing and even “unmanning” the forces.
The BBC actually took her off its domestic service for a while because of the backlash to her hit solo program, “Sincerely Yours—Vera Lynn,” in late 1941/early 1942, and the BBC got heat in the press for broadcasting entertainment that was contributing to military defeats.
Of course, Vera Lynn wasn’t the only extremely popular musician in the period. There were other singers, like Anne Shelton; dance bands like those led by Geraldo and Ivy Benson; and theatre organists—I can’t overstate how popular they were.
The BBC even had a resident theatre organist, the Canadian Sandy MacPherson. Strict tempo dance music, played by a band led by the ballroom dance luminary, Victor Silvester, was massively popular (personally, I find it unbelievably boring to listen to). There were Hawaiian bands, rumba bands, accordion bands—as well as swing and the beginnings of Trad jazz.
In other words, the popular soundscape of the period was far more diverse and weird than we remember it to be, and the stakes of what and who to broadcast were high, and subject to a great deal of debate.
My interest in Vera Lynn was sparked by the fact that she also had a huge career in the decades after the Second World War. She was the first UK artist to top the US hit parade, she had her own TV shows on BBC and ITV from the 1950s to the 1970s, she had multiple gold records, she toured extensively in Europe and the Commonwealth until the late 1970s, and she remained a public figure until her death at 103 in 2020.
I wouldn’t call her innovative, but her ability to sustain a career; her charity and advocacy work; and, by all accounts, a rewarding family life through massive shifts in the music and entertainment industries and tastes is striking.
As a feminist popular music scholar, I became interested both in how she negotiated these shifts and how her post-WWII career has been overshadowed by her wartime stardom.
But – it’s important to emphasize – she also participated in this centering of her wartime work. It was deeply meaningful to her, responded to her fans, and helped sustain her ongoing relevance.
Throughout, I have also been interested in how her status as a white, working class woman situated her stardom as Britain grappled with the end of its status as an imperial power and with becoming a multicultural nation.
What is her significance in the UK?
Well, she’s entwined with memory of the Second World War, in documentaries, books, and even school curricula. More specifically, she tied up with memory of the war as one of Britain’s shining moments. These connections were touched on in the Queen’s April 2020 Covid speech, and even in debates about Brexit.
The way some folks in the UK continue to view Dame Vera and her work during the Second World War can be a little complicated. Can you talk a little about that?
Certainly. First, let me say that I think that, for many who continue to have affection for Dame Vera and her music, much of this affection is tied up in relationships with grandparents and parents from the World War II generation, as well as an ethic of service and community support. It doesn’t surprise me that “We’ll Meet Again” can be heard at funerals and memorial services,
Vera Lynn and her music have also become aligned with British nationalism, especially with her performances and appearances at World War II commemorations from the 1980s to the 2000s. She has also been claimed by some who express nostalgic for an idealized wartime Britain, standing heroically alone against Nazi-occupied Europe. Sometimes, this nostalgia has interlaced with nostalgia for a whiter, pre-multicultural, imperial Britain, which has aligned with xenophobia and pro-Brexit sentiments.