Your favourite wartime Christmas song

Discussion in 'All Anniversaries' started by CornwallPhil, Dec 11, 2017.

  1. CornwallPhil

    CornwallPhil Senior Member

    Having been bombarded with Heart and Magic Xmas radio today, it got me wondering what your favourite wartime Christmas number might be...

    I'll kick off with two:
    "Meet me under the mistletoe" by DICK ROBINSON from 1941 still sounds great today;
    and "The First Nowell" by NELSON EDDY from 1942 is a superb rendition of the traditional carol.
     
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  2. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    So many.

    Silent Night followed by Oh Holy Night and Noel come to mind but I like it all.
     
  3. toki2

    toki2 Junior Member

    My dad who served with Hamburg occupation forces said that hearing the children sing Silent Night in German brought many soldiers to tears.
     
  4. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    Me too.

     
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  5. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    We sing Silent Night twice on Christmas Eve, once in English, then in German. Austrian better half you see.:)
     
  6. rememberthem

    rememberthem ex member

    I'm atheist and don't go in for Xmas - no little ones to worry about

    We have some Australian carols that I don't mind but I don't know the official names or all the words but one is apt for here


    It starts

    Out on the plains the brolgas are dancing

    Lifting their feet like warhorses prancing

    Up to the sun the woodlarks go winging

    Faith in the darkness???? OR
    mumble mumble echoes their singing

    Orana Orana, Orana for Xmas Day...

    etc etc

    For Oz rev heads? there was a version of Torana Torana Torana for Xmas Day...

    (Some sort of redneck car that used to be bought and given a noisy exhaust).

    There is another about gathering Xmas bush together that I like

    I spent a couple of years in a choir and I have to say that Silent Night, no matter how beautiful, reached the point of no return for me. It literally was repeat ad nauseum...

    I react the same way if I hear Abba's Fernando A sprint to get out of earshot and a similar reaction to Tammy Wynette's Stand By Your Man but I developed that allergy having heard the intro once Similar allergy to that song that Billy Ray Cyrus inflicted on the world that joyfully I can't now recall

    If Glen Miller released anything Xmassy I' d probably listen a few times
    and similarly, I love Al Bowlly singing almost anything and I can enjoy White Christmas if Bing sings it
     
  7. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
    earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
    snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
    in the bleak midwinter, long ago.



    [​IMG]
    'In The Bleak Mid Winter' – by Keith Hill
     
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  8. CornwallPhil

    CornwallPhil Senior Member

    CL1 - love the Keith Hill picture and your carol fits it perfectly.

    Dave55 - how popular was O Holy Night in wartime UK? I had always thought we got this French carol from the Yanks post war but am happy to be corrected.
     
  9. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    Hi Phil,

    I confess that I misunderstood original post. I thought it was just asking what our favorite Christmas songs were. I missed the wartime part.
     
  10. Roy Martin

    Roy Martin Senior Member

    T'was Christmas Day in the Workhouse.....
     
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  11. TriciaF

    TriciaF Junior Member

    • :)
    • The only one I can remember is I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas. Bing Crosby.
     
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  12. ritsonvaljos

    ritsonvaljos Senior Member

    Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", especially the version by Bing Crosby was a WW2 'Christmas song'. Its popularity mainly seems to stem from being a Christmas song shortly after the USA came into the war. So many American servicemen had been called up and were away from home and this song reflected those years.
     
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  13. CornwallPhil

    CornwallPhil Senior Member

    No problem Dave55.
     
  14. CornwallPhil

    CornwallPhil Senior Member

    Just thought it's time this thread had another seasonal outing!!

    Given the lovely weather the UK is enjoying this weekend, then Peggy Lee's "Winter Weather" would be a good choice from 1941.


    In 1940 Vera Lynn sang "I'm spending Christmas with the old folks!" Perhaps someone needs to update the song now we are the old folks!!


    Please feel free to add your own favourite wartime song or carol.
     
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2018
  15. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

  16. CornwallPhil

    CornwallPhil Senior Member

    Great choice Dave55
     
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  17. CornwallPhil

    CornwallPhil Senior Member

    This Fred Waring 78rpm from Christmas 1942 was popular with the Americans
     
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2019
  18. CornwallPhil

    CornwallPhil Senior Member

    Here's another festive favourite from 1940
     
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2019
  19. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Silent Night is two hundred years old today:

    Two hundred years of Silent Night
     
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  20. CornwallPhil

    CornwallPhil Senior Member

    Here's a wartime favourite from Judy Garland in 1941 that is appropriate for Christmas Eve:
     

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