WE WAITED at St. Mark's Anglican Church in Surrey, hosting a choir from neighboring Langley, to hear the songs of World Wars I and II. These were written when the fight for good over evil seemed more clear than the conflicts that followed. I wondered if those earlier wars ever really ended. Many battles boiling up today stem from territories split and grudges formed decades ago.
The ability to solve tribal problems hasn’t improved it seems while the stoking of extremism and the building of more deadly weapons is on the rise. Current key leaders add to destabilization, making life appear on the brink sometimes. Thankfully, there's nothing like a well sung song by
First Capital Chorus to bring joy and peace to a room and to relax the worry.
I wondered amid a sea of white hair in the audience and choir where the young people were and why more youngsters didn’t wear poppies, particularly since they'll inherit the messy challenges left behind. It's
the mostly young who died bravely and it's they who still soldier on in dangerous places for the rest of us. They deserve respect and remembering, if history is not to repeat itself over and over again. Joining the military is optional in Canada but that might not always be the case. My thoughts lingered on misty ghosts from the past and lyrics about sunnier days as the choir concluded with an iconic wartime song capturing both the optimism and uncertainty about the future, then and now.
We'll Meet Again, written by Ross Parker and Hughie Charles in 1939, was a beacon of hope:
We'll meet again
Don't know where
Don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day
Keep smilin' through
Just like you always do
Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away
So will you please say hello
To the folks that I know
Tell them I won't be long
They'll be happy to know
That as you saw me go
I was singing this song
We'll meet again
Don't know where
Don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day
Vera Lynn, very much alive at the age of 100, brought this and many more soothing songs to light, making wartime sacrifices a little more bearable. Listen to her moving voice as it slips through time into the present
HERE.
See
OUR WORLD to explore sights from around the globe.
.jpg)
Copyright by Penelope Puddlisms
It's always the young who fight and die. Songs from a hundres years ago from the war to end all wars. It's sad and I appreciate a sunny thought.
ReplyDeleteIt is always hard for the young to think of death. I hope once the gray haired folks are gone people will still make an effort to remember.
ReplyDeleteThat is the first song that comes to mind when i think of the world wars. The poppy is a simple reminder of the sacrifices made. Good post.
ReplyDeleteWhat is truly ironic is that all sides in a conflict believe that their God is on their side, that their cause is just, that the enemy is evil, that exhortations for divine intervention will guarantee victory. Yet we never learn. We are always (and always will be) at war. Many years ago I knew a couple whose parents were respectively English and German. Thus people who shared the same wonderful grandchildren would have killed each other on the battlefield twenty years earlier. As for wearing a poppy, I choose not to. This is, and always should be, a personal decision, not subject to criticism or castigation by others.
ReplyDeleteIt is always refreshing to go to an event that helps calm worry, especially in today's world. We often find young people are 'missing' from events, but I tend to find they participate differently - more virtually than in person. Have a peaceful week.
ReplyDeleteA touching tribute.
ReplyDelete“Don't know where / Don't know when / But I know we'll meet again some sunny day”
ReplyDeleteParting people tried to be positive though filled with sadness and uncertainty. I wonder how many people could meet again when the war ended. Over 60 million people were killed in WWII
Though those who lost their lives in the battles for their country really worth respect and remembering, I’m not so interested in the poems or songs which romanticize wars. The poem which struck me and made me share the emotions of the people in the battle fields was “Anthem for Doomed Youth” written in 1917. Your talk about young people also reminded me of the same poem in which young soldiers felt tricked, felt angry, and died for nothing in WWI. With the awareness that “history repeats itself”, we must pay attention and speak up before it becomes too late from each corner of the word. Thank you for this post.
Yoko
Anthem for Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen is such a significant poem, stardust. Thank you for bringing it to light here. I thought to post the words and to refresh my memory:
DeleteWhat passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
— Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,—
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.
What candles may be held to speed them all?
Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.
The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.
Wonderful tribute and photos ~ love the song ~ ^_^
ReplyDeleteA ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
This is something that I would love to see! We have so much to be grateful for and, yes, we should honor those who gave all for us.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Veteran's Day post and tribute. I would have enjoyed hearing that beautiful concert.
ReplyDeleteI would have enjoyed this choir very much and I think I would have been in tears. I grew up listening to the old songs and could recite the lyrics by heart. Vera Lynn was a favorite in our household. Dad played the piano and we would have a sing-song on several evenings, with relatives and friends visiting and joining in. We made our own entertainment. Your post brought up great memories, thank you Penelope. For a while I tuned out the world and remembered.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting post. I love live music of many kinds and something like this would hold interest for me (with my little bit of turning-grey hair).
ReplyDeleteFun to rediscover your blog after some years! I think the young don't wear poppies because it's not really relevant to them. Also, poppies seem designed to fit on very old fashioned clothes, to go in a button hole but most people now have zipped jackets or fabrics that won't react well to being pinned. I know that whenever I buy one and try to pin it on with that safety pin it is gone within minutes.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. I'd like to have heard the choir. I'm reading the Proud Tower about the time time period leading up to World War I and some of the similarities to issues we currently face are pretty staggering. The book was written in the 1960s and I was surprised that I hadn't read it since I've read so many of Barbara Tuckman's books.
ReplyDelete