There'll be blue birds over
The white cliffs of Dover,
Tomorrow, just you wait and see.
There'll be love and laughter
And peace ever after
Tomorrow, when the world is free.
The shepherd will tend his sheep,
The valley will bloom again
And Jimmy will go to sleep,
In his own little room again.
There'll be blue birds over
The white cliffs of Dover,
Tomorrow, just you wait and see.
Words - Nat Burton
Melody - Walter Kent
Published - 1941
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The White Cliffs
of Dover, as depicted on the cover of the 1949
tourist guide to Dover.
Click below to hear the version of the song recorded
by Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra in 1942.
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The White
Cliffs look better from a distance. Indeed, the
greater the distance the better it would seem. Nat Burton,
the lyricist of their most celebrated song, who improbably
put 'blue birds over the white cliffs of Dover', was
an American who had not been within 3,000 miles of the
place. But reality never bothered a good myth. The cliffs
loom larger, whiter, and sturdier in the imagination
than they do in fact.
'(There`ll Be Bluebirds Over) The White
Cliffs of Dover' is one of the most famous of all the
World War II
era pop classics. It became a sensational hit in 1942,
as it reflected the feelings of all the Allies towards
the British people in their brave fight against Hitler.
Originally released in the U.S. by bandleader Kay Kyser,
four other artists also hit the top 20 with this song
that year: Glenn Miller, Sammy Kaye, Jimmy Dorsey and
Kate Smith. The most well known version of the song
on this side of the Atlantic is probably the one recorded
by Vera Lynn in 1942. Other artists who`ve recorded
this standard include: Connie Francis, Bing Crosby,
Jim Reeves, and The Righteous Brothers. In June 1995
Robson and Jerome’s version went to No. 1 in the UK
in a medley with “Unchained Melody”.
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