Can you believe that Vera Lynn is 98 years old today? She was an icon of World War II Britain where she became know as “The Forces’ Sweetheart” because of her efforts entertaining the troops. This was mostly in the form of a radio program Sincerely Yours where she would send out cheerful thoughts and sing songs that they had requested. She is, of course, best know for the song “We’ll Meet Again.”

I know the song originally from the ending of Dr Strangelove. It is played over visuals of atomic bombs exploding, as the world comes to an end. It’s cheeky good fun. Just the same, the song does go rather well with those images. And it gets at my general belief that as we destroy ourselves, we will be singing a happy song.

Many years later, Roger Waters wrote a kind of response with, “Vera Lynn.” Waters’ father died during World War II, so the two did not, in fact, meet again. That song starts, “Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn? Remember how she said that we would meet again one sunny day?” But it is perhaps best not to over-think popular music. I wonder how good The Wall will sound 75 years out. “We’ll Meet Again” still sounds pretty nice: