War Songs

War Songs

A collection of backing tracks and sheet music of popular songs from the War Years

World War One (WW1)

Many of the songs the soldiers sang in the First World War seem to have a simple innocence about them which somehow reflects their time.  A time when people felt that right was on their side: that they were fighting to make a land fit for heroes to live in: that a bright shining future would be theirs when it was all over.   Music Hall and Traditional songs were still popular at the time of the First World War and were sung to keep up moral.

Other songs, later in the war, reflect a growing cynicism, an acceptance that mens lives would be needlessly lost, that perhaps, after all, this was not going to be ‘the war to end all wars’.

Whatever the type of song and however simple and repetitive some  of the lyrics may be, these songs are lifted far above themselves by the memories attached to them, of the great comradeship that war in the trenches kindled.  A universal brotherhood which was not to be felt again until the time of the Blitz in the Second World War.

Backing Tracks

All The Nice Girls Love A Sailor

A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square

Apple Blossom Time

Bless ‘Em All

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy

Bye Bye Blackbird

Dad’s Army Theme Tune

Don’t Dilly Dally

 For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow

Good-Bye-Ee

Goodbye Dolly Gray

I’ll Be Seeing You

If You Were The Only Boy/Girl In The World

I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles

It’s A Long Way to Tipperary

Keep The Home Fires Burning

Land Of Hope And Glory

Lili Marlene – Marlene Dietrich

My Life Will Never Be The Same – Theme Tune from Till We Meet Again

Now Is The Hour

Oh It’s A Lovely War

Pack Up Your Troubles

Roses Of Picardy

Run Rabbit Run

Shine On Harvest Moon

Show Me The Way To Go Home

Side By Side

Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty

There’ll Always Be An England

Underneath The Arches

We’ll Meet Again

When The Lights Go On Again

White Cliffs of Dover

Who Do You Think You Are Kidding

Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye

You Are My Sunshine

Sheet Music

Good-Bye-Ee Sheet Music

If You Were The Only Boy/Girl In The World Sheet Music

Keep The Home Fires Burning Sheet Music

Oh It’s A Lovely War Sheet Music

Roses Of Picardy Sheet Music

Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty Sheet Music

The Christmas Truce (WW1)

THE “Christmas truce” is a term used to describe a series of unofficial cessations of hostilities that occurred along the Western Front during Christmas 1914. World War One had been raging for several months but German and Allied soldiers stepped out of their trenches, shook hands and agreed a truce so the dead could be buried. The soldiers also used that truce to chat with one another, sing carols and, some claim, even play a football match. Unofficial truces between opposing forces occurred at other times during World War One but never on the scale of that first Christmas truce.

Backing Tracks

Auld Lang Syne

Good Christian Men Rejoice

Good King Wenceslas

Hark The Herald

O Come All Ye Faithful

Onward Christian Solider

 See Amid The Winter Snow

Silent Night

The First Noel

World War Two (WW2)

This was the era of big bands and swing music and this was reflected in the songs of the time. World War Two produced a significant number of popular songs, ranging from patriotic songs, sentimental songs about soldiers, sailors and sweethearts, and moral boosters.  As with WWI, these songs reflected the mood and the memories of the time. Many a sing-a-long was had to keep people’s spirits up during the long, hard years of war.  As the war approached its end, songs took on the feelings of home-comings and dreams of re-union.   Artists such as Vera Lynn  Billie Holiday,  Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, Glen Miller, Andrews Sisters, Gene Autry, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole Edith Piaf, Frankie Lanie, Louis Armstrong, George Fornby, Bing Crosby, Gracie Field, Fred Astaire were also very popular during the time.

 

Backing Tracks

All The Nice Girls Love A Sailor

A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square

Apple Blossom Time

Bless ‘Em All

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy

Bye Bye Blackbird

I’ll Be Seeing You

Lili Marlene – Marlene Dietrich

Run Rabbit Run

Shine On Harvest Moon

There’ll Always Be An England

We’ll Meet Again

When The Lights Go On Again

White Cliffs of Dover

Who Do You Think You Are Kidding

Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye

Dad’s Army Theme Tune

My Life Will Never Be The Same – Theme Tune from Till We Meet Again

 

Music style has changed over the years, but these songs will never die.  They are still as popular today and are often sung whenever people get together for a sing-a-long.  As the anniversaries of these wars pass by, and the people who fought in them are sadly no longer with us, these war songs will still be sung and the spirit of their struggle will live on and never be forgotten.

Royal Britsh Legion Charity