Established during the Second World War as Great Britain's singing sweetheart,
Vera Lynn was like an angel of hearth and home for millions of mobilized, displaced, or wounded individuals. After the war she came to resemble one of those unshakeable heroines encountered in John Wyndham's resoundingly English science fiction novels (see Revolt of the Triffids, The Kraken Wakes and Trouble with Lichen), and continued to record reassuring songs in a gentle voice with sugary instrumental accompaniments. Released in 2003, Wesgram's
Vera Lynn Collection gathers up 42 examples of her thoroughly accessible pop artistry, usually involving an electric organ and lyrics of almost incredible sentimentality. In addition to "The White Cliffs of Dover," "White Christmas," "We'll Meet Again," "Little Sir Echo," "It's a Sin to Tell a Lie," "Up the Wooden Hill to Bedfordshire," "Over the Rainbow," "It Always Rains Before the Rainbow" [sic], and "When They Sound the Last All Clear," this honeyed anthology includes a marvelously encouraging ditty containing the words: "When You're Up to Your Neck in Hot Water, Be Like the Kettle and Sing."