Karen, I haven't seen that movie, but I did see that it was among several that used this sweet little tune. I've loved the song since forever. I literally was likely to have heard it before I was born, because my mother was such a music lover! My did didn't sing me this one, and I don't know why. He did sing me novelty songs such as the Purple People-Eater and Aba Daba Honeymoon!
Thanks, Debra, for posting this song and the story behind it. I think it is a wonderful tribute to our parents of The Greatest Generation, who laid it all on the line for our freedom.
I found it interesting that a song which was a hit on the eve of WWI was so loved during WWII. I wondered it Bing ever sang it when he entertained the troops? That would have been before he released his version, of course, but of course he knew the song then. And Irving Berlin's using an "all-soldier chorus" in his Broadway play? Perfect. That Greatest Generation label is quite true. My father was too young for that war, but served during the Korean War, and even they have mostly passed away now. They knew how to live and how to serve.
I don't doubt for a moment that Bing sang this song for the troops. I think of those, like you father, who served during the Korean War, as being part of that generation. Indeed they did know how to live and how to serve, qualities which, to a great extent, are now wanting in our nation. Those soldiers, too, earned our respect, admiration, and gratitude. One of my first cousins, Sgt. Billie Smoot, may God rest his soul, of Nicholas County, Kentucky, a fiddle-player, served in the Korean War, and was killed in battle in North Korea in October, 1952. You and Dr. Tony so often come up with songs, movies, poems, and essays, which touch the souls of your friends here. Thanks.
My father's Uncle Harold Hower was a WWII flyer. And one of my mother's older brothers served in WWII, as well. That was the world my parents grew up in, so it didn't seem like "old history" to them, or to me. God rest them all.
Gracious! My Dad, who had a wonderful voice (but was never in a choir beyond his grade-school years — unless you count the years of raising a post-war glass with his Psi Upsilon brothers!), used to break into this song from time to time, sung gently and with no hint of the enormous melancholy that Der Bingle invests in it. I’m not sure I’ll ever hear anybody sing it again, but if I do, my understanding of it will be completely transformed !! As always, thanks for your historical perspective.
Thanks for sharing that memory, Claudia. I can see it, and it's very touching. We don't have folks who do this sort of thing now. We've grown far to crass. I love Bing! I don't recall the first time I heard this song, but I always "knew" it -- likely from watching so many old movies as a kid. I have to say that I was surprised at the Kipling connection. I guess I never read enough of his poetry, because it would have been hard to miss this one if I had. It's how the music pervaded the culture from top to bottom that strikes me every time I do a Sometimes a Song. SO MUCH went into the production of each song, and each performance, and the audiences had to have the musical ear and the heart for that music, too.
My father used to sing this and they play Bing Crosby singing it often on the Sirius XM 40s and Beyond channel. I heard it the other day.0
The tune for Whiffenpoof but with lyrics rewritten for the movie was used in my favorite Disney Movie, The Horse Masters.
The Horse Masters is about an intensive, very competitive, teaching program at an English Riding School.
In England it was released to theaters as a movie, but here in the US it was shown in 2 parts on Sunday nights on The Wonderful World of Disney.
Karen, I haven't seen that movie, but I did see that it was among several that used this sweet little tune. I've loved the song since forever. I literally was likely to have heard it before I was born, because my mother was such a music lover! My did didn't sing me this one, and I don't know why. He did sing me novelty songs such as the Purple People-Eater and Aba Daba Honeymoon!
Thanks, Debra, for posting this song and the story behind it. I think it is a wonderful tribute to our parents of The Greatest Generation, who laid it all on the line for our freedom.
I found it interesting that a song which was a hit on the eve of WWI was so loved during WWII. I wondered it Bing ever sang it when he entertained the troops? That would have been before he released his version, of course, but of course he knew the song then. And Irving Berlin's using an "all-soldier chorus" in his Broadway play? Perfect. That Greatest Generation label is quite true. My father was too young for that war, but served during the Korean War, and even they have mostly passed away now. They knew how to live and how to serve.
I don't doubt for a moment that Bing sang this song for the troops. I think of those, like you father, who served during the Korean War, as being part of that generation. Indeed they did know how to live and how to serve, qualities which, to a great extent, are now wanting in our nation. Those soldiers, too, earned our respect, admiration, and gratitude. One of my first cousins, Sgt. Billie Smoot, may God rest his soul, of Nicholas County, Kentucky, a fiddle-player, served in the Korean War, and was killed in battle in North Korea in October, 1952. You and Dr. Tony so often come up with songs, movies, poems, and essays, which touch the souls of your friends here. Thanks.
My father's Uncle Harold Hower was a WWII flyer. And one of my mother's older brothers served in WWII, as well. That was the world my parents grew up in, so it didn't seem like "old history" to them, or to me. God rest them all.
And may God's perpetual Light shine upon them.
Only Bing Crosby could sing, “baa-baa-baa” and make it sound beautiful!
I thought so! I like Bing more and more as the years go by. I'd never heard him sing this one. Fred Waring was great, in everything he touched, too.
Gracious! My Dad, who had a wonderful voice (but was never in a choir beyond his grade-school years — unless you count the years of raising a post-war glass with his Psi Upsilon brothers!), used to break into this song from time to time, sung gently and with no hint of the enormous melancholy that Der Bingle invests in it. I’m not sure I’ll ever hear anybody sing it again, but if I do, my understanding of it will be completely transformed !! As always, thanks for your historical perspective.
Thanks for sharing that memory, Claudia. I can see it, and it's very touching. We don't have folks who do this sort of thing now. We've grown far to crass. I love Bing! I don't recall the first time I heard this song, but I always "knew" it -- likely from watching so many old movies as a kid. I have to say that I was surprised at the Kipling connection. I guess I never read enough of his poetry, because it would have been hard to miss this one if I had. It's how the music pervaded the culture from top to bottom that strikes me every time I do a Sometimes a Song. SO MUCH went into the production of each song, and each performance, and the audiences had to have the musical ear and the heart for that music, too.