This is another offering that is meant to be visual as well as musical, so please watch the video, made by Richard Sullivan, and immense kudos go to him. The song was written in 1938 and was a popular song about nostalgia, but what grabbed me was its use in this film taken in Honolulu when Japan surrendered in World War II. This is a parade and a celebration of the end of the war...in other words, a triumph. So how does this song of nostalgia work so well with celebration? Nostalgia is a heavy emotion referring back to certain wonders that have been missed and yearned for. In World War II, Americans feared the loss of freedom and sovereignty from two major enemies, the Nazis in the East and the Japanese in the west. Not only had there been an immense amount of deaths, but there were shortages and separations and putting life plans on hold. My own parents were engaged to be married, but my father, who was in the Navy and would fight in the war in the Pacific, said to my mother that he did not want her to be a widow, so they wouldn't get married until after the war. That war ended in 1946 and soon after that, my father came back home and married my mother...as did countless other Americans in that era. I came after in 1948, yes, a Baby Boomer. So this is a kind of nostalgia where the good things all came back. In fact, the nation was happier and more prosperous, and along with that there was an immense amount of gratitude and increased loved for fellow Americans, which I think is in evidence in this song in this video.
10. Song name: I’ll Be Seeing You (Video)
Artist: Jimmy Durante
Lyrics by Irving Kahal, Music by Sammy Fain
No comments:
Post a Comment