Before wrapping up for the weekend on Friday, I read all the stories about the economic recovery sitting in my in-basket. There were 8. I have no idea how I was selected to receive this plethora of prognostications, maybe it’s in punishment for being a Blogger? Blog and ye shall be blogged! Somehow that seems appropriate.

Anyway, what I noticed was that 4 of the emails were up-beat; “The recession is over” and 4 were completely doom and gloom; “Don’t count on one iota of improvement until 2018!” Fortunately, interpreting this dichotomy as the glass being either half-full or half-empty reminded me that I needed to go to Costco before all the cheap libations were gone.

So after firing up my gas-guzzling, over priced micro-vehicle that gets 36 MPG on television but only 18 on planet Earth I cranked up the volume of my 2.3 watt sound system and waited in anticipation to see which album my (demonically possessed) CD changer would select for my enjoyment…

There’ll be blue birds over the white cliffs of Dover, tomorrow, just you wait and see!

All right! Disk two of the Righteous Brothers anthology, “The White Cliffs of Dover.” What a great tune, boy does that bring back memories. When was it 1965, 1966? Must have been ’66, but can’t remember for sure which year? Ah, The White Cliffs of Dover, the Righteous Brothers, too cool!

Then I thought to myself, you know these lyrics really are up-beat, “There’ll be blue birds over the white cliffs of Dover” and it can’t be a coincidence that this song played immediately after the 4/4 tie on the debate about the recovery! So I decided to call it, once and for all, the white cliffs of Dover were the tie breaker – no question about it. Glass half-full.

After getting home with my booze (unopened) I couldn’t get the ’65 or ’66 question out of my mind… So I Googled it.

Words – Nat Burton
Melody – Walter Kent
Published – 1941

 Hey, wait a minute 1941!?

“’There`ll Be Bluebirds Over the White Cliffs of Dover’ is one of the most famous of all the World War II era pop classics. It became a sensational hit in 1942, as it reflected the feelings of all the Allies towards the British people in their brave fight against Hitler. Originally released in the U.S. by bandleader Kay Kyser, four other artists also hit the top 20 with this song that year: Glenn Miller, Sammy Kaye, Jimmy Dorsey and Kate Smith. The most well known version of the song on this side of the Atlantic is probably the one recorded by Vera Lynn in 1942. Other artists who`ve recorded this standard include: Connie Francis, Bing Crosby, Jim Reeves, and The Righteous Brothers.”

Ah, this is WWII song? (The war to end all wars – no forget that, that was WWI). How could this be a WWII song about B-24 Liberator bombers over the coast of England played by some dudes and a dudette named Glenn Miller, Sammy Kaye, Jimmy Dorsey and Kate Smith? There aren’t any bluebirds in England (are there?) That isn’t very uplifting. I’ve never even heard of bandleader Kay Kyser, what a rip-off! This is a Righteous Brothers tune; I saw them perform it in concert in ‘65 or ’66.

I don’t care what anyone says, Blue Birds over the white cliffs of Dover is the tie-breaker in the battle for economic recovery; half-full or half-empty simply isn’t acceptable – we’re using it as the tie-breaker, period end of quote!

Disgusted with all things Google, I went outside to get some air.

Within 30 seconds a torrential rain started and I was almost struck by lightning but I don’t consider either of those events to be a sign or omen of any type. Don’t worry my friends, the outcome is clear… There’ll be blue birds over the white cliffs of Dover, tomorrow, just you wait and see!