Now all roads lead to France and heavy is the tread
Of the living; but the dead returning lightly dance.
Edward Thomas, Roads

Friday, August 14, 2015

Harry Lauder's Keep Right on to the End of the Road


Music hall star Harry Lauder composed this shortly after his son John was killed at Pozières in December 1916. During the Second World War Winston Churchill liked to listen to it when things were going badly.





Ev'ry road thro' life is a long, 
    long road,
Fill'd with joys and sorrows too,
As you journey on how your heart 
    will yearn,
For the things most dear to you.
With wealth and love 'tis so
But onward we must go-

 Chorus

 Keep right on to the end of the road, 
    keep right on to the end,
Tho' the way be long, let 
    your heart be strong, 
Keep right on round the bend.
Tho' you're tired and weary still journey on, 
    till you come to your happy abode,
Where all you love you've been dreaming of 
   will be there at the end of the road.

After his son's death, Harry became something of the Bob Hope of the First World War, entertaining the troops and recruiting for the forces including in America. Listen to a 1926 version of Harry singing the song at YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbM86eiczAg


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2 comments:

  1. Connie R.August 14, 2015 at 12:55 PM

    What a great post! Thanks for the listening link! Any chance you might post on Elsie Janis, sweetheart of the RAF, sometime in the future? :)

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  2. UnknownAugust 15, 2015 at 9:28 AM

    Enjoyed this post very much. I mostly enjoyed hearing Lauder sing. It seems to me his voice, or his music was popular in WWII. I was a child then, but the name Lauder sticks in my mind from a distant time.

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