Most agree that the lyrics were inspired heavily by the London blackout, which were imposed to combat the bombing raids by the Germans, called the Blitz, which lasted from September 1940 to May 1941.
It was an incredibly anxious time, as Osbert Lancaster says in his book All Done from Memory: “During the “blitz” so long as I remained indoors I was ceaselessly assaulted by what psychiatrists so unfeelingly describe as “irrational fears,” but on escape into the wide open spaces they were promptly transformed by the patter of shrapnel into anxieties to which my reason accorded every justification.”[9] This war was called “The People’s War” for a reason – it was brought directly to the people of Britain, forcing them to flee the city or face a city of fear.
Within the repetition are hidden the lyrics “We’ll have time for things like wedding rings and free hearts will sing,” and “A kiss won’t mean goodbye but hello to love.” These were intended to paint a picture in the minds of listeners about how the world would begin again with the conclusion of the war.
Written by Roy Sault for modern performance, it tells the story of a family, the Parkers, living in England during World War II, and ends in a VE/VJ Day party.
The music in the show consists of 28 well-loved songs from the 1940s, including “The White Cliffs of Dover,” “We’ll Meet Again,” “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree,” and “When the Lights Go On Again.”[10] The Vera Lynn version appears in the 2023 film A Haunting in Venice'.