Some years ago, I heard a recording of Johnny Cash singing something called
We'll Meet Again. I could tell it was not the voice of the energetic young singer who sang
I Walk The Line at Fulsom prison, but there was enough left of that voice to hold my attention. I thought both the lyrics and his performance were very touching, especially since I assumed—that word again—that Cash was singing as if to his late wife, June Carter Cash, and telling her not only that they would meet again, but that he knew that reunion would occur soon.
Would you please say hello to the folks that I know,
Tell them I won't be long...
And there the matter rested until this past Monday's episode of
Castle, where the song plays at the end (for varioius nefarious reasons; further deponent saith not).
So today, I googled the song title, and learned via
Wikipedia that not only does the song date from the Second World War, but it was one of the most popular songs of that era and has since been sung in
Dr. Strangelove and as a cut on the album
Mr. Tambourine Man, recorded by The Byrds.
The immediate surprise aside, the secondary surprise (so to speak) is how the song had been jangling in my ears at various times during my life (I mean, I've seen Kubrick's film at least a half dozen times) and I hadn't really noticed it. The only phenomenon that I can compare it to is when you suddenly recognize an actor in some role that was played before he or she finally gets "imprinted" on your mind by some subsequent performance In my case, a good example is Chris O'Donnell's performance in the 1993 movie
The Three Musketeers, though perhaps I may be forgiven for not immediately making the connection between a very young D'Artagnan there and more mature G Callen in
NCIS: Los Angeles.
After Monday's show, I went back to listen to the Cash rendition, and I "listened with a new set of ears," so to speak. While my original interpretation (of Cash singing to his wife) remains plausible, I can now easily see how the song "applies" to those who are very much alive, and intend to remain so.
Cheers...