This collection of songs has a special meaning for me. It represents a kind of nostalgic journey back to the days of the second World War, when the songs, particularly the ballads, had a curiously deep and lasting impact.

As the years-- more than most of us would care to admit -- have gone by, most of the bad things have been forgotten, and we remember only the good things, the heightened sense of contribution and urgency, and nothing can bring those good things back like a song.

For myself, I know that a song (or a perfume) can bring the past rushing back in a second, and I hope you will feel the same way.

In the past few years, when I have stopped in gas stations or been shopping in super markets, again and again someone has come up to me and told me how much a record of mine meant to them during the "War Years". The one most often mentioned was "I'll Be Seeing You", and this started me wondering what other records had been most popular.

After a good deal of research, I've put together this program of songs that meant so much to all of us then and that retain their ability to bring back a special time and place.

Jo Stafford