Dame¹ Vera Lynn, pictured in 2005, beat The Beatles and other artists to top the British charts on Sunday, and become the oldest living singer to have a number one hit album, at the age of 92." width="228" border="0" src="/upimg/090921/4_012228_1.jpg" />
Dame Vera Lynn, pictured in 2005, beat The Beatles and other artists to top the British charts on Sunday, and become the oldest living singer to have a number one hit album, at the age of 92.

Dame Vera Lynn beat The Beatles and other artists to top the British charts on Sunday, and become the oldest living singer to have a number one hit album, at the age of 92.

Lynn's album outsold recent chart toppers Arctic Monkeys and Jamie T, which reached number two, as the 70th anniversary earlier this month of the outbreak of World War II revived memories of her heyday².

"We'll Meet Again -- The Very Best Of Vera Lynn", a compilation³ of 24 of her best-loved recordings⁴, has been rising through the charts, 70 years on since she recorded the title track.

Lynn was dubbed⁶ the "Forces' Sweetheart" during the 1939-1945 conflict, bolstering⁷ spirits with optimistic songs such as "We'll Meet Again", which struck a chord with soldiers heading to war and the families they left behind.

The album was released to coincide with the 70-year anniversary of Britain's declaration of war on Nazi⁸ Germany on September 3.

Lynn trumped¹⁰ The Beatles' 12 remastered editions, plus its box sets, released to great fanfare¹¹ on Wednesday, and four of which are in the top 10.

"I'm so surprised, I can't quite believe it. It really is amazing that this has happened after all these years," she said.

Asked why the album had become popular again, Lynn told the BBC: "I think it's because of the problems that are going on in various parts, and a bit of nostalgia¹², but I don't know, I'd like somebody to tell me."

Gennaro Castaldo, from music store HMV, said the album had been growing consistently in popularity in recent weeks.

"It's a really lovely surprise, that nobody could have imagined a few weeks ago, and it's ironic¹³ that it's taken one revered¹⁴ British icon¹⁵ to block the historic return of another to the top of the charts," he said.

Her album features songs such as "(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs Of Dover", and "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart", which was a number one hit in the United States in 1952.

Lynn was born on March 20, 1917 in east London and her singing career was already flourishing when war broke out in 1939.

上周日，（英国92岁高龄的女歌手）薇拉•林恩爵士击败披头士乐队和其他艺人，登上英国音乐大碟排行榜冠军宝座，同时成为史上拥有冠军大碟的最年长的在世歌手。

本月早些时候的“二战” 爆发70周年纪念唤起了人们对林恩演唱生涯全盛时期的记忆，她的唱片销量超过了新近的排行榜冠军“北极猴子”和杰米•T。杰米•T目前排在第二位。

这张名为《我们会重逢——薇拉•林恩精选集》的专辑收录了薇拉最喜爱的24首金曲。这张专辑在排行榜上一路上升，尽管如今距她录制那首专辑同名曲已有七十年的历史。

在1939年到1945年的战争期间，林恩被人们称为“战地甜心”，她所唱的一些乐观向上的歌曲如《我们会重逢》鼓舞人心，给那些远赴战场的士兵和他们留在后方的家人带去了安慰。

这张专辑于9月3日发布，当天正好是英国向纳粹德国宣战70周年的纪念日。

披头士乐队则于上周三大张旗鼓地发布了最新灌制的唱片兼盒装全集，但最终还是不敌林恩。

林恩说：“我真的很惊讶，我简直不敢相信。没想到过了这么多年我的唱片还能成为销量冠军，真是不可思议。”

在接受英国广播公司采访被问及为什么她的唱片能再次流行时，林恩回答说：“我想是因为现在各个领域发生的事情让人们产生了一些怀旧情绪，不过我也不清楚，我倒希望有人告诉我为什么。”

HMV音像店的格纳罗•卡斯塔尔多说，最近几周林恩这张唱片的人气一直呈上升趋势。

他说：“这实在是个惊喜，几周前谁也不会想到会这样，而且一个受人尊敬的英国昔日偶像挡住了另一个老牌偶像的历史性的回归之路，真有点讽刺的意味。”

林恩这张专辑中的主打歌曲包括《多佛白崖上的知更鸟》和《别了，心上人》，后者曾于1952年成为美国音乐排行榜上的冠军单曲。

林恩于1917年3月20日出生于伦敦东部，她的演唱生涯在1939年二战爆发之前就已经有相当的发展了。

Vocabulary:

Vera Lynn: 英籍女歌手，7岁时就开始在工人俱乐部唱歌，15岁时参加了一个舞蹈团。1935年她在Joe Loss乐队中第一次在电台亮相，1940年开始她的个人演唱生涯。曾主持过BBC电台的“Sincerely Yours”节目，并在节目中演唱她的抒情名曲《你的》（Yours）、《我们会再相逢》（We'll meet again）等，被当时英国海外部队称为“部队情人”。林恩还拍过三部电影。她的多首歌曲进入英国和美国排行榜前30位，其中歌曲《别了，心上人》（Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart）于榜首停留达9周，为1952年第四最佳歌曲。林恩于1975年被授予大英女爵士的头衔，在英国公众眼中，她一直都是一位传奇性的人物。

charts: the weekly lists of the bestselling pop records or the most popular videos （一周一度的）流行音乐排行榜

Arctic Monkeys: “北极猴子”，正火速走红的英国摇滚乐队。2002年底，四个十多岁的英国少年组成了一支名叫北极猴子的乐队，他们在互联网上创建了自己的网站，把乐队录制的歌曲放到网站上，供网友免费下载。没过多久，他们便成为了互联网上风头最劲的网络乐队。唱片公司发现了这支颇具市场潜力的乐队，并与之签约。北极猴子乐队与唱片公司签约后发行的第一支单曲《I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor》刚一面世，便力压众多乐坛老将的得意力作，登上了英国单曲畅销金榜的榜首。这样的成就使北极猴乐队成为了英国迄今为止最成功的网络乐队。

Jamie T: 2007年NME音乐大奖“最佳歌手”得主，乐评一致认为他是继Mike Skinner后，最具天份的英国饶舌乐手。他独特的腔调与鬼灵精怪的念唱，还有他的创作模式与搞怪天才，让他在英国乐坛一鸣惊人。

heyday: the period of greatest popularity, success, or power; prime 全盛期

title track: 专辑同名歌曲

dub⁵: to give a name to facetiously¹⁶ or playfully 授予……称号；把……叫做；给……取绰号（He was dubbed Shorty because of his size. 他因身材短小被人取了个矮子的绰号。）

trump⁹: to outdo or surpass 胜过，打败，赢（As for physique, nature did not deal her an ideal hand, but she trumped every disadvantage. 至于体格，她长得并不理想，但她能克服一切缺憾。）

box set: a compilation of various musical recordings, films, television programs, or other collection of related things that are contained in a box 盒装全集

fanfare: 夸耀，鼓吹