ORWELL SEE YOU UNDER CHESTNUT TREE

To Orwell Today,

Hi Jackie,
re: 45.Chestnut Tree Cafe

I believe i've found the source of GEORGE'S inspiration for CHESTNUT TREE CAFE. It's probably most popular love song of 1940s, I'LL BE SEEING YOU.

I'll be seeing you;
In all the old, familiar places;
That this heart of mine embraces;
All day through.

In that small cafe;
The park across the way;
The children's carousel;
The chestnut tree;
The wishing well.

I'll be seeing you;
In every lovely, summer's day;
And everything that's bright and gay;
I'll always think of you that way;

I'll find you in the morning sun;
And when the night is new;
I'll be looking at the moon;
But I'll be seeing you.

How exciting that George chose the end with such descriptive setting in this song and HE WAS A TRUE ROMANTIC probably dedicated to his wife.

regards,
Raymond Wills

PS - By the way, the singer of the big hit "I'll be seeing you" was ol blue eyes himself, Frank Sinatra

Hi Raymond,

You could be right that the song I'll Be Seeing You could have had some influence on Orwell's choice of the name CHESTNUT TREE CAFE. It might have been playing out in his mind as he was writing 1984. Almost everything Orwell writes has a significant meaning to him and the more a person knows about him the more they can spot his references.

An internet search for I'll Be Seeing You reveals that the song was used in a 1945 movie based on the script of a radio broadcast about a love affair between a woman who is on Christmas leave from imprisonment and a soldier who is psychologically damaged due to shell-shock and war wounds.

I'LL BE SEEING YOU, 1945 movie starring Ginger Rogers, Joseph Cotton and Shirley Temple

I agree with you that Orwell was a romantic and the sentiments expressed in this story have similarities to Winston and Julia's physical and psychological wounds, and Orwell's own wounds from the loss of his wife and his health.

All the best,
Jackie Jura

PS - I like the sounds of the movie so much that I've ordered it on DVD

PPS - There are other reasons too why Orwell probably chose Chestnut Tree Cafe as the name, as discussed in my commentary 1984 CHESTNUT TREE CAFE ROYAL

PPS - I found it on YouTube -- listen I'LL BE SEEING YOU

POEMS & SONGS

Jackie Jura
~ an independent researcher monitoring local, national and international events ~

email: orwelltoday@gmail.com
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