View source for Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer

{{Infobox song
| name          = Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer
| cover         = Cover_art_for_Comin'_in_on_a_Wing_and_a_Prayer_by_Jimmy_McHugh-Harold_Adamson.jpeg
| alt           =
| caption       = Sheet music cover
| type          =
| written       =
| published     = 1943
| genre         = [[Foxtrot]], [[Jazz]]
| writer        =
| composer      = [[Jimmy McHugh]]
| lyricist      = [[Harold Adamson]]
}}
"'''Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer'''" is a [[World War II]] song with lyrics by [[Harold Adamson]] and music by [[Jimmy McHugh]], published in 1943 by Robbins Music Corp.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Song-Spinners-Comin-In-On-A-Wing-And-A-Prayer-Johnny-Zero/release/3411104|title=The Song Spinners – Comin' In On A Wing And A Prayer / Johnny Zero|work=Discogs|date=June 1943 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pritzkermilitary.org/explore/library/online-catalog/view/oclc/41457138|title=Comin' in on a wing and a prayer|work=pritzkermilitary.org}}</ref>
==Theme==
The lyrics tell of the aftermath of an [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] night [[Strategic bombing during World War II|aerial bombing mission]] over enemy territory. One [[bomber]] has not returned, and the [[ground crew]] at its home airfield are becoming concerned. When they eventually establish radio contact, the pilot tells them that the mission has been a success ("we really hit our target for tonight"), but that the aircraft was badly damaged in combat and has lost one engine. The crew is nonetheless unharmed and in good spirits, sustained by their religious faith ("With our full crew aboard / And our trust in the Lord"), as the plane limps homeward, "on a wing and a prayer".
==Inspiration==
Different incidents have been credited as the inspiration for the song. It is sometimes said to be based on the events of February 26, 1943, when "Southern Comfort", a [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress|B-17 Flying Fortress]] piloted by Hugh G. Ashcraft Jr. of [[Charlotte, North Carolina]], was badly damaged by [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft fire]] on a bombing mission over mainland Europe. As it approached the British coast, Ashcraft told his crew over the radio: "Those who want to, please pray." The aircraft made it home safely.<ref>{{cite web |title=The story behind 'Comin' in on a wing and a prayer' |website=This day in quotes |date=27 February 2021 |url=http://www.thisdayinquotes.com/2010/02/comin-in-on-wing-and-prayer.html |accessdate=13 October 2021 }}</ref> The song has also been associated with the similar survival against the odds, despite extensive damage, of another B-17, "Thunderbird", piloted by Lt. John Cronkhite, on a mission from [[Biskra]], Algeria, over [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] on January 12, 1943.<ref>{{cite web |title=WWII's B-17 'All American': Separating Fact and Fiction |website=Warbird Digest |date=27 June 2013 |url=https://warbirdsnews.com/warbird-articles/wwiis-b-17-all-american-separating-fact-fiction.html |access-date=17 October 2021 }}</ref>
==1943 recording==
The song was recorded by [[the Song Spinners]]<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1633215/m1/#track/5 |title = Pop Chronicles 1940s Program #9|year = 1972}}</ref> for [[Decca Records]], reaching number one on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' pop chart on July 2, 1943.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1045510/this-day-in-music|title=This Day in Music|magazine=Billboard|date=21 April 2006}}</ref>
"Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer" was the only song with a war connection to appear in the top twenty best-selling songs of 1943 in the United States (although record sales in this period were heavily affected by the first [[1942–1944 musicians' strike|Petrillo recording ban]]).<ref>{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Kathleen E. R. |date=2003 |title=God Bless America: Tin Pan Alley Goes to War |publisher=The University Press of Kentucky |pages=124–5 |isbn=0-8131-2256-2}}</ref>
==Russian adaptation==
The song also became widely known in the [[Soviet Union]] in a 1943 adaptation by the popular singer and jazz band leader [[Leonid Utyosov]], titled "Bombers". The translation of the lyrics into [[Russian language|Russian]] is broadly faithful, but the term "prayer" (with its unacceptable religious overtones) is rendered as "word of honor".<ref>{{cite web |first=Alexander |last=Anichkin |url=http://russianbooks.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/comin-in-on-wing-and-prayer-russian.html |title=Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer (Russian songs of Victory) |work=Tetradki: a Russian Review of Books |date=9 May 2012 |access-date=21 April 2017 }}</ref> This Russian idiom – на честном слове, or ''na ches[t]nom slove'' (т is not pronounced) – means "only just managing" or "just holding on".
==Legacy==
The song is the origin of the English idiomatic phrase "a wing and a prayer", which alludes to reliance on hope in a desperate situation.<ref>{{OED|wing, n.: P3. ''a wing and a prayer''}}</ref> Most immediately, it inspired the title of the 1944 war film, ''[[Wing and a Prayer, The Story of Carrier X]]''.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*{{cite web |author=The Song Spinners |author-link=The Song Spinners |title=Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZo7TsFIQdw |publisher=[[YouTube]] |access-date=20 November 2015}}: audio file
*{{cite web |author=Leonid Utyosov |author-link=Leonid Utyosov |title=Comin' in on a Wing and a Prayer (Bombers) (1942) |date=4 August 2015 |url=http://soviethistory.msu.edu/1943-2/the-strange-alliance/1943-the-strange-alliance-music/ |publisher=Seventeen Moments in Soviet History |access-date=12 April 2017 }}: audio file
*{{cite web |url=http://www.sovmusic.ru/text.php?fname=wingpray |title=Бомбардировщики -Bombardirovshiki - Bombers |website=Soviet Music |access-date=21 April 2017 }}: lyrics in English and Russian
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[[Category:1943 songs]]
[[Category:1943 singles]]
[[Category:Songs of World War II]]
[[Category:Songs with music by Jimmy McHugh]]
[[Category:Songs with lyrics by Harold Adamson]]
[[Category:Number-one singles in the United States]]