Who would have thought Bing Crosby was a dangerous radical?

I was aware that Bing Crosby had a big hit with ‘Brother Can you Spare a Dime‘ following attempts to have it banned in the USA during the depression, but tonight I saw an interesting TV programme about songs banned by the BBC (BBC4 TV: Britain’ most dangerous songs). In the Second World War the BBC decided not to play Crosby’s recording of “I’ll be Home for Christmas” because its apparently optimistic message from a soldier to his family ended with a wry twist with the words, “if only in my dreams“.