Lili Marleen

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"Lili Marleen" is a famous German love song which became very popular on both sides during World War II.

A Lili Marleen and Lale Andersen memorial in Langeoog

The words were written in 1915 during World War I by Hans Leip (1893-1983), a school teacher from Hamburg who had been conscripted into the Imperial German Army. Leip reportedly combined the names of his girlfriend and another female friend. The poem was later published as "Das Lied eines jungen Soldaten auf der Wacht" ("The Song of a Young Soldier on Watch"). It was set to music by Norbert Schultze in 1938. Tommy Connor later wrote English lyrics.

The song was originally titled "Das Mädchen unter der Laterne" (German for "the girl under the lantern"), but it became famous as "Lili Marleen".

Recordings by Lale Andersen in 1939 and Marlene Dietrich helped to raise the song's profile. It achieved popularity despite the opposition of the Nazi regime, in particular Joseph Goebbels, the Nazis' propaganda minister.

After the occupation of Belgrade in 1941, Radio Belgrade became the German forces' radio station under the name of Soldatensender Belgrad (Soldiers Radio Belgrad). It could be received throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. A lieutenant working at the station who was taking leave in Vienna was asked to collect some records to broadcast. Amongst a pile he obtained from a second hand shop was the little known 2 year old song Lili Marleen sung by Lale Andersen, which up to then had sold only around 700 copies. For lack of other recordings, Radio Belgrade played the song quite frequently.

After the Nazi government then ordered it to stop broadcasting the song, Radio Belgrade received many letters from Axis soldiers all over Europe asking them to play Lili Marleen again. In response, Radio Belgrade returned the song to its programming. From then on, the station played Andersen's recording every evening at 9:55 PM and its popularity quickly grew. Soldiers stationed around the Mediterranean, including both German Afrika Korps and British Eighth Army troops, regularly tuned in to hear it. Even Erwin Rommel, the commander of the Afrika Korps admired the song. He asked Radio Belgrade to incorporate the song into their broadcasts, which they did. Allied soldiers in Italy later adapted the tune to their own lyrics, creating the D-Day Dodgers song.

The earliest English language recording of the song was probably Anne Shelton's, but a number of cover versions followed.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s "Lili Marleen" was recorded in English as well as German by Marlene Dietrich.

Another very melodic version was recorded in the 1960s by country music legend Hank Snow.

A recording was made by Perry Como on June 27, 1944 and issued by RCA Victor Records as a 78rpm record (catalog number 20-1592-A) with the flip side "First Class Private Mary Brown". This recording was later reissued as catalog number 20-2824-A with flip side "I Love You Truly." The song reached chart position #13 on the United States charts. The song was recorded during the musicians' strike and consequently has a backing chorus instead of an orchestral backup.

Other artists who covered the song included Hildegarde (on Decca) and Martha Tilton (on Coral). Al Martino revived the song for Capitol Records in 1968.

French singer and disco queen Amanda Lear recorded a German/English language version of the song for her 1978 album Never Trust A Pretty Face, making it a repertoire standard. She re-recorded the track for album "Cadavrexquis" in 1993 and most recently for 2001's "Heart" with updated German language lyrics by original composer Norbert Schultze, this version was released shortly before his death. Another French singer, Patricia Kaas used Lili Marlene as an intro for her song D'Allemagne and sang the entire song during concerts in the 1990s.

Carly Simon recorded the song as the third track on her 1997 Arista CD Film Noir.

Most recently it was covered by Neil Hannon of the Irish pop group The Divine Comedy as a B-side to the 2006 single "A Lady Of A Certain Age".

The specialty label Bear Family has released a 7-CD box set featuring 195 different versions of the song.

Lili Marlene has been adopted as the regimental slow march by the Special Air Service, Special Air Service Regiment and Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.

In 1980, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, directed the film Lili Marleen a purported telling of the story of Lale Andersen and her version of the song.

[edit] References

Wilson, Patrick Maitland, Where the Nazis Came, ISBN 1-904244-23-8, (2002)
Lili Marleen an allen Fronten (Lili Marleen on all fronts). Hambergen, Germany: Bear Family Records, 2006. 7 CDs with 180-page booklet, ISBN 3-89916-154-8 (Includes nearly 200 versions of Lili Marleen).