Lili Marleen

"Lili Marleen" (a.k.a. "Lili Marlene", "Lily Marlene", "Lili Marlène" etc.) is a German love song which became popular during World War II.

Written in 1915 during World War I, the poem was published under the title "Das Lied eines jungen Soldaten auf der Wacht" (German for "The Song of a Young Soldier on Watch") in 1937, and was first recorded by Lale Andersen in 1939 under the title "Das Mädchen unter der Laterne" ("The Girl under the Lantern").

Following Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia, from 1941 Radio Belgrade became Soldatensender Belgrad to entertain German armed forces; the song was played frequently and became popular throughout Europe and the Mediterranean among both Axis and Allied troops.

Contents

Creation

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") in 1937, now with the two last (of five) verses added. It was set to music by Norbert Schultze in 1938. Tommie Connor later wrote English lyrics. It was recorded by Lale Andersen in 1939.

Exposure and reception

After the occupation of Belgrade in 1941 Radio Belgrade became the German forces' radio station under the name of Soldatensender Belgrad (Soldiers' Radio Belgrade, with transmissions heard throughout Europe and the Mediterranean.

While on leave in Vienna, a lieutenant working at the station was asked to collect some records for broadcast. Amongst the pile of second-hand records from the Reich radio station[1] was the little known two-year-old song "Lili Marleen" sung by Lale Andersen, which up till then had barely sold around 700 copies. For lack of other recordings, Radio Belgrade played the song frequently.

At one point the Nazi government's propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, ordered broadcasting of the song to stop. Radio Belgrade received many letters from Axis soldiers all over Europe asking them to play "Lili Marleen" again. Goebbels reluctantly changed his mind, and from then on the tune was used to sign-off the broadcast at 9:55 PM.

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. Erwin Rommel, commander of the Afrika Korps, admired the song and asked Radio Belgrade to incorporate it into their broadcasts, which they did.

Many Allied soldiers made a point of listening to it at the end of the day. For example, in his memoir Eastern Approaches, Fitzroy Maclean describes the song's effect in the spring of 1942 during the Western Desert Campaign: "Husky, sensuous, nostalgic, sugar-sweet, her voice seemed to reach out to you, as she lingered over the catchy tune, the sickly sentimental words. Belgrade...The continent of Europe seemed a long way away. I wondered when I would see it again and what it would be like by the time we got there." [2]

Nor did it end there. The next year, parachuted into the Yugoslav guerrilla war, Maclean wrote: "Sometimes at night, before going to sleep, we would turn on our receiving set and listen to Radio Belgrade. For months now, the flower of the Afrika Korps had been languishing behind the barbed wire of Allied prison camps. But still, punctually at ten o'clock, came Lale Andersen singing their special song, with the same unvarying, heart-rending sweetness that we knew so well from the desert. [...] Belgrade was still remote. But, now that we ourselves were in Yugoslavia, it had acquired a new significance for us. It had become our ultimate goal, which Lili Marlene and her nostalgic little tune seemed somehow to symbolise. 'When we get to Belgrade...' we would say. And then we would switch off the wireless a little guiltily, for the Partisans, we knew, were shocked at the strange pleasure we got from listening to the singing of the German woman who was queening it in their capital."[3]

In the autumn of 1944, the liberation of Belgrade seemed not far away. "Then, at ten o'clock, loud and clear, Radio Belgrade; Lili Marlene, sweet, insidious, melancholy. 'Not much longer now,' we would say, as we switched it off. It was a stock joke but one that at last began to look like coming true."[4] As the Red Army was advancing on Belgrade, he reflected again on the song. "At Valjevo, as at so many other places, in the desert, in Bosnia, in Italy, Dalmatia, and Serbia, we would tune our wireless sets in the evening to Radio Belgrade, and night after night, always at the same time, would come, throbbing lingeringly over the ether, the cheap, sugary and almost painfully nostalgic melody, the sex-laden, intimate, heart-rending accents of Lili Marlene. 'Not gone yet,' we would say to each other. 'I wonder if we'll find her when we get there.' Then one evening at the accustomed time there was silence. 'Gone away,' we said."[5]

Allied soldiers in Italy later adapted the tune to their own lyrics, creating the D-Day Dodgers song. A cartoon by Bill Mauldin in the American army newspaper Stars and Stripes shows two soldiers in a foxhole, one playing a harmonica, while the other comments, "The krauts ain't following ya too good on 'Lili Marlene' tonight, Joe. Think somethin' happened to their tenor?"

Marlene Dietrich version

In 1944, the Morale Operations Branch of the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) initiated the Musac project,[6] musical propaganda broadcasts designed to demoralize enemy soldiers. Marlene Dietrich, the only performer who was made aware that her recordings would be for OSS use, recorded a number of songs in German for the project, including Lili Marleen.[7]

Connie Francis version

"Lili Marleen"
Single by Connie Francis
B-side "Mond von Mexico"
Released 1961
Format 7" single
Recorded A-side: June 3, 1961
B-Side: October 5, 1961
both at Austrophon Studio, Vienna
Genre Schlager music
Length 1:55
Label MGM Records 61 053
Writer(s) Norbert Schultze, Hans Leip
Producer Gerhard Mendelsohn
Connie Francis
German singles chronology
"Eine Insel für zwei"/
"Das ist zuviel"

(1962)
"Eine Insel für zwei"/
"Das ist zuviel"
(1962)
"Tu' mir nicht weh"/
"Paradiso"
(1962)

Lili Marleen was released by American entertainer Connie Francis as her seventh German single in 1962 and would peak at No. 9 on the German charts.[8] Francis also recorded the song in Italian and French.

Amanda Lear version

"Lili Marleen"
Single by Amanda Lear
from the album Never Trust a Pretty Face
B-side "Dreamer (South Pacific)"
Released 1979
Format 7"
Recorded 1978
Genre Disco
Length 4:45
Label Ariola Records
Writer(s) Norbert Schultze, Hans Leip, Tommie Connor
Producer Anthony Monn
Amanda Lear singles chronology
"Fashion Pack"
(1979)
"Lili Marleen"
(1979)
"Fabulous (Lover, Love Me)"
(1979)

French singer and disco queen Amanda Lear recorded a German-English language version of the song for her 1979 album Never Trust a Pretty Face. French editions of the album included a German-French version of the track. "Lili Marleen" was released as a promotional single only in Argentina, although earlier it became the B-side of the single "Gold".[9] The singer performed it in the 1978 film Zio Adolfo in arte Führer.

Lear has made "Lili Marleen" a repertoire standard on her performances. She re-recorded the song on her 1993 album Cadavrexquis as well as on her 2001 Heart album.

Track listing

A. "Lili Marleen"
B. "Dreamer (South Pacific)"

Chart performance

Chart (1979) Peak
position
Italy[10] 12

Other versions

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

While the Italian version, translated by lyricist Nino Rastelli and recorded in 1942 by Lina Termini, was probably the first to be released, the earliest English language recording of the song was probably Anne Shelton's, but a number of cover versions followed. A version called "The D-Day Dodgers" was sung by the Canadian Army remaining in Italy once the Normandy invasion had begun in 1944. A recording was made by Perry Como on 27 June 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 re-issued 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. A version with French words by Henri Lemarchand was recorded by Suzy Solidor in 1941.[11]

Other artists who covered the song included Hildegarde (on Decca), Martha Tilton (on Coral), and Vaughn Monroe (on V-Disc). Al Martino revived the song for Capitol Records in 1968. Another version was recorded in the 1960s by country music legend Hank Snow. 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. Matia Bazar (Italy) recorded an uptempo beat song called Lili Marleen on her 1982 album Berlino, Parigi, Londra. The song is a "spoken words" very early 80's dance track. Spanish group Olé Olé, led by Marta Sánchez, released a song about the film in 1987. It became one of the best-selling singles in Spain of the 80s, and paved way for the singer to have a successful career. German blackmetal band Eisregen recorded a version of "Lili Marlene" on their album Hexenhaus. The German Gothic metal/Industrial metal band Atrocity released the song in both languages (English & German) on Gemini: on the blue edition was the German version, and on the red edition was the English version.[12] Kid Creole and the Coconuts included an uptempo, disco-influenced version of "Lili Marlene", with German lyrics sung by Coconut Adriana Kaegi, on their 1980 debut LP release "Off The Coast Of Me". Carly Simon recorded the song as the third track on her 1997 Arista CD Film Noir.Omnia It has also been translated into Hawaiian by Kiope Raymond, and recorded by Raymond and Pearl Rose on Rose's 2000 album Homecoming. 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". A haunting, slow-tempo instrumental version can be found on the compilation LP Vienna: City of Dreams by Austrian zither master Anton Karas.

"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.

Humphrey Jennings directed The True Story of Lili Marlene in 1944 about the song.

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

Spanish pop band Ole Ole, adapted the song for the Spanish-speaking market and released it in 1985 under the name Lily Marlén.

Estonian punk rock band Vennaskond released an Estonian version of the song on their album Usk. Lootus. Armastus. in 1993.[13]

The film Bad day to go fishing, directed by Alvaro Brechner, showed an uncontrollable titan of impressive dimensions (Jouko Ahola) who could only be appeased by the melody of "Lili Marlene."

Dutch folk band Omnia recorded a version of the song on their 2011 album Musick and Poëtree.

Lyrics

Original German lyrics

Lili Marleen

Vor der Kaserne,
Vor dem großen Tor,
Stand eine Laterne,
Und steht sie noch davor,
So woll'n wir uns da wieder seh'n,
Bei der Laterne wollen wir steh'n,
Wie einst, Lili Marleen.

Unsere beiden Schatten,
Sah'n wie einer aus,
Daß wir so lieb uns hatten,
Das sah man gleich daraus.
Und alle Leute soll'n es seh'n,
Wenn wir bei der Laterne steh'n,
Wie einst, Lili Marleen.

Schon rief der Posten:
Sie blasen Zapfenstreich,
Es kann drei Tage kosten!
Kamerad, ich komm' ja gleich.
Da sagten wir Aufwiederseh'n.
Wie gerne wollt' ich mit dir geh'n,
Mit dir, Lili Marleen!

Deine Schritte kennt sie,
Deinen schönen Gang.
Alle Abend brennt sie,
Doch mich vergaß sie lang.
Und sollte mir ein Leid gescheh'n,
Wer wird bei der Laterne steh'n,
Mit dir, Lili Marleen!

Aus dem stillen Raume,
Aus der Erde Grund,
Hebt mich wie im Traume
Dein verliebter Mund.
Wenn sich die späten Nebel dreh'n,
Werd' ich bei der Laterne steh'n
Wie einst, Lili Marleen!

Literal English translation

Lili Marleen

In front of the barracks,
In front of the main gate,
Stood a lamppost,
If it still stands out front,
So will we see each other there again,
By the lamppost we'll stand,
As before, Lili Marleen.

Our two shadows
Looked like one.
That we were so much in love,
Anyone could see at a glance.
And everyone will see it,
When we stand by the lamppost,
As before, Lili Marleen.

Already called the guard,
“They’re blowing taps.
That could cost you three days!”
“Comrade, I'll be right there.”
Then we said farewell,
How much would I have rather gone with you,
With you, Lili Marleen.

It knows your footsteps,
Your beautiful walk.
It burns every evening,
Although it forgot me long ago.
And if a mishap should befall me,
Who will stand by the lamppost,
With you, Lili Marleen?

Out of the silent space,
Out of the depths of the earth,
Lifts me as in a dream
Your beloved mouth.
When the nocturnal mists swirl,
I will be standing by the lamppost,
As before, Lili Marleen.

English lyrics (Connor)

The best-known English lyrics are by Tommie Connor, dating from 1944.

Underneath the lantern
By the barrack gate,
Darling I remember
The way you used to wait.
T'was there that you whispered tenderly
That you loved me;
You'd always be
My Lili of the lamplight,
My own Lili Marlene.

Time would come for roll call,
Time for us to part,
Darling I'd caress you
And press you to my heart,
And there 'neath that far-off lantern light,
I'd hold you tight,
We'd kiss good night,
My Lili of the lamplight,
My own Lili Marlene.

Orders came for sailing,
Somewhere over there.
All confined to barracks
was more than I could bear.
I knew you were waiting in the street,
I heard your feet
But could not meet
My Lili of the lamplight
my own Lili Marlene.

Resting in our billets
Just behind the lines,
Even tho' we're parted,
Your lips are close to mine.
You wait where that lantern softly gleams,
Your sweet face seems
To haunt my dreams,
My Lili of the Lamplight,
My own Lili Marlene.

English lyrics (Goring)

Alternative English lyrics were written by Marius Goring. Goring was English, involved in British broadcasts to Germany during the war and he had a distinguished career in acting, radio and TV post-war (changing his working name to Richardson).

In the dark of evening
where you stand and wait
Hangs a lantern gleaming
by the barrack gate.
We’ll meet again by lantern shine
as we did once upon a time
We two Lili Marlene
We two Lili Marlene

Our shadows once stood facing
a tall one and a small
They mingled in embracing
upon the lighted wall
And passers by could see and tell
who kissed my shadow there so well
My girl Lili Marlene
My girl Lili Marlene

References

  1. ^ http://www.istrianet.org/istria/music/history-folklore/lili-marleen.htm
  2. ^ Part 2, ch 3 "Outward Bound"
  3. ^ Part III, ch 3 Orientation
  4. ^ Ch 12 Ratweek
  5. ^ Part 3, ch 13 "Grand Finale" in Eastern Approaches by Fitzroy Maclean, 1949
  6. ^ CIA.gov (2008-10-23). "A Look Back ... Marlene Dietrich: Singing For A Cause". https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/2008-featured-story-archive/marlene-dietrich.html. Retrieved 2010-03-20. 
  7. ^ McIntosh, Elizabeth P. (1998). Sisterhood of spies: the women of the OSS, p. 58. Dell., London. ISBN 0440234662.
  8. ^ Richard Weize: Connie Francis, companion book to 8-LP-Boxed Boxed Set Connie Francis in Deutschland, Bear Family Records BFX 15 305, Hambergen/Vollersode (Germany) 1988
  9. ^ "GOLD 1978 France". amandalear_singoli.tripod.com. http://amandalear_singoli.tripod.com/021_gold_78.htm. 
  10. ^ "Indice per Interprete: L" (in Italian). www.hitparadeitalia.it. http://www.hitparadeitalia.it/indici/per_interprete/al.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-08. 
  11. ^ Pathé: Discography
  12. ^ Atrocity ~ Gemini on www.metal-archives.com
  13. ^ "Vennaskond". http://www.atmosphere.be Atmosphere Music. http://www.atmosphere.be/releases/vennaskond. Retrieved 8 December 2009. 

Further reading

Recordings

External links