Lili Marleen

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the song. For the 1950 British film, see Lilli Marlene (film). For the 1981 German film by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, see Lili Marleen (film).

A "Lili Marleen" and Lale Andersen memorial in Langeoog, Germany

"Lili Marleen" (also spelled "Lili Marlen'", "Lilli Marlene", "Lily Marlene", "Lili Marlène" among others; German pronunciation:

Mediterranean among both Axis and Allied troops. Written in 1915 as a poem, the song was published in 1937 and was first recorded by Lale Andersen in 1939 as "Das Mädchen unter der Laterne" ("The Girl under the Lantern"). The song is also well known on a version performed by Marlene Dietrich
.

In 2005, Bear Family Records released a 7-CD set Lili Marleen an allen Fronten ("Lili Marleen on all Fronts"), including nearly 200 versions of "Lili Marleen" with a 180-page booklet.[1]

Creation

The True Story of Lili Marlene (1944), a British propaganda film by Humphrey Jennings. Despite its title the film contains multiple inaccuracies.
Propaganda postcard of the German Wehrmacht's postal service in Paris, 1942, with Lili Marleen motif

The words were written in 1915 as a poem of three verses by

Imperial German Army.[2] Leip reportedly combined the nickname of his friend's girlfriend, Lili, with the name of another friend, Marleen, who was a nurse.[3][4]
The poem was later published in 1937 as "Das Lied eines jungen Soldaten auf der Wacht" ("The Song of a Young Soldier on Watch"), with two further verses added.

It was set to music by Norbert Schultze in 1938 and recorded by Lale Andersen for the first time in 1939. In early 1942 she recorded the song in English, the lyrics translated by Norman Baillie-Stewart, a former British army officer working for German propaganda.[5]

Songwriter Tommie Connor also wrote English lyrics with the title "Lily of the Lamplight" in 1944.[6] Another English translation was done by Theodore Stephanides during World War II and published in his memoir Climax in Crete in 1946.[7]

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 a pile of second-hand records from the Reich radio station.[8] Among them was "Lili Marleen" sung by Lale Andersen, which up till then had sold around 700 copies. Karl-Heinz Reintgen, the German officer in charge of the station, began playing the song on the air.[9] For lack of other recordings, Radio Belgrade played the song frequently.

The song was published in

6th Armoured Division".[10]

Lale Andersen was awarded a gold disc for over one million sales (HMV - EG 6993).[11] It is thought she was awarded her copy after hostilities ended. HMV's copy was discarded during renovations to their Oxford Street store in the 1960s, but the disc was recovered and is now in a private collection.

Many Allied soldiers made a point of listening to the song at the end of the day. For example, in his memoir

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."[12]

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 [...] it had become our ultimate goal, which Lili Marlene and her nostalgic little tune seemed somehow to symbolise."[13]

In late 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."[14] As the Red Army was advancing on Belgrade, he reflected again on the song. "At Valjevo, as at so many other places [...] 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."[15]

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

"Lili Marlene"
Single by Marlene Dietrich
B-side"Symphonie"
Released7 September 1945
Recorded1944
Genre
Length4:45
Label
Songwriter(s)
[16]
Marlene Dietrich singles chronology
"Falling in Love Again"
(1939) 		"Lili Marlene"
(1945) 		"Illusions"
(1948)

In 1944, the Morale Operations Branch of the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) initiated the Muzak Project,[17] musical propaganda broadcasts designed to demoralize enemy soldiers. Marlene Dietrich, the only performer who was told her recordings would be for OSS use, recorded several songs in German for the project, including "Lili Marleen".[18] Dietrich performed it, as well as many other songs, live in Europe for Allied troops, often on rickety, makeshift stages.

"Lili Marleen" became the theme song on the German language OSS MO radio station Soldatensender.[17] After its warm reception by the troops in Europe, the song was re-recorded and released, with the spelling "Lili Marlene" after her name, Marlene, with Charles Magnante on the accordion, as the "orchestra director", with the disk' B-side, as "Symphonie", sung in French. It was released by Decca Records in 1945.[19] The original OSS recording of "Lili Marleen" remained thus unissued.

In 1961, Dietrich starred in the film Judgment at Nuremberg, a dramatization of the war trials. In one scene she walks down a rubbled street, ravaged by Allied attacks, with Spencer Tracy's character. As they approach a bar they hear men inside singing "Lili Marleen" in German. Dietrich begins to sing along with the song, translating a few lyrics for Tracy, referring to the German lyrics as "much sadder" than the English.[20]

While she was touring the world in live

signature song
with some variation of this quote, from a 1960s concert, somewhere in Europe:

Now, here is a song that is very close to my heart. I sang it during the war. I sang it for three long years, all through Africa, Sicily, Italy, to Alaska, Greenland, Iceland, to England, through France, through Belgium ... [long pause] ... to Germany, and to Czechoslovakia. The soldiers loved it, 'Lili Marlene'.[21]

Dietrich sang "Lili Marlene" in her television special An Evening with Marlene Dietrich, which aired on the BBC in the UK and on CBS in the US in 1973, and was featured on four of her six original albums. She also recorded and performed it in both the original German version and the English adaptation. Both versions have appeared on many compilation albums worldwide, several of them titled after the song. After 5 shows in Japan, between 15 and 25 December 1974, two singles of the song were released by both EMI and MCA Records in 1975. The MCA Records release (D-1284) peaked #93 in the Oricon charts and spend three weeks there, and sold a total of 8,000 copies, this version has "Falling in Love Again" as a B-side.[22] The EMI release (EMR-10761) peaked #42 in the charts and spend 11 weeks in it, selling a total of 56,000 in the country, this version has "Die Antwort Weiss Ganz Allein Der Wind" (Blowin' In The Wind) as a B-side.[22]

Track listings

English version

10" single

Original issuing of the song by Decca Records in the US[19] and Brunswick Records in the UK[23] was on 10-inch. Decca re-issued the single on 7-inch during the 1950s and early 1970s.[24] This is also the version of the single that was reissued by MCA in 1978[25] and 1980[26] on 7-inch.

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Lili Marlene"
3:24
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Symphonie" (sung in French)
  • Alex Alstone
  • André Gaston Isaac Tabet
  • Roger Bernstein
2:55
7" Brunswick re-issue

Most likely re-issued in the 1970s, it was originally released in the Netherlands on 7-inch by Brunswick Records.[27] This version of the single was re-issued again in the UK in 1989, and in 1992 it was issued in Germany, both by MCA,[28] the 1989 re-issue also having been released by Old Gold Records.[29]

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Lili Marlene"
3:24
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Falling in Love Again"
3:03

German version

7" EP Philips issue

Released in 1959 by Philips Records in association with Columbia Records on 7-inch in the Netherlands,[30] it was intended as an abridged extended play version of an internationally released compilation album of the same name, consisting of songs sung in German by Dietrich.[31][32][33][34]

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Lili Marlene" (sung in German)
2:56
2."Du, Du Liegst Mir Im Herzen"Traditional2:02
Total length:4:58
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."
Muss I Denn"
2:13
2."Du Hast Die Seele Mein"Unknown[35]2:03
Total length:4:16
7" Columbia International issue

Released in 1961 by CBS Records on 7-inch in the Netherlands.[36]

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Lili Marlene" (sung in German)
2:56
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Du, Du Liegst Mir Im Herzen"Traditional2:02
7" EMI Italiana issue

Released in 1962 by EMI Italiana on 7-inch in Italy.[37]

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Lili Marlen" (sung in German)
2:56
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Ich Bin Die Fesche Lola"
  • Hollander
  • Liebmann
  • Wiener
  • Boheme
1:33

Personnel

List of personnel for the original 1945 single.[19]

Connie Francis version

"Lili Marleen"
Single by Connie Francis
B-side"Mond von Mexico"
Released1962
Recorded
  • A-side: 3 June 1961
  • B-side: 5 October 1961
  • (both at Austrophon Studio, Vienna)
GenreSchlager music
Length1:55
LabelMGM Records (61 053)
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Gerhard Mendelsohn
Connie Francis
German singles chronology
"Eine Insel für zwei"
(1962) 		"Lili Marleen"
(1962) 		"Tu' mir nicht weh"
(1962)

American

entertainer Connie Francis recorded "Lili Marlene" on 3 June 1961. She recorded the single's B-side, "Mond von Mexico", on 5 October 1961. Both songs were recorded in Vienna, Austria, at the Austrophon Studio. The single was released in 1962, marking her seventh single in German. Francis also recorded the song in Italian and French. Her version of "Lili Marleen" peaked at number 9 on the German music charts.[38]

Track listing

7"

Credits adapted from the liner notes of original release.[39]

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Lili Marlene"
1:55
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Mond von Mexico"
  • Fini Busch
  • Werner Scharfenberger
 

Personnel

Chart performance

Chart (1962) Peak
position
Germany[40]
 9

Amanda Lear version

"Lili Marleen"
Ariola Records
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Anthony Monn
Amanda Lear singles chronology
"Gold"
(1978) 		"Lili Marleen"
(1978) 		"The Sphinx"
(1978)

French singer Amanda Lear recorded a Eurodisco cover of the song in 1978 and released it as the B-side of the single "Gold"[41] as well as a standalone single. The German-English language version later appeared on her third studio LP Never Trust a Pretty Face. French editions of the album included a German-French version of the track.

Lear performed "Lili Marleen" in the 1978 Italian film

Zio Adolfo in arte Führer
.

The singer later re-recorded the song for her albums Cadavrexquis (1993) and Heart (2001), the latter version with updated lyrics, written by Norbert Schultze shortly before his passing.[42]

Track listing

  • 7-inch single (1978)[43]
    1. "Lili Marleen" – 4:45
    2. "Pretty Boys" – 2:55
  • 7-inch Argentine single (1979)[44]
    1. "Lili Marlene" – 4:45
    2. "Soñador (Sur Pacifico)" ("Dreamer (South Pacific)") – 5:15

Chart performance

Weekly chart performance for "Lili Marleen"
Chart (1979) Peak
position
Italy (Musica e dischi)[45] 11
France (IFOP)[46] 34

Other versions

The Italian version, translated by lyricist

RCA Victor on 78 rpm (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.[47]
Lilly Hodácová recorded the first version in Czech, shortly before the end of the war. Other artists who recorded the song included
Special Air Service Regiment and Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, and its melody is the basis of the official march of Kodam III/Siliwangi in the Indonesian Army
.

During WWII Soviet counterpropaganda officer (and future dissident) Lev Kopelev wrote a parody of the original song for demoralization of enemy soldiers. The original text (in German) of this parody is lost, but famous Russian poet Joseph Brodsky wrote a poem in Russian, based on this parody.[52] The poem is quite different from the original German song, though many Russians think the Brodsky version is an exact translation.

Other interpretations

References

  1. ISBN 3-89916-154-8
    .
  2. ^ Leibovitz & Miller 2009, p. 16.
  3. ^ Johann Holzem: Lili Marleen und Belgrad 1941. Der lange Weg zum Ruhm, 3. Auflage, 1997, S.9 ff.
  4. ^ Ernst Probst, Superfrauen 10 – Musik und Tanz, 2008, S. 28.
  5. ^ Christian Peters / Stiftung Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland: Lili Marleen, Ein Schlager macht Geschichte, Bonn 2001.
  6. ^ Leibovitz & Miller 2009, p. 119.
  7. ^ Theodore Stephanides, Climax in Crete, London: Faber and Faber, 1946, pp. 47–48.
  8. ^ "Istria on the Internet - Music - Nostalgia". Istrianet.org. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  9. ISBN 9780393065848
    .
  10. ^ "Printed: G.P.W. – Directorate of Map Printing, U.D.F., Union of South Africa".
  11. ^ "Lale Andersen homepage : Gold disc 1939". Laleandersen.com. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  12. ^ Maclean 1949, Part 2, ch 3 "Outward Bound".
  13. ^ Maclean 1949, Part III, ch 3 Orientation.
  14. ^ Maclean 1949, Ch 12 Ratweek.
  15. ^ Maclean, Fitzroy (1949). Eastern Approaches. Part 3, ch 13 "Grand Finale".
  16. ^ "Lili Marlene - Songview". ascap.com. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  17. ^ a b CIA.gov (23 October 2008). "A Look Back ... Marlene Dietrich: Singing for a Cause". Archived from the original on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
  18. ISBN 0-440-23466-2
    .
  19. ^ a b c ""Lili Marlene" original 10" release". Discogs. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  20. ^ "a scene from "Judgment at Nuremberg" with Marlene Dietrich and Spencer Tracy". YouTube. Archived from the original on 5 December 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  21. ^ "Marlene Dietrich Lili Marleen(ENGLISH)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 20 February 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  22. ^
    ISBN 4-87131-077-9
    .
  23. ^ ""Lili Marlene" Brunswick first issue". popsike.com. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  24. ^ ""Lili Marlene" Decca Re-issue". Discogs. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  25. ^ ""Lili Marlene" MCA 78 Re-issue". Discogs. 1978. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  26. ^ ""Lili Marlene" MCA 80 Re-issue". Discogs. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  27. ^ ""Lili Marlene" Brunswick re-issue". Discogs. 1968. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  28. ^ ""Lili Marlene" MCA Records re-issues of Brunswick re-issue". volumeet.com. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  29. ^ ""Lili Marlene" Old Gold Records re-issues of Brunswick re-issue". discogs. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  30. ^ ""Lili Marlene" Philips issue". Discogs. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  31. ^ ""Lili Marlene" LP (US)". Discogs. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  32. ^ ""Lili Marlene" LP (EU)". Discogs. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  33. ^ ""Lili Marlene" LP (UK)". Discogs. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  34. ^ ""Lili Marlene" LP (SA)". Discogs. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  35. ^ "Du Hast Die Seele Mein". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  36. ^ ""Lili Marlene" Columbia issue". Discogs. 1963. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  37. ^ ""Lili Marlen" EMI issue". Discogs. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  38. ^ 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
  39. ^ "Connie Francis - Lili Marleen". Discogs. 1962.
  40. ^ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts" (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  41. ^ "GOLD 1978 France". amandalear_singoli.tripod.com.
  42. ^ "Amanda Lear is back!". innastrona.pl (in Polish). 2003. Archived from the original on 17 January 2004. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  43. ^ "Amanda Lear - Lili Marleen / Pretty Boys at Discogs". discogs.com. 1978. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  44. ^ "Amanda Lear - Lili Marlene / Soñador (Sur Pacifico) (Vinyl) at Discogs". discogs.com. 1979. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  45. ISBN 9781093264906
    .
  46. ^ "InfoDisc : Les Tubes de chaque Artiste commençant par L" (in French). infodisc.fr. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  47. ^ "Henri Lemarchand Discography at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  48. OCLC 31611854
    . Tape 2, side B.
  49. ^ "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
  50. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Ole Ole - Lili Marlen 1986". YouTube. 15 August 2008. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  51. ^ "Atrocity - Gemini - Encyclopaedia Metallum". The Metal Archives. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  52. ^ "Русские тексты "Лили Марлен" (Иосиф Бродский, Наталия Краубнер, Сергей Шатров)".
  53. ^ "Llegada de cadetes a Escuela Militar - Parada Militar 2013 HD". YouTube.
  54. ^ "The True Story of Lilli Marlene (1944)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  55. ^ "Lili Marleen (1981)". IMDb.com. 14 January 1981. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  56. ^ "Vennaskond". Belgium: Atmosphere Music. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
  57. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Lili Marleen - The Swing Swindlers". YouTube. 25 June 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  58. ^ "Bad Day to Go Fishing (2009)". IMDb.com. 21 August 2009. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  59. ^ "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (song credit list)". Soundtrack.Net. Retrieved 9 December 2023.

Further reading

External links

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