Lili Marlene: The Soldiers' Song of World War II (Liel Leibovitz and Matthew Miller, 2009)

I liked this little book far better than expected. Have seen numerous references to this song in other WWII books so was interested.

A reluctant German soldier (Hans Liep) in 1915 writes a poem about the "girl waiting underneath the lantern, by the barrack's gate". The girl is a composite figure of two women in whom he is interested. He also sets the poem to music; but it goes nowhere, is buried in a compilation of his poetry. Simple, sentimental, focused on the sorrow of separation caused by war and the hope of returning to love.

In the 1930s, a new musical setting is written by a composer (Norbert Schultze) who write much of the propaganda music for the Nazis. Lale Andersen records the new version. Out of step with Nazi martial music; again it goes nowhere. Sells 700 records so they try to publicize via radio. First performance was on Kristellnacht, so received no attention; and Germany moves into war mode.

The German Army establishes a high-powered radio station in conquered Yugoslavia (Radio Belgrade). Way short on records, the station obtains a stack that includes "Lili Marlene." Radio Belgrade plays the song a few times.

And then the magic begins. Literally thousands of letters are received from soldiers in various theaters - from both Axis and Allies! The song threatens to swallow the station's other programming, so it was taken off the air. That provoked a real cascade of letters. A most successful resolution was achieved: the song was played once per day, at exactly 9:57p, just before final news and signoff.

And apparently the soldiers waited just for this, night after night. Neat stories in North Africa, where the lines sometimes were so close that one side would yell across to the other to turn up its radios so that both sides could hear their song. Both sides adopted the song and it was played daily at 9:57p pretty much right up to the end.

The leadership on both sides were troubled. Goebbels hates it - spoke to longing to come home, love; opposite of military machine. At one point he prevented Lale Andersen from performing, and at one point only instrumental versions were permitted. "Monty" also hated it - the song was both German and sentimental. But the military leadership all realized it wasn't worth crossing the soldiers on this point, and versions were released in different languages.

So what connected between this song and the front-line soldiers? Especially the British and Americans who couldn't even understand the words? I try to think about this when listening to Andersen's German version. It clearly had a power that top-down propaganda music didn't. Sounds like the song was particularly popular in North Africa and Italy; what did somebody like Irvin Bormann think of it?

The original Lale Andersen version is first below - this is the recording that the folks in North Africa would have heard, probably the most common one throughout the war.

Other recordings emerged as time went on, including by established stars like Marlene Dietrich. A version from a USO camp is at bottom (gives English translation).

Rather touching finish to the book where they describe how the reunions of certain units continue with dwindling numbers, combined attendance from German and Allied vets. And yes, these 80-somethings - veterans from both sides - sing "lili Marlene" together at each reunion.

Lale Andersen - 1938:





Marlene Dietrich, USO camp version in English: