SONG
"My first reaction was 'That isn't a woman singing!' but after my initial shock, I have quite warmed to both Marlene's voice and this song. I have since also found out that Marlene Dietrich is the Marlene in question in Suzanne Vega's song Marlene on the Wall (which is also on this list when we get into the 1980s... I can't wait, haha). Back to this song, my verdict is that it's very listenable and I actually quite like it despite only understanding the odd word of German." - LC
Written by: Hans Leip, Norbert Schultze and Mack David.
Producer: Uncredited
Label: Decca
FACTS
- The song was first recorded in 1938, but the lyrics were written much earlier than this. Hans Leip, a young German soldier, wrote the words in 1915 in order to express the nostalgia he felt during World War I.
- Leip's poem appeared in an anthology in 1937, where it caught the eye of composer Norbert Schultze, who then set about turning it into a song.
- It was recorded by German singer Lale Andersen in 1939, but made very little impact until German Forces Radio started playing it to the Afrika Korps in 1941. The song was well received by both Germans and Allied soldiers and English versions of the song were hurriedly recorded. Funnily enough, however, both sides ended up broadcasting the song in both languages.
- The song's most famous singer, the German Hollywood actress and anti-Nazi Marlene Dietrich, became synonymous with song after performing it for US infantrymen "for three long years in North Africa, Italy, Alaska, Greenland, Iceland and in England," as she later recalled.
Translation
Underneath the lantern by the barracks gate,
Darling, I remember the way you use to wait,
‘Twas 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 a billet just behind the line,
Even tho’ we’re parted you 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.
The English recorded version (with different lyrics to the translation):
Darling, I remember the way you use to wait,
‘Twas 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 a billet just behind the line,
Even tho’ we’re parted you 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.
The English recorded version (with different lyrics to the translation):
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