Open Writing

In Britain in those years following the Second World War it didn't seem at all odd to sing contemporary German songs. A good example is Lili Marlene. Hans Leip [1893-1983] wrote the poem in 1915 and Norbert Schultze [1911-2002] composed the tune in 1938. In 1939 Liselotte Helene Berta Bunnenberg known as Lale Anderson, Engel der Soldarten, [1905-1972] recorded it as 'The Girl Under The Lantern'. Within days the Fuehrer banned it from Radio Fatherland. It was nostalgic and poignant and not the sort of song goose-stepping Aryan supermen should sing.

Despite prohibition by the old firm, Schickelgruber and Goebbels, the song took on a life of its own. Leip, Schultze and Anderson proved to be a good if accidental team. Lili Marlene, an appealing and resilient survivor, crossed all frontiers.
The disapproval of Berlin could have ended the careers of both Lili and Lale had not the military radio station in Belgrade, prompted by Erwin Rommel [1891-1944], broadcast it to the Afrika Korps and to the Desert Rats of the British Eighth Army. At 2200 hrs nightly for several months in 1941 soldiers of both armies went to their rest with a small circle of light in their hearts dreaming of home.

'Trust the bloody Jerries to write a love song in march-time,' one of my more cynical uncles said, as he flaunted, in song, his only German.

The Girl Under The Lantern

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. Wie einst Lili Marleen.
Unsere beide 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. Wie einst Lili Marleen.
Deine Schritte kennt sie, deinen zieren Gang
Alle Abend brennt sie,
Doch mich vergaß sie lang
Und sollte mir ein Leids gescheh'n
Wer wird bei der Laterne stehen
Mit dir Lili Marleen. 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 drehn
Werd' ich bei der Laterne steh'n
Mit dir Lili Marleen. Mit dir Lili Marleen.

The Desert Rats adopted Lili on first hearing. They sang in German. Later, in 1944, Anne Shelton [1923-1994] and Vera Lynn [1917-], courtesy of Phillips and Connor, provided an English version to British and Commonwealth audiences both military and civilian. Marlene Dietrich [1901-1992] sang it to Uncle Sam and his nephews.

Lili, demobbed, continued her service in civilian life. She became a popular late night song, in the pub or at the party. During those uncertain years of the late nineteen forties she played a small but important part in the challenging transition from war to peace.

Lili Marlene

Underneath the lantern by the barrack gate,
darling I remember the way you used to wait.
It 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 goodnight -
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,
Heard your feet, but could not meet -
my Lili of the lamplight, my own Lili Marlene.
Resting in our billets, just behind the line,
even though 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.

I first heard Lili in German on wartime radio. Later, as I sat on a sandstone wall, a place of adventure that I can only just remember, I heard it sung, almost as a hymn of peace and hope, by my friends, German prisoners of war, as they cut down trees to clear land to build houses for British soldiers returning home from another war to end all wars.

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Dermott writes for Bonzer! magazine. Please visit www.bonzer.org.au