Lili Marlene

It is said that during WW2 the British government commissioned these English lyrics to "de-Teutonize" the song after British troops in the North African campaign heard the German version, from broadcasts and captured prisoners of war.

...or perhaps it was when Marlene Dietrich escaped to the US that the State Department persuaded her to record an English language version for the American/English troops to sing.

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Another song I have "known forever"... perhaps learned from my mother? Or maybe from the radio programme Family Favourites?!

Underneath the lantern by the barrack gate
Darling I remember the way you used to wait,
'Twas there that you whispered tenderly
That you loved me, you'd always be
My Lilli of the lamplight,
My own Lilli 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 Lilli of the lamplight,
My own Lilli 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 Lilli of the lamplight,
My own Lilli Marlene.

Resting in a billet just behind the line,
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 Lilli of the lamplight,
My own Lilli Marlene.

There is a further little-known verse in the english-language version that Marlene Dietrich usually sang - as can be heard on her Cafe de Paris recording:

When we are marching through the mud and cold
And when my pack seems more than I can hold
Your love for me renews my fight
I'm warm again, my pack is light

Here is a french version:

Devant la caserne, quand le jour s'enfuit,
la vieille lanterne soudain s'allume et luit.
C'est dans ce coin là, que le soir
on s'attendait remplis d'espoir,
tous deux, Lily Marlène.

Et dans la nuit sombre nos corps enlacés
ne faisaient qu'une ombre lorsque je t'embrassait.
Nous échangions ingénument,
joue contre joue, bien des serments,
tous deux, Lily Marlène.

Le temps passe vite lorsque l'on est deux,
hélas, on se quitte,, voici le couvre-feu.
Te souviens-tu de nos regrets,
lorsqu'il fallait nous séparer,
dis-moi, Lily Marlène.

La vielle lanterne s'allume tous jours,
devant la caserne, lorsque finit le jour.
Mais tout me paraît étranger,
aurais-je donc beaucoup changé,
dis moi, Lily Marlène.

Cette tendre histoire de nos chers vingt ans
joue dans ma mémoire, malgré les jours, les ans
Il me semble entendre ton pas
et je te serre entre mes bras, Lily, Lily Marlène.

The Wedding of Lili Marlene

The Wedding of Lili Marlene is a little-known follow-up to Lili Marlene.

Dave at Malborough asked me to learn this song from an old cassette recording which he had from his family.

Melody - Tommie Connor and Johnny Reine, 1949

There were tears in the crowded congregation,
There were hearts that had loved but all in vain
'Twas goodbye to the sweetheart of the nation,
At the wedding of Lili Marlene.

Men who'd marched where the desert sands are burning
From Tobruk down the road to Alamein,
In their hearts tender memories were returning
At the wedding of Lili Marlene.

As she knelt where the candlelights were burning,
It seemed that the choir sang soft and low,
"Farewell the sweetheart of the nation,
Don't you know that we'll always love you so."

As she walked down the aisle the old stones echoed,
To the strains of her own, sweet, love refrain,
'Twas goodbye to the sweetheart of the nation,
At the wedding of Lili Marlene.