Lili Marlene Captivates Troops

You might hear the strains of this tune whistled by pizons in the street, or from a tent housing an American Colonel, none the less, it has a contagious melody that has everyone singing it.

“Lili Marlene” like many popular soldier songs is for from martial. It’s words were written in Hamburg in 1923, and it’s trivial, catchy tune was first published in the U.S. by Time Magazine in 1943. In the Germany of 1938, it was given its drawling lilt in a Berlin Cabaret, by a Swedish singer named Lala Andersen, who is now in a concentration camp.

Lili Marlene first became a war song when it was broadcast by a Nazi radio station in Belgrade and was picked up by the homesick soldiers of Rommel’s Afrika Korps. It also spoke to the hearts of homesick British soldiers and became the favorite battle song of the famous Eighth Army.

Ironically, Lili Marlene continues to grow in popularity with the American troops in Italy.