Yesterday I uploaded the song "Lilly Dale" which brought to my mind this song, most famously associated with Marlene Dietrich. It was written as a poem by Hans Leip and set to music by Norbert Schultze and later translated into English by Tommie Connor.
Wikipedia has the following article about it:
"Lili Marleen" (a.k.a. "Lili Marlene", "Lily Marlene", "Lili Marlène" etc.) is a German love song which became popular during World War II with soldiers of both sides.
Written in 1915 during World War I, the poem was published under the title "Das Lied eines jungen Soldaten auf der Wacht" (German for "The Song of a Young Soldier on Watch") in 1937, and was first recorded by Lale Andersen in 1939 under the title "Das Mädchen unter der Laterne" ("The Girl under the Lantern").
Following the Nazi invasion of Yugoslavia, from 1941 Radio Belgrade became Soldatensender Belgrad to entertain German armed forces; the song was played frequently and became popular throughout Europe and the Mediterranean among both Axis and Allied troops.
In 1944, the Morale Operations Branch of the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) initiated the Musac Project, musical propaganda broadcasts designed to demoralize enemy soldiers. Marlene Dietrich, the only performer who was made aware that her recordings would be for OSS use, recorded a number of songs in German for the project, including Lili Marleen.
Lili Marleen
Hans Leip and Norbert Schultze translated into English by Tommie Connor
G D
Underneath the lamplight by the barrack gate
D7 G
Darling I remember the way you used to wait
C G D G
‘Twas there that you whispered tenderly that you loved me, you’d always be
D C D7 G D C D7 G
My Lili of the lamplight, my own Lili Marleen.
Bugler, tonight don't play the call to arms,
I want another evening with her charms.
Then we will say goodbye and part, I'll always keep you in my heart,
With me, Lili Marleen, with me, Lili Marleen.
Give me a rose to show how much you care,
Tie to the stem a lock of golden hair.
Surely tomorrow you'll feel blue, but then will come a love that's new,
For you, Lili Marleen, for you, Lili Marleen.
When we are marching in the mud and cold,
And when my pack seems more than I can hold.
My love for you renews my might, I'm warm again, my pack is light,
It's you, Lili Marleen, it's you, Lili Marleen.
