# WORLD WAR 2 BALLAD;

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-2-ballad/5633>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 29, 1999, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-2-ballad/5633 "1999-12-29T07:52:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![HAIRY41](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e8c25b/32.png) [@HAIRY41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HAIRY41)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-2-ballad/5633/1 "1999-12-29T07:52:00Z")

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The World WAr 2 ballad “Lili Marlene” is it meant to be sung by a male vocalist or a female vocalist? We have heard it sung by both.

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**Author:** ![HAIRY41](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e8c25b/32.png) [@HAIRY41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HAIRY41)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-2-ballad/5633/2 "1999-12-29T08:01:00Z")

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After reading the replies to my inquiry concerning Bill Clinton’s participation and interest in sports reveals to me that he was definately not a “jock”. Breaking the tradition of the commander-in-chief attending the Army/Navy game, was probably due to his wish to avoid discussion of his non-military status.

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**Author:** ![Ursa\_Major](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a88e57/32.png) [@Ursa\_Major](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ursa_Major)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-2-ballad/5633/3 "1999-12-29T08:46:00Z")

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Although the most noteworthy performers of “Lili Marlene” were female (Piaf, Dietrich), judging from the lyrics alone, it’s pretty clear the person singing the song is meant to be male:

[http://ingeb.org/Lieder/lilimarl.html](http://ingeb.org/Lieder/lilimarl.html)

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**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 1999, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-war-2-ballad/5633/4 "1999-12-29T14:04:00Z")

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Lale Andersen (female) was the first to popularize it in Germany in the early '40s (possibly late '30s). Then Marlene Dietrich co-opted it for her own.

It doesn’t really matter who sings it: it’s told from a narrator’s point of view, about the love affair between Lili Marlene and her soldier boy, whom she knows won’t come back from the war.