——1915年4月的第一次世界大战之初。在柏林一个大雾弥漫的夜晚，初露头角的诗人、年轻的军官学校学生汉斯·莱普正在一个火枪团兵营外站岗，马路上的街灯在浓雾中闪烁。
上岗之前，莱普刚离开一个叫莉莉的漂亮姑娘的怀抱，他正站在那儿思念着莉莉，路灯下走来了海蓝色眼睛的美丽姑娘玛莲。莱普是在一家艺术画廊认识她的，他第一眼就爱上了她。玛莲是到一家医院看护伤兵时路过这里的，她挥手高喊着向莱普致意，正在这时，巡营的军官走到军营门口，莱普不敢答应，眼巴巴地看着玛莲消失在雾中。
那天夜里，莱普躺在床上翻来覆去无法入睡。脑海里总是徜徉着莉莉和玛莲的身影。她们促使他写下一首把她们的名字联结起来的诗，并给它取名《年轻哨兵的歌》。诗中讲述的是一个战士站在营房外的灯光下向心上人莉莉·玛莲告别的故事。战士渴望与莉莉待在一起，但军号再次吹响，在恋恋不舍地离开时，他不禁幻想：我的命运将会怎样？我的灵魂还会像现在这样拥抱她吗？
——是战争中的士兵唤醒了《莉莉·玛莲》
被送到俄国前线的莱普再没有见到莉莉和玛莲。大约20年后，他将《年轻哨兵的歌》收入自己的一本诗集，柏林作曲家诺贝特·舒尔策看到了这首诗后为它谱了曲，并改名为《莉莉·玛莲》。舒尔策把它送给男高音歌唱家拜恩，他以“太简单”为由加以谢绝。舒尔策又把它送给夜总会歌手拉尔·安德森，她令人难以忘怀而又充满激情的嗓音正好适合这首歌。1939年，一家唱片公司灌制了安德森的演唱。但由于战争的爆发，唱片仅卖出了700张。在此后的两年里，《莉莉·玛莲》一直默默无闻。
德军侵占南斯拉夫后，开设了贝尔格莱德广播电台，向部署在巴尔干和北非的德军广播。电台主任四处寻找能播放的唱片，在维也纳的一个地下室里，一个战士发现了一堆落满灰尘的唱片，其中就有安德森演唱的《莉莉·玛莲》。1941年8月18日晚，贝尔格莱德电台首次播出《莉莉·玛莲》，成千上万的德军士兵立即被它迷住了，他们纷纷写信要求重播。
这首歌在后方也极为流行，经常被柏林的电台播放。一位德国母亲写信给舒尔策说：“我的儿子已经死了，他在最后一封信中提到了《莉莉·玛莲》，我一听到这首歌就会想起他。”
——纳粹向她伸出黑手
纳粹宣传部长约瑟夫·戈培尔却憎恶《莉莉·玛莲》，而偏爱《轰炸英格兰》之类的歌。1943年在斯大林格勒战役中，30万德军被歼的消息传来后，戈培尔下令禁止播放《莉莉·玛莲》，销毁所有唱片，并称它为“徘徊在酒吧中的死亡舞曲”。但戈培尔始料不及的是，《莉莉·玛莲》的唱片已被偷偷送到中立国瑞士，在戈培尔下令禁播三天之后，《莉莉·玛莲》又回响在无线广播中。
戈培尔将他的怒气发泄到歌手身上，将安德森软禁起来。
但是<<莉莉·玛莲>>深受德国士兵的喜爱，和德军作战的各国士兵无一例外地迷上了这首歌曲，<<莉莉·玛莲>>有了英语版本，甚至还有了苏联红军版本。
——一个英军士兵的回忆：
夜幕降临北非的沙漠，我们将坦克围成一圈，围着一台收音机，收音机里传来一位女歌手温柔的歌声，这歌声深深地打动了我，令我至今难以忘怀！
“军营大门外，
有一盏街灯，
她一直站在灯下……”
我一点也听不懂她唱的是什么，我们中的大多数人也一样。因为我们不属于德国的非洲军团，而是英国第8军——沙漠之鼠。但我们仍为这种亲切的歌声所吸引，它似乎深深渗透到我们的内心。
在距我们不远的地方，德军士兵也在收听同一首歌曲，分享着我们的孤独与渴望。当时正是1942年春天，对阵双方的战士都远离家乡，我们都喜欢歌中的同一女孩。其他国家的成千上万士兵也一样，他们直到今天仍在唱着这支《莉莉·玛莲》。
"Lili Marleen" is a famous German love song which became very popular on both sides during World War II.
A Lili Marleen and Lale Andersen memorial in LangeoogThe words were written in 1915 during World War I by Hans Leip (1893-1983), a school teacher from Hamburg who had been con script ed into the Imperial German Army. Leip reportedly combined the names of his girlfriend and another female friend. The poem was later published as "Das Lied eines jungen Soldaten auf der Wacht" ("The Song of a Young Soldier on Watch") in 1937 now with the two last (of five) verses added. It was set to music by Norbert Schultze in 1938. Tommie Connor later wrote English lyrics.
The poem was originally titled "Das Mädchen unter der Laterne" (German for "the girl under the lantern"), but it became famous as "Lili Marleen".
It was recorded by Lale Andersen in 1939.
After the occupation of Belgrade in 1941, Radio Belgrade became the German forces' radio station under the name of Soldatensender Belgrad (Soldiers Radio Belgrad). It could be received throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. A lieutenant working at the station who was taking leave in Vienna was asked to collect some records to broadcast. Amongst a pile he obtained from a second hand shop was the little known 2 year old song Lili Marleen sung by Lale Andersen, which up to then had sold only around 700 copies. For lack of other recordings, Radio Belgrade played the song quite frequently.
The Nazi government with Joseph Goebbels, the Nazis' propaganda minister then ordered it to stop broadcasting the song. Radio Belgrade received many letters from Axis soldiers all over Europe asking them to play Lili Marleen again. Goebbels then reluctantly changed his mind and the tune was from then on signing off the broadcast at 9:55 PM. Its popularity quickly grew. Soldiers stationed around the Mediterranean, including both German Afrika Korps and British Eighth Army troops, regularly tuned in to hear it. Even Erwin Rommel, the commander of the Afrika Korps admired the song. He asked Radio Belgrade to incorporate the song into their broadcasts, which they did. Allied soldiers in Italy later adapted the tune to their own lyrics, creating the D-Day Dodgers song.
The earliest English language recording of the song was probably Anne Shelton's, but a number of cover versions followed.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s "Lili Marleen" was recorded in English as well as German by Marlene Dietrich.
Another very melodic version was recorded in the 1960s by country music legend Hank Snow.
A recording was made by Perry Como on June 27, 1944 and issued by RCA Victor Records as a 78rpm record (catalog number 20-1592-A) with the flip side "First Class Private Mary Brown". This recording was later reissued as catalog number 20-2824-A with flip side "I Love You Truly." The song reached chart position #13 on the United States charts. The song was recorded during the musicians' strike and consequently has a backing chorus instead of an orchestral backup.
Other artists who covered the song included Hildegarde (on Decca) and Martha Tilton (on Coral). Al Martino revived the song for Capitol Records in 1968.
French singer and disco queen Amanda Lear recorded a German/English language version of the song for her 1978 album Never Trust A Pretty Face, making it a repertoire standard. She re-recorded the track for album "Cadavrexquis" in 1993 and most recently for 2001's "Heart" with updated German language lyrics by original composer Norbert Schultze, this version was released shortly before his death. Another French singer, Patricia Kaas used Lili Marlene as an intro for her song D'Allemagne and sang the entire song during concerts in the 1990s.
Carly Simon recorded the song as the third track on her 1997 Arista CD Film Noir.
Most recently it was covered by Neil Hannon of the Irish pop group The Divine Comedy as a B-side to the 2006 single "A Lady Of A Certain Age".
The specialty label Bear Family has released a 7-CD box set featuring 195 different versions of the song.
Lili Marlene has been adopted as the regimental slow march by the Special Air Service, Special Air Service Regiment and Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.
In 1980, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, directed the film Lili Marleen a purported telling of the story of Lale Andersen and her version of the song.
《莉莉玛莲》（Lili Marleen）是一首在二次大战两方阵营中广为流传的德语歌曲。
一座在Langeoog的莉莉玛莲和蕾儿·安德森（Lale Andersen）纪念碑歌词由Hans Leip（1893-1983）写于一次大战中的1915年，他当时是一名被征召到德军俄国前线的汉堡教师。Leip组合了他女朋友与另一名女性朋友的名称，即莉莉与玛莲，诗意地组合了莉莉玛莲这一个人名。这首诗后来以"Das Lied eines jungen Soldaten auf der Wacht"（《一个年轻的士兵值班之歌》）的名字出版。在作者Hans Leip与Rudolf zinc为这首诗加上音乐前，诺伯特·舒尔策（Norbert Schultze）早已于1938年为它谱曲。而Tommy Connor之后写了英文歌词。
这首歌原本题为"Das Mädchen unter der Laterne"（德语：《提灯下的女孩》），但后来以莉莉玛莲而著名。
蕾儿·安德森于1939年和玛莲娜·迪特里茜的唱片有助于提升歌的形象。尽管受到纳粹政权，尤其是纳粹的宣传部长约瑟夫·戈培尔的反《莉莉·玛莲》对，它仍能够大众化[1]。然而，在1941年占领贝尔格莱德后，贝尔格莱德电台成为德军无线电台并能收发信号遍及整个欧洲与地中海。它每晚9时55 分都会播放安德森的唱片。在地中海附近，不论德军还是盟军都能定期地调整频率听到这首歌，更快速地增加它的知名度[1]。它的知名度就如同 Waltzing Matilda一样。Waltzing Matilda对一次大战亦有描写。
意大利的盟军士兵后来用了莉莉玛莲的旋律改编歌词成为了D-Day Dodgers。
1944年英国拍摄了一出题为《The True Story Of Lili Marlene》（略译：莉莉玛莲的真实故事）的电影。
1981年宁那·华纳·法斯宾德以同一名称拍摄了一出虚构电影。
最早的英语版本可能是由Anne Shelton所唱的那首，但后继有很多模仿版本。
RCA Victor Records于1944年6月27日发行了一只78转Perry Como的唱片（目录数：20-1592-A），背面为"First Class Private Mary Brown"，之后以目录数20-2824-A重新发行，背面为"I Love You Truly"。这首歌曾经是美国的歌曲榜上的第13位。又收录在1942-43 musicians' strike之中并且因此以合唱团作为背景声音代替管弦乐的背景音乐。
其他唱过这首歌的艺人包括赫德嘉（于迪卡唱片公司）以及Martha Tilton（于Coral Records）。Al Martino于1968年为Capitol唱片重新录音。
Carly Simon这首歌作为她的1997 Arista CD Film Noir中的第3首曲。
最近爱尔兰流行歌组合The Divine Comedy成员Neil Hannon利用莉莉玛莲作为他2006年单曲"A Lady Of A Certain Age"的B面。
Bear Family曾发行过7只CD盒装包含了195个不同版本的莉莉玛莲。
莉莉玛莲曾采纳为英国空降特勤队，空军特勤队团以及帕特里夏公主加拿大轻步兵团的慢进行曲。
Outside the barracks, by the corner light,
I'll always stand and wait for you at night,
we will create a world for two,
I'll wait for you the whole night through,
for you, Lili Marleen,
for you, Lili Marleen.
Bugle 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.
Tools 
