This is one of my favourite, if not my favourite, rendition by Marlene. Just listening to it gives me goosebumps - her voice conveys so much emotion in such an understated way - but seeing her performing it in this video is a whole other thing. She's not acting, and in a way, I don't think she's even performing. She's living the song - living the the angry sadness of the words.
Sag wo die Soldaten sind
Wo sind sie geblieben
Sag wo die Soldaten sind
Was ist gescheh'n
Sag wo die Soldaten sind
Über Gräbern weht der Wind
Wann wird man je verstehn
Wann wird man je verstehn
Sag mir wo die Gräber sind
Wo sind sie geblieben
Sag mir wo die Gräber sind
Was ist gescheh'n
Sag mir wo die Gräber sind
Blumen blüh'n im Sommerwind
Wann wird man je verstehn
Wann wird man je verstehn
Marlene sang two other versions of this song: the original English version (if you're not aware, Sag mir wo die Blumen sind is the German version of the song Where Have All the Flowers Gone?) and a French version, Où vont les fleurs? Whilst her French and English renditions are both quite beautiful, I think that the German version is the version which best captures the meaning of the song.
On tumblr today the wonderful Cara of illustratedstorybook (who is a fount of Marlene knowledge - I've learnt so much from her.) posted a quote from Rosemary Clooney about Marlene.
"Seeing Marlene and hearing Marlene in Las Vegas was always a thrill for me. I saw Marlene on the stage and she just - she was a vision. She really wanted to be perfect in any way that she could - every way that she could. To listen to her sing though, always made me a little sad because there was a wistfulness about Lili Marleen, about Where Have All the Flowers Gone?… Not wistfulness there - there was an anger because of the words and the way that she interpreted it. It was uh, it was quite special."
Firstly, I would have LOVED to have been able to see Marlene perform on stage. We're so lucky that we have quite a lot of recordings of her performances, and that we have her records and films, but what I would give to go back in time and see her there - in front of my very eyes - giving those wonderful, legendary performances! Secondly, Rosemary completely summed up my feelings for Marlene's three versions of Where Have All the Flowers Gone?. There are no other versions of the song which adequately capture it's pain and sorrow, in my opinion. I'd always disregarded the song, but as soon as I heard Marlene's interpretation of it I couldn't get it out of my head. She turned it into a beautiful, painful, and exquisitely profound song. You can hear her heart aching as she almost chokes on the poignancy of the question, Where have all the flowers gone?/long time passing/Where have all the flowers gone?/long time ago.
I could probably go on about this song for hours, but I won't. I'll just leave you to listen to it, and soak it up.
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