From: Tom (73740.3255@COMPUSERVE.COM)
Date: Sun Apr 11 1999 - 10:34:57 PDT
Have been enjoying the discussion about Lilli Marlene, I was a postwar baby, but always loved the melody before I had any idea what the words meant. I currently have a version on tape sung in Estonian that I listen to often. Here is a web page with a discussion of it's history - unless I missed a posting it might have a little more info than I have seen thus far, but pretty much the same story. http://mmd.foxtail.com/Archives/Digests/199707/1997.07.12.08.html >The british and canadian soldiers who liberated us sang, if I remember >well, something about the Dancing Matilda and other songs I loved but >have forgotten. >Somehow song were an important part of the war for us kids, they >accompanied our own games. >Kees Vanderheyden this is probably "Waltzing Matilda", an Australian song that spread to other countries in WWII if I am not mistaken. Another lovely melody, even if the words had little significance to me. Once a jolly swag man camped beside a billabong under the shade of a kullaba tree and he sang as he sat and waited while his billy boiled you'll come a'waltzing Matilda with me waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda you'll come a waltzing matilda with me and he sang as he sat and waited while his billy boiled you'll come a waltzing matilda with me. ...and goes on to tell how this squatter poached some game to eat, and then was tracked by authorities, and drowned himself in the lake rather than be apprehended, and you can still hear his voice singing near the lake or somesuch... not a very direct WWII connection to say the least, but maybe it was just a good song to sing while marching....