Saturday, 9 May 2009
Europe united in song
As it is Europe Day I thought it appropriate to post the one song that really did unite Europe. I remember my Dad telling me how he and his mates, out somewhere in the North African dessert, not far from a place called Alemien, used to gather round the radio and hear the German version.
For just a few moments, soldiers of every nation were united in listening to this wonderful little song, Lillie Marlene.
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You chose to feature the lovely, and British, Anne Shelton, but if you scroll along you will come to the equally lovely, and much more dangerous, Marlene Dietrich. She sings the song in the original German. There's also a German version of 'Where have all the flowers gone'.
Europe was terribly divided. The only unity was the common experience of leaving someone behind.
As for Lilli of the Lamplight...
Many, many moons ago, before I was even a babe in arms, there were, in a northern country town, two ladies of the night, known commonly as 'Gaslight' and 'Lamplight'. It was said that their prices were written on the soles of their shoes.
But there is a twist. Common humanity is an odd thing.
A young, and respectable, married woman was ignored by the newly-burgeoning NHS and, as a consequence, found herself with a child strangled at birth by the umbilical cord. The boy lived, spastic, retarded and permanently disabled. He is now 58, has a mental age measured in months and loves music. His name is Christopher.
So many people passed by on the other side. But when the young woman struggled with her pram, and another newly-born boy, to gain access to a tenement flat (formerly a barracks and now, thankfully, destroyed) it was one of the afore-mentioned ladies who helped her.
Some years later, this compassionate lady of the night, married and settled down to a more respectable life. Her first child was called ... Christopher.
It's not about 'Europe'. It's about the heart and who you are. We can all be 'Christophers' -'Christ - bearers'.
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