The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #20451 Message #2836875
Posted By: Genie
12-Feb-10 - 04:26 AM
Thread Name: The Lorelei vs. Tomorrow Belongs to Me
Subject: Die Lorelei and Tomorrow Belongs To Me
Yes, as is explained in another thread here, the Nazis tried to suppress any aspect of German culture that had Jewish origins, and the lyrics to Die Lorelei were written by Heinrich Heine, who was a Jew. (I don't know if the music composer, Friedrich Silcher, was Jewish.) But the song was one of the most beloved of all German songs, so they could not really suppress or eradicate the song itself, so they rewrote history to say that the song was "traditional."
I too have often wondered if the tune Tomorrow Belongs To Me was a deliberate derivative of the tune to Die Lorelei -- even though, I agree, only the beginning music lines of the two songs sound much alike, though they are stylistically similar throughout.