Although Zarah Leander studied piano and violin already as a small child, and sang on stage for the first time at the age of six, she made a serious attempt at an ordinary life. As a teenager she lived two years in Riga (1922–1924), learned the then most important international language, German, took up work as a secretary, married Nils Leander (1926), and had two children (1927 & 1929). However, in 1929 she was engaged, as an amateur, in a touring cabaret by the leading entertainer and producer Ernst Rolf and for the first time sang "Vill ni se en stjärna," ('Do you want to see a star?') which soon would become her signature tune.
In 1930, she participated in four cabarets in the capital, Stockholm, made her first records, including a cover of Marlene Dietrich's "Falling in Love Again," and played a part in a film. However, it was as Hanna Glavari in Franz Lehár's operetta The Merry Widow that she had her definitive break-through (1931). By then she had divorced Nils Leander. In the following years, she embarked on a splendid career and could make a decent living as a popular artist on stage and in film in Scandinavia. Her fame brought her proposals also from the European continent and from Hollywood, where a number of Swedish actors and directors were working.
Zarah Leander opted for an international career on the European continent. As a mother of two school-age children, she ruled out a move to America. In her view it was, most of all, too insecure. She feared the consequences, should she bring the children with her such a great distance and subsequently be unable to find employment. Despite the political situation, Austria and Nazi Germany were much closer, and Leander was already well-versed in German.
A second breakthrough, by contemporary measures her international debut, was the world premiere (1936) of Axel an der Himmelstür at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, directed by Max Hansen. It was a parody on Hollywood and not the least a parody of the German Marlene Dietrich, who had fled a Europe marked by Mussolini's, Stalin's and Hitler's stars. It was followed by the Austrian film Premiere, in which she played the role of a successful cabaret star.
At the same time, she landed a contract with UFA in Berlin, and became known as an extraordinarily tough negotiator, demanding influence, high salaries and half of it paid in Swedish currency to a bank in Stockholm. A stupefied Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels dubbed her "Enemy of Germany", but as a leading film star at UFA, she participated in ten films, most of them great successes, and great contributions to the Third Reich's propaganda, as a counterweight to the international isolation and criticism that not the least Swedish newspapers demonstrated. However, unlike other film stars at the time, such as Olga Chekhova, Leander neither socialized with leading party members nor took part in official Nazi party functions.
Zarah Leander played roles with, basically, the same personality in all her German films; some said she played herself. Her was the role of a femme fatale, independently minded, beautiful, passionate and self-confident. Many of her songs had a frivolous undertext, or could at least be interpreted that way. Her last film in Nazi Germany premiered on March 3, 1943. Her villa in the fashionable Berlin suburb of Grünewald was hit in an air raid, and the increasingly desperate Nazis pressured her to apply for German citizenship. At this point she decided to break her contract with Ufa, leave Germany, and retreat to Sweden, where she had bought a mansion at Lönö, not far from Stockholm.
After the Wehrmacht's defeat in the 1943 Battle of Stalingrad, public opinion in Sweden, the government of which remained officially neutral throughout the war, nonetheless shifted towards criticism of the Nazis, and people's sympathies were increasingly pro-Allied and pro-American. Zarah Leander had been far too extensively associated with Nazi propaganda, and was shunned. But gradually she managed to land engagements on the Swedish stage, and after the war she did eventually return to tour Germany and Austria, giving concerts and acting in musicals. But she would never regain the popularity she had enjoyed before and into the first years of World War II.
Nur nicht aus Liebe weinen
Zarah Leander Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Und wer uns das Herz einmal bricht
Wir werden vom Schicksal getrieben
Und das Ende ist immer Verzicht
Wir glauben und hoffen und denken
Daß einmal ein Wunder geschieht
Doch wenn wir uns dann verschenken
Nur nicht aus Liebe weinen
Es gibt auf Erden nicht nur den Einen
Es gibt so viele auf dieser Welt
Ich liebe jeden der mir gefällt
Und darum will ich heut dir gehören
Du sollst mir Treue und Liebe schwören
Wenn ich auch fühle, es muss ja Lüge sein
Ich lüge auch und bin Dein
Wir kamen von Süden und Norden
Mit Herzen so fremd und so stumm
So bin ich die deine geworden
Und ich kann dir nicht sagen warum
Denn als ich mich an dich verloren
Hab ich eines Andern gedacht
So ward die Lüge geboren
Schon in der ersten Nacht
Nur nicht aus Liebe weinen
Es gibt auf Erden nicht nur den Einen
Es gibt so viele auf dieser Welt
Ich liebe jeden der mir gefällt
Und darum will ich heut dir gehören
Du sollst mir Treue und Liebe schwören
Wenn ich auch fühle, es muss ja Lüge sein
Ich lüge auch und bin Dein
The song "Nur nicht aus Liebe weinen" by Zarah Leander is about the pain of unrequited love and the struggle to find happiness in a world of heartache. The first stanza tells us that love is unpredictable and often leads to heartbreak, which can feel like destiny. However, the second stanza suggests that hope and optimism are still possible - we can continue to love and search for love, even though we know that disappointment might be around the corner. In the end, the singer acknowledges that love is often built on falsehoods and illusions, but chooses to embrace them anyway in order to be with the person she desires.
Throughout the song, Zarah Leander's deep, expressive voice conveys both vulnerability and strength. She encourages the listener to be open and honest about their emotions, and to pursue love even if they know it might not end well. In this way, "Nur nicht aus Liebe weinen" is a powerful anthem for anyone who has ever loved and lost.
Line by Line Meaning
Es ist ja ganz gleich, wen wir lieben
It doesn't matter who we love
Und wer uns das Herz einmal bricht
And whoever breaks our heart
Wir werden vom Schicksal getrieben
We are driven by fate
Und das Ende ist immer Verzicht
And the end is always resignation
Wir glauben und hoffen und denken
We believe and hope and think
Daß einmal ein Wunder geschieht
That a miracle will happen one day
Doch wenn wir uns dann verschenken
But when we give ourselves away
Ist es das alte Lied
It's the same old story
Nur nicht aus Liebe weinen
Just don't cry because of love
Es gibt auf Erden nicht nur den Einen
There is not just one person on earth for us
Es gibt so viele auf dieser Welt
There are so many in this world
Ich liebe jeden der mir gefällt
I love anyone who pleases me
Und darum will ich heut dir gehören
And that's why I want to belong to you today
Du sollst mir Treue und Liebe schwören
You should swear loyalty and love to me
Wenn ich auch fühle, es muss ja Lüge sein
Even if I feel it must be a lie
Ich lüge auch und bin Dein
I lie as well and am yours
Wir kamen von Süden und Norden
We came from the south and north
Mit Herzen so fremd und so stumm
With hearts so foreign and silent
So bin ich die deine geworden
So I became yours
Und ich kann dir nicht sagen warum
And I can't tell you why
Denn als ich mich an dich verloren
Because when I lost myself to you
Hab ich eines Andern gedacht
I was thinking of someone else
So ward die Lüge geboren
So the lie was born
Schon in der ersten Nacht
Already in the first night
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Theo Mackeben, Hans Fritz Beckmann
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@heinzirrgeher5415
Mein Vater hat sie geliebt, Jahrgang 1907. Ich liebe sie, Jahrgang 1942, 1956 habe ich sie life erlebt. Und so lange ich kann werde ich vor ihr knien.
@carinaannamenyier7078
Diva gut!♡
@carinaannamenyier7078
Liebe Grüße! aus HH von Anna, Jahrgang 76
@highheelwikingerin2850
Meine Mama 1938 hat sie auch sehr gemocht und hat es mir 1981 weiter gegeben ❤
@sabinebecker7860
Ich habe sie schon als Kind geliebt, yes Sir und ich stehe im Regen und warte auf ihn.
Diese Stimme, dieser Charakter ist einfach genial.
@dagmarkatau7239
@@carinaannamenyier7078ja,ich bin gleicher Jahrgang. Zara war unvergleichlich und und vergesslich
@klausbartol5378
Ich bin mit dem Lied groß geworden. Jahrgang 41, meine Mutter sang das Lied bei jeder Gelegenheit. Wunderschönen.
@mv.d.k.prepperoma6310
Echte Kunst wird niemals altmodisch !
Zarah Leander war einfach großartig - und der Text oft wohl Realität.
Unbezahlbar , der Blick von dem Mann😂👍👍
@wernerblaser5565
Aribert Wäscher
@Fuchsbaum1
@@wernerblaser5565
Ein Kunstwerk der Zeitgeschichte.