Famous Blue Raincoat

The poem “Famous Blue Raincoat” by Leonard Cohen features the line “You’d been to the station to meet every train but you came home without Lili Marlene” (15). This line is a reference to “Lili Marlene” which is the title and main character in the famous English and German war song sung by soldiers in World War I. The song “Lili Marlene” was sung to bring positivity to the soldiers and lifts their spirits in hard times, because of the mysterious girl “Lili Marlene” which they fantasize about as a way of coping during long stints away from home. Leonard Cohen uses this intertext to add complexity to the brother figure’s character. The most significant way Leonard Cohen does this is by giving the brother figure the feeling of love which he has for the narrator’s girl Jane, comparing her to “Lili Marlene” which adds romantic rivalry between “brother” and narrator.

The use of both German and English versions of “Lili Marlene” allows character development within Jane and offers an inside look on her personality being both in love the narrator and “brother” as well as not being able to commit fully to a relationship with each of the characters. By giving Jane this split personality it lets us establish the background information that the “brother” was in love with Jane but she was not able to commit to him and therefore caused mixed feelings between the “brother” and the