1995 Norway: Secret Garden - Nocturne (1st place at Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin)

Details

Description

Performed by: Secret Garden
Music by: Rolf Løvland
Lyrics by: Petter Skavland
Conductor: Geir Langslet
Language: Norwegian
Placing: 1st (148 points)
Other versions: English

"Nocturne" was the winning song in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995, performed in Norwegian by Secret Garden representing Norway. It was the second time Norway won the contest, after it had won in 1985 with Bobbysocks! song "La det swinge". For their performance at the Contest the Secret Garden duo of Fionnuala Sherry and Rolf Løvland featured three guest musicians; Norwegian vocalist Gunnhild Tvinnereim, Hans Fredrik Jacobsen on penny whistle and Swedish nyckelharpist Åsa Jinder.


The song was performed fifth on the night, following Bosnia and Herzegovina's Davorin Popović with "Dvadeset prvi vijek" and preceding Russia's Philip Kirkorov with "Kolibelnaya dlya vulkana". At the close of voting, it had received 148 points, placing 1st in a field of 23.

The victory represented the second for composer Rolf Løvland, who had previously written "La det swinge". Additionally, it represented the first time in four years that Ireland had not won the Contest (although Sherry herself is Irish), thus bringing to an end the only hat-trick of victories in Eurovision history. Ireland would go on to win the next Contest, achieving the feat of four victories in five years.

As Norway had previously won the Contest in 1985 with "La det swinge", the second victory allowed the tongue-in-cheek tradition to emerge that Norway could only win in years ending with a 5, a joke referred to by the members of Bobbysocks at the Congratulations special in late 2005, Norway having entered "In My Dreams" that year and not achieved victory.

The song was succeeded as winner in 1996 by Eimear Quinn representing Ireland with "The Voice".

It was succeeded as Norwegian representative at the 1996 Contest by Elisabeth Andreassen with "I evighet".


"Nocturne" is noted for its almost complete absence of lyrics — with only 24 words being sung in the original Norwegian version and much of the rest of the song being given over to a violin intermezzo performed by Irish musician Fionnuala Sherry.

While no other winning song in the contest has featured so few words, Finland would go on to place 15th in the 1998 Contest with "Aava", which contains only six words repeated throughout the song. The previous holder of the record of shortest lyrics in Eurovision history was Belgium and their 1983 entry "Rendez-vous", with a total of 11 words.

Lyrics:

La dagen få sin hvile nå
Og natten vil våke for den
Nocturne

Selv mørket må en gang forgå
Så natten kan føde en dag


English:


Let the day get its rest now
And the night will guard in its place
Nocturne

Even the darkness must disappear sometime
So the night can give birth to a day