Here begins a list of Eurovision songs that are outstanding in their songwriting. Well, in my opinion. I’m just listening to Eurovision 2005 right now so 2005 it is…
THE WAR IS NOT OVER. LATVIA 2005.
I love this song. It was written by Mārtiņš Freimanis who features in F.L.Y. with the wacky Hello from Mars, Latvia’s fourth appearance in Eurovision. Hello from Mars is also a wonderful song but for very different reasons.
Sadly, Freimanis died in 2011 in his early 30’s.
THE WAR IS NOT OVER is a stunning piece of songwriting. As well as the the beautiful harmonies, the first verse is a masterpiece. Just read the words and be devastated at how it captures the human condition. Wow:
I slowly walk into the night around
To see how dreams of people die
They gently fall from windows all around
And crash against the ground like glass…
I am SO glad that apparently the chorus was tweaked slightly from:
‘That someone is loser, that someone is winner’
to
‘That someone’s the loser, someone’s the winner’
Is this true, Mr Wikipedia? I really appreciate that shift. Being a native English speaker, that correct grammar makes SUCH a difference. (I will return to this concept of good grammar with poor old Sanna Nielsen whose dazzling performance was in contrast to the, er, lyrics she had to sing. Ho hum.)
But back to Latvia. Having absolutely no Latvian background, I did a bit of research on dear old songwriter Mārtiņš. I found a live version of him singing: Pie Dieviņa gari galdi which was pretty damn tuneful.
But please, can someone – anyone – out there tell me what this song is about???
Google translate suggests the title is: To adore long tables.
Possibly not.
Coming Up Next…
Aisha. Latvia. 2010.
And no, this is not supposed to be Latvia only, it’s just happened that way.
ENCOURAGEMENT AWARD
eurovisiondownunder.com 