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Introduction
We’ve now reached the year my mother was born in! I can imagine her as a baby to get a feel for how long ago this contest was. Eurovision 1969 was the only contest hosted in Spain and the first hosted in a city I’ve been to: Madrid. The count of Eurovisions hosted in cities I’ve visited is anywhere from four to eight, depending on what you count. I’ve been to Madrid, Paris, Munich, and Lisbon; Brighton and Athens too, but only as a baby; and I’ve transferred at airports in Amsterdam and Düsseldorf. Counting all of these, I could increase the number to 14 if I ever visit Dublin.
This contest had 16 countries, since Austria skipped it this time. After a rapid increase in contestants in the first decade, it must have been disappointing when countries started skipping out. Except for people who hated Eurovision and thought it was the stupidest thing ever; they probably found it satisfying.
The most notable part about this contest is that four countries tied for the winner: the United Kingdom, Spain, France, and the Netherlands. I imagine that the people running Eurovision must have been embarrassed that they never made a tiebreaker rule, which they did next year. Luckily, there were just enough medals to give to the winners. Normally one medal went to the winning singer, and up to three medals went to the winning songwriters; this time, each medal went to a winning singer. The four-way win was so controversial that four more countries skipped out in 1970.
A few other facts: Madrid was the southernmost and westernmost host city at the time. It was the first Eurovision broadcast in the Americas; according to the presenter, Chile, Puerto Rico, and Brazil. The promotional material was designed by a name everyone knows: Salvador Dali. That sounds crazy to me, but is it any crazier than ABBA being from Eurovision?
Fittingly, I watched this contest with commentary in Spanish. This should be a fun way to test how well I know the language, after learning it on and off for a year.
Yugoslavia: Podrav svijetu (Поздрав свијету)
Artist: Ivan & 3M
Language: Serbo-Croatian (Croatian), plus greetings in Spanish, German, French, English, Dutch, Italian, Russian, and Finnish
Key: D♭ major, D major
This contest streamlined the presentation of backing singers. There were at most three of them, placed at the left edge of the stage and sharing a microphone, and they usually wore identical outfits. It seemed that back then, Eurovision cared more about giving the lead singer spotlight.
Stretching the limits of the language rule, this nonalingual song mostly consists of greeting the audience in various languages; otherwise a few greeting lyrics in Serbo-Croatian. It’s a playful if insubstantial ballad with that burly late 60’s sound. I wish it was only the backing singers who sang the foreign greetings, or all four together, because they pronounce them better than Ivan does. Or maybe the singers’ pronunciation mistakes even out when sung together. In any case, I find it charming when Eurovision entries incorporate languages of as many participating countries as they can. This song includes languages of every participant except Norway, Sweden, and Portugal. Sadly, Portuguese tends to be forgotten in multilingual Eurovision songs.
Fun fact: this is the first appearance of Russian in a Eurovision song! It’s just the word “здравствуйте” (zdravstvuytye). If I’m not mistaken, we won’t hear it in a Eurovision song again until Russia’s debut in 1994.
Luxembourg: Catherine
Artist: Romuald Figuier, who represented Monaco in 1964
Language: French
Key: F♯ major, G major
This song is about a man who still has a crush on a childhood friend he knew at age 10, named Catherine. It’s creepy as fuck. The end.
Spain: Vivo cantando (winner #1)
Artist: Salomé (Maria Rosa Marco Poquet)
Language: Spanish, sung by a Eurovision winner for the last time
Key: F major at the start, F minor in the verse, F major again, then briefly F♯ major, then G major, then A♭ major
Strange fact: Both of Spain’s winning songs are in some way related to Catalonia. “La la la” was originally going to be sung in Catalan, and Salomé was from Barcelona and sang more songs in Catalan than Spanish. Her Spanish has the unusual combination of distinguishing “ll” and “y”, but merging “c” and “s”. This is most likely an influence of Catalan, which universally keeps the “ll” sound and lacks the sound spelled in English as “th” in most of European Spanish.
After the first two songs, this one clearly has a lot more love put into it, both in composition and singing. It opens lively and fast, then transitions to a slower minor key when the vocals come in, then an energetic and very Spanish-sounding chorus in major key. Finally, it slams you in the face with three rapid-fire key changes as it keeps getting faster. After the first verse, the rest of the song is a repeated chorus.
The triple key change is interesting to me. Instead of progressively ascending in key throughout the song, like the lighthearted “Ring-dinge-ding” did two years prior, the key changes are saved for the end. It was probably done to make the song extra flashy and expressive, and to subvert expectations after the initial key change. As I talked about when I reviewed “Ring-dinge-ding”, I think I prefer triple key changes over double key changes, because they’re only done if the composer really wants to get whimsical and showy.
This song has many alternate language versions, as was typical of Eurovision winners back then: Catalan, Italian, French, English, and Basque. The Catalan version is quite nice, and the melody fits Catalan just as well as Spanish. On the other hand, the French and English versions are blatantly covers of a song originally in Spanish. The Italian version changes the structure a lot for some reason, even though the melody fits Italian well already. I feel like more effort could have been put into rhyming in the Basque version, but it’s pretty cool that it even exists.
Overall, this is a lively and extremely Spanish song with a super catchy hook.
Monaco: Maman, maman
Artist: Jean-Jacques Bortolaï
Language: French
Key: C minor, D minor at the end
This song had the youngest Eurovision singer thus far, only 13 years old. That means he’s 13 years older than my mom! Jean-Jacques was slightly younger than Sandra Kim when she won for Belgium in 1986. He looked so excited to be on stage, but also visibly shaky. He sang well and clearly rehearsed his gestures a lot, but I wouldn’t want to put a 13-year-old through such a huge performance. For ethical reasons, I’m thankful the minimum age was raised to 16. As is typical of Eurovision, this change was only done after a major controversy, when two contestants under 13 performed in 1989.
This is a storytelling song from a French singer this time. It’s about a boy who had a dream of being a heroic man and making his mother proud, then a bad dream where he saw his mother age, and ultimately decides he wants to remain a kid as his mother protects him. It’s a nice little movie-sounding tune with a heartwarming message. However, the thought of sending someone this young to a contest where most others are adults feels wrong to me.
Ireland: The Wages of Love
Artist: Muriel Day and the Lindsays
Language: English
Key: B♭ major, C major
Muriel Day is from Northern Ireland, a first for Irish representatives. Apparently, contestants from Northern Ireland were allowed to represent both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland in Eurovision, just as they’re eligible for both British and Irish passports. Northern Ireland confuses me so much.
A dark green suit, like the Irish representative wore last time, is one thing, but Muriel Day in this song went wilder. She wore a neon green dress that barely covered her legs. It’s one of the most unusual outfits I’ve seen so far. The song itself is thankfully not an Irish ballad, because holy fuck I’m sick of those. Instead it’s a perky pop song with lots of brass. It falls into the shadow of “Vivo Cantando” for me, but it’s still pretty fun.
I feel so stupid for thinking that the key change was into F major at first, instead of C major. I had to rewind a little to realize my misconception. I thought I was too good at identifying keys to mistake a key for its neighbor in the circle of fifths, but apparently I’m not. If you know me for being good at identifying keys, take this as a lesson that everyone makes mistakes.
Italy: Due grosse lacrime bianche
Artist: Iva Zanicchi
Language: Italian
Key: F major
It starts promising with a lovely country-like guitar riff, BUT THEN IT TURNS INTO AN ORDINARY COOKIE CUTTER BALLAD. Why even have the guitar riff at the intro if you aren’t going to use it in the bulk of the song? The cool riff only returns after the first chorus ends, then it disappears. If it was just a regular ballad all the way through, at least it would be honest. It almost sounds like it’s going to become more interesting when it speeds up, but then the song ends.
United Kingdom: Boom Bang-a-Bang (winner #2)
Artist: Lulu Kenny-Cairns
Language: English
Key: A major, B♭ major
This song is somewhat ballad-esque but has tons of interesting chord progressions to spice it up. It’s not a run-of-the-mill Eurovision ballad at all! It’s very flirty in tone and staging, helped by the singer’s stylish pink dress and two backing singers. There is something charming about using sound effect words as a hook, and it genuinely works well. So far, it seems like the winning songs have the most effort put into composition and presentation.
I may as well listen to the alternate language versions, since I feel I should say more about this song. This song just did the obvious languages: French, German, Italian, Spanish. Her German voice sounds strangely squeaky, but the pronunciation is mostly solid. If a song’s lyrics sound good in English, they’ll sound good in German too,* but I’m surprised it works this well in French. Her Spanish pronunciation is a bit iffy, but she tried her best. Ditto for Italian.
A lot more Eurovision songs have had alternate language versions than I have discussed. If I sleuthed out each foreign version of each Eurovision song, these posts would take far longer.
* I admit, I largely know this from browsing through foreign versions of songs from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. The songs’ German lyrics are surprisingly good and creative, and the melodies fit German just as well as English. But we do NOT talk about the German version of “A Changeling Can Change”.
Netherlands: De troubadour (winner #3)
Artist: Lenny Kuhr
Language: Dutch, sung by a Eurovision winner for the last time
Key: C♯ minor
Today I learned it’s spelled “troubadour”, not “troubador”. I was misled by that xkcd comic about password entropy.
In early Eurovision, the Netherlands’ entry is either extremely memorable or extremely forgettable. There’s no in-between. Thankfully, this song is memorable in a good way!
This song does what Italy should have done: keep the guitar motif going through the entire song. It has two guitarists on stage, the lead singer who plays chords, and a second guitarist who plays a riff with fast repeated notes. This makes for a lovely waltz with memorable chords and a distinct deep female voice. The main chord progression starts in E major but resolves to C♯ minor, and the rest of the song is firmly minor, which is why I’m calling it C♯ minor. Some people describe this song as “medieval”, which annoys me because it’s hard to know what medieval music sounded like. Still, it has a nice fairytale feel with storytelling lyrics. It gets slower and faster multiple times near the end, which helps with this mystical feel.
Everything about this song stands out brightly, which is why this contest having four winners wasn’t all a bad thing. It means four songs from this year get to show up in Eurovision compilation videos. If you had to pick one song this year to call the winner of 1969, it makes sense to go with the Netherlands, since they were chosen to host next year.
I’ve said before that Eurovision awakens your inner patriot, and the same is true for culturally similar countries. That’s why I have a soft spot for the Netherlands in Eurovision—their language and culture is similar to Germany’s. Plus, Dutch people are cool.
Sweden: Judy, min vän
Artist: Tommy Körberg
Language: Swedish
Key: A♭ major, A major
This is the polar opposite of the Netherlands’ song. While the Netherlands embraced old-timey fairytale music and made a banger out of it, Sweden sent something super slick and modern. We would have absolutely not seen a song like this in 1956. The chorus has a neat 70’s sounding chord progression that goes I-II-IV-I, held together by a funky bassline, brass riffs, and a playful xylophone, plus a slowdown before the key change. The spirit of the song is full out 70’s pop, and 70’s pop music is awesome and so much cooler than what pop music has become today.
The title means “Judy, my friend”, and it’s about a man who rejects his potential love interest (named Judy) because she aspires to be rich and lavish while he doesn’t. It’s very much a topic you’d hear in 70’s music, which makes sense because we’re almost in that decade. If I was alive during the 70’s, would I have talked endlessly about how amazing 1920’s music was and scoffed at “kids these days” for their bland tastes? Nah, I probably would have loved it back then too.
Belgium: Jennifer Jennings
Artist: Louis Neefs, returning from 1967
Language: Dutch
Key: D major, F major at the end
This song is halfway between a bombastic 60’s pop song and a gentle 60’s pop song. It would be so much better if it committed to one mood, because it just feels unfocused and lacks the energy of the other pop entries. I’m slightly disappointed Louis Neefs didn’t make a fake ending like last time.
Switzerland: Bonjour, bonjour
Artist: Paola del Medico
Language: German, despite the title and the singer’s name
Key: A♭ major
A song in German with a French title, sung by someone with an Italian-sounding name. Can you think of anything more Swiss than that?
The chord progression of the verse is jazzy in an eccentric way, and the progression of the chorus is much more normal. I actually enjoy when the verse and choruses’ progressions contrast this much, since it keeps me engaged. Unfortunately, this style doesn’t fit well for pedestrian lyrics about the happiness of seeing her love interest. Also, the slow version of the first verse is unnecessary, and so is its gradual speeding up. It only pads the song and feels like the musical equivalent of a traffic jam. This confirms it: slow sections are this contest’s obligatory Overused Eurovision Trope™.
Also, speaking of traffic jams, ADDING MORE LANES TO A HIGHWAY MAKES TRAFFIC JAMS WORSE. But that’s completely unrelated to Eurovision.
Norway: Oj, oj, oj, så glad jeg skal bli
Artist: Kirsti Sparboe, returning from 1965 and 1967
Language: Norwegian
Key: E♭ major, E major, F major
Another Nordic entry whose title could have probably been less of a mouthful. It’s a bombastic, varied pop song about excitement over being alone with her love interest, once all the contending girls are eliminated. Ranging from march sections to cheerful 60’s pop to crazy percussion, this song offers lots of new things at every corner. And yet, it came last place because Kirsti Sparboe was cursed with bad luck. Maybe the jury found this song an unfocused blur, and it is a bit lacking in focus. But it’s still a fun song that didn’t deserve last place.
I listened to the foreign language versions out of curiosity. The Swedish version sounds almost the same, whereas the German version has different lyrics about hoping love will come to her. The French version easily would’ve scored the best out of these, but the song works better in Germanic languages.
Germany: Primaballerina
Artist: Siw Malmkvist, who represented Sweden in 1960
Language: German
Key: A minor, B♭ minor
Two years in a row where the German representative is from a Nordic country! The song’s title means “first ballerina” in Italian, but “prima” is a word in German too. That means you can also translate this title as “brilliant ballerina”, using the British definition of “brilliant”.
I relistened to Siw Malmvsist’s previous Eurovision song (Alla andra får varann), and I can tell Eurovision’s style changed massively after 1965. It’s a perfect example of a gradual change that you’ll only notice if you look back years prior.
The song itself is a German-style schlager pop song with exactly the catchy hooks I’d expect from one, but unusually in minor key. It’s one of few in this contest where the backing singers harmonize with the lead, which would get much more common in the 1970’s. The lyrics are addressed to a stone ballerina, asking why she is still alone and why all things eventually fade. It elegantly blends whimsical fairytale music with more conventional pop.
France: Un jour, un enfant (winner #4)
Artist: Frida Boccara
Language: French
Key: A♭ major
Compared to the other three winners, France stuck to the traditional Eurovision style and sent a ballad with French chanson-style singing about the life of a young child. Out of the winners, I think it leaves the least of an impression on me. It’s well-composed but not something I’d go out of my way to listen to.
Thankfully, unlike several other songs in this contest, the slowdown signals the end, not a needless slow section.
Portugal: Desafolhada portuguesa
Artist: Simone de Oliveira, returning from 1965
Language: Portuguese
Key: C minor, C♯ minor
This song is forgotten among most of Europe, but a highly regarded classic in Portugal. I’ve read explanations of why this song is so beloved there, and I can’t do them justice. I’ll just say this song was written by a famed poet and performed by a single mother going through a painful time. The lyrics told the world that bearing children is an act of joy, not of submissive duty, which was a daring move in Portugal’s then highly conservative society. This is only one part of the story of how Eurovision helped end Portugal’s dictatorship, which is so crazy to me.
It’s clear that this song didn’t surpass language barriers, since it came second last place. I appreciate her passionate singing voice and it’s gorgeous as a composition, but I feel like I only understand a small portion of what makes this song special. However, it’s just as clear that she made Portugal proud. An enormous crowd cheered for her when she arrived at the train station back home.
Finland: Kuin silloin ennen
Artist: Jarkko and Laura Antikainen
Language: Finnish
Key: C minor
Much of this song sounds like a goofy kids’ cartoon tune, with the repeated lyrics and highly emphasized percussion. I think they tried a little too hard to make a hook, perhaps to compensate for the obscurity of the Finnish language, so all the repetitions of “kuin silloin ennen” (means “just like before”) come off as childish to me. I do find the dance part unintentionally funny, because it stretches the definition of “dancing”. Jarkko walks back and forth waving his cane, while Laura taps her feet in one place. It comes off like they’re either scared of dancing or don’t know how to do it.
As a composition, this is pretty good. I just doubt it was intended to be this goofy.
Who’s my favorite?
I’m tempted to pick four winners to match with this contest, but I won’t. Every individual jury member picked one favorite, so I will too.
I’ll choose from three major standouts, two of which are winners: Spain, the Netherlands, and Sweden. I’ll eliminate Spain, since their song relies a little too much on repetition. This leaves me conflicted: should I choose the most old-timey song of the contest (Netherlands), or the most modern (Sweden)?
This time, my choice comes down to uniqueness. We’ll hear a lot of songs similar to Sweden’s in later contests, and I’m certainly excited to hear more like it. The Netherlands, however, sent something truly one of a kind. I don’t know how they pulled it off, but the fairytale style and the Dutch language combined to make a beautiful song that I’m proud to call my favorite of 1969: Netherlands, De troubadour.
- Denmark, 1
- Finland, 1
- Germany, 2
- Luxembourg, 2
- Netherlands, 5
- Norway, 1
- Sweden, 2
- (6 winners)
The Netherlands continues to dominate my list of winners!
General thoughts:
First off, what the hell was that interval act? It’s some footage of water, fire, air, and earth in Spain, set to a cacophonous mess of random notes. Whoever composed it was probably a pretentious snob who responded to any criticisms by saying it’s bad on purpose, therefore it’s good. It’s the musical equivalent of wine. It does not taste good, so people who say they like wine can claim their taste is more “refined” than others. I’ve ranted about this topic in other posts before—just search “bad on purpose” on my blog. The interval act received zero applause.
The four-way win is great for people watching the contest decades later, like me. It means viewers are four times more likely for their favorite to be a winner, and it shows how tight the competition was this year. On the other hand, I’m baffled nobody thought to make a tiebreaking rule, and the resolution to that was one of the weirdest impromptu decisions in Eurovision history. It wouldn’t be Eurovision without an embarrassing lack of planning ahead.
The songs themselves were rich in variety, and I enjoyed analyzing them a lot! I especially like that an underdog language got to be one of the winners, namely Dutch. It didn’t seem like the Netherlands would win at first, but the French jury gave them six points, more than any other country gave anyone this year. We’ve fully moved on from the old-timey mix of chansons and stage play songs that dominated the first decade of Eurovision. It’s safe to say we’ve now gotten to the good stuff! I was tempted to skip to this era when starting this blog post series, but I’m glad I didn’t. It made the payoff worth it.
To answer the question I posed at the start, I understood about 90% of the Spanish presenter’s words, and about 80% from the commentator. I wouldn’t have understood anywhere near as much a year ago! That makes me proud of my Spanish skills. Maybe someday, I’ll have the confidence to speak it to others, but I’m not at that point yet.
The credits gave us one last treat: a lovely jazz arrangement of “Dansevise”, the winner of 1963.
See you next time as I finally dive into the glory that is 1970’s Eurovision. We’re in for so many bangers.
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