"Ding-a-dong" was notable for being one of the Eurovision winners that had quirky or entirely nonsensical titles or lyrics, following in the footsteps of Massiel's "La La La" in 1968 and Lulu's "Boom Bang-a-Bang" in 1969, later followed by the Herreys' "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" in 1984. "Ding-a-dong" was performed first on the performance night (preceding Ireland's The Swarbriggs with "That's What Friends Are For"). The song was the first winner under the now-familiar Eurovision voting system whereby each country awards scores of 1–8, 10, and 12. At the close of voting, it had received 152 points, placing first in a field of nineteen. As the first song was performed during the evening, the victory ran contrary to the fact that success usually went to songs performed later in the broadcast. According to author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor's The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History, this was the first of three occasions when the first song would win the contest, the second coming the following year in 1976, and the third in 1984.[1]
The song, performed entirely in English, is an up-tempo ode to positive thought though the song is written entirely in a minor key. The band sings that one should "sing a song that goes ding ding-a-dong" when one is feeling unhappy, with the chorus proclaiming "Ding-a-dong every hour, when you pick a flower. Even when your lover is gone, gone, gone." On the night of the Dutch National Song Contest, with the song already having been selected, Albert West and Debbie competed with Teach-In for the honour of performing[2].[citation needed]
In the original Dutch version the "ding-a-dong" describes the heartbeat of the singer remembering the separation from her lover in the past. As well as "ding-a-dong", the lyrics also contain "bim-bam-bom" representing a fearful heartbeat and "tikke-(tikke)-tak" for the ticking of the clock while waiting for the lover to return:[citation needed]
Is 't lang geleden? Dat mijn hart je riep met z'n ding-dinge-dong?
Is 't lang geleden? Is 't lang geleden? In de zomerzon ging het bim-bam-bom.
Tikke-tak gingen uren, hoelang zou 't duren?
Translation:
Is it long ago? That my heart called you with its ding-ding-a-dong?
Is it long ago? Is it long ago? In the summer sun it went bim-bam-bom.
"Ding-a-Dong" was also recorded by German band beFour for their fourth studio album Friends 4 Ever and released as the second single in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Bessy Argyraki sang a cover in Greek, included in her LP Robert & Bessie (1975).[20]
Füsun Önal covered this song as "Söyleyin Arkadaşlar" ("Tell me friends") in Turkish, included in her first LP Alo... Ben Füsun (1975).[21]
Ayla Algan covered this song as "Dünya Tersine Dönse" ("If the world turns back") in Turkish, included in firstly her 45rpm Dünya Tersine Dönse/Sen De Katıl Bize (1975),[22] laterly in her second LP after Yunus Emre[23] and the first commercial one Ayla Algan (1976).[24]
The Dutch language television program, Schaep Ahoy, featured a version of the song sung by the cast members in the first episode of the series in 2015.
