Norway "Nocturne"
Eurovision Song Contest 1995 entry
Country
Artist(s)
As
With
Language
Composer(s)
Rolf Løvland
Lyricist(s)
Petter Skavlan
Conductor
Geir Langslet
Finals performance
Final result
1st
Final points
148
Entry chronology
◄ "Duett" (1994)
"I evighet" (1996) ►

"Nocturne" is a song performed in Norwegian by Secret Garden and the winning entry for Norway at the Eurovision Song Contest 1995. 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 [no], Hans Fredrik Jacobsen on penny whistle, and Swedish nyckelharpist Åsa Jinder.

Eurovision victory

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, 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 that year by Elisabeth Andreassen with "I evighet".

Lyrics

The song 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.

Releases

"Nocturne" was not released as a single in Norway; instead, it was released in the rest of Europe and Scandinavia. The song reached number one in Israel (topping the chart for 4 weeks), number six in Flanders, number seven in Ireland, number 20 in the Netherlands, number 24 in Wallonia and number 26 in Sweden.[1][2][3] In the United Kingdom, the single was released on 2 October 1995 and reached number 90 on the UK Singles Chart the same month.[4][5] "Nocturne" is included in Secret Garden's first album, Songs from a Secret Garden. The album Inside I'm Singing (2007) includes a new version.

Critical reception

Music & Media said that "Nocturne not only meant a victory of music over fast food, but also held an unprecedented first of an essentially instrumental song."[6] Alan Jones from Music Week wrote, "It is a haunting, pastoral piece, owing more to the Gaelic culture of lone violinist Fionnuala Sherry than to Nordic music. With so little in the way of vocals, it barely qualifies as a song. After the initial 20 seconds, the singer lapses into silence for another two minutes, returning only for 15 seconds at the end."[7]

Dusty Cowshit version

The song was covered comedic and first released as a single by the country-inspired novelty band Dusty Cowshit, reaching number 16 on the Norwegian Singles Chart in 1996.[8]

Charts

Secret Garden version

Dusty Cowshit version

Chart (1996) Peak
position
Norway (VG-lista)[8] 13

Usage in other media

"Nocturne" was used in several episodes of TVN soap opera Oro Verde.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b 4 weeks at No. 1 (23 May 1995, 30 May 1995, 7 June 1995 & 13 June 1995)
  2. ^ a b "Secret Garden – Nocturne" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  3. ^ a b "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Secret Garden". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
  4. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 30 September 1995. p. 61.
  5. ^ a b "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  6. ^ "New Releases: Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. 10 June 1995. p. 6. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  7. ^ "Talking Music" (PDF). Music Week. 27 May 1995. p. 38. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Døsty Cåwshit – Nocturne". VG-lista.
  9. ^ "Secret Garden – Nocturne" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  10. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12, no. 29. 22 July 1995. p. 12. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  11. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Secret Garden" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  12. ^ "Secret Garden – Nocturne" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  13. ^ "Secret Garden – Nocturne". Singles Top 100.
  14. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1995" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  15. ^ "Jaarlijsten 1995" (in Dutch). Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  16. ^ "Canciones que siempre quisiste saber cómo se llamaban, parte 3 - LaRata.cl". Archived from the original on 30 September 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
Preceded by"Rock 'n' Roll Kids" by Paul Harrington & Charlie McGettigan Eurovision Song Contest winners 1995 Succeeded by"The Voice" by Eimear Quinn
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