Nocturne (Secret Garden song)

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Norway "Nocturne"
Nocturne (Secret Garden song).jpg
Eurovision Song Contest 1995 entry
Country
Norway
Artist(s)
As
Secret Garden
With
Language
Norwegian
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" 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.

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 itself. The song was however released as a single by Secret Garden in the rest of Europe and Scandinavia, then in its English language version, and reached #1 in Israel (topping the chart for 4 weeks), #26 in Sweden, #6 in Belgium (Flanders), #24 in Belgium (Wallonia) and #20 in the Netherlands.[1]

"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."[2] 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."[3]

Covers[]

Dusty Cowshit version (1996)[]

The song was covered comedic and first released as a single by the country-inspired novelty band Dusty Cowshit, reaching #16 on the Norwegian singles chart in 1996.[4]

Celtic Woman version (2011)[]

"Nocturne" was featured on Celtic Woman: Believe, the seventh studio album by the group Celtic Woman, released on 25 May 2011. "Nocturne" was sung by Chloë Agnew. Agnew also performed "Nocturne" live on both the Believe and Emerald concerts.

Usage in other media[]

"Nocturne" was used of several episodes of TVN soap opera Oro Verde.[5]

Charts[]

Secret Garden version[]

Dusty Cowshit version[]

Chart (1996) Peak
position
Norway (VG-lista)[15] 13

References[]

  • Diggiloo Thrush. "1995 Norway". Retrieved 2007-02-22.
  • Diggiloo Thrush. "1998 Finland". Retrieved 2007-02-22.
  1. ^ Norwegiancharts.com, chart positions "Nocturne", Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands
  2. ^ "New Releases: Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. 1995-06-10. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-05-18.
  3. ^ "Talking Music" (PDF). Music Week. 1995-05-27. p. 38. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  4. ^ Norwegian charts, "Nocturne"
  5. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-09-30. Retrieved 2017-09-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ "Secret Garden – Nocturne" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  7. ^ "Secret Garden – Nocturne" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  8. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. 22 July 1995. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  9. ^ Israel Top-30: 4 weeks at No. 1 (23.05.1995, 30.05.1995, 07.06.1995 & 13.06.1995)
  10. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Secret Garden" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  11. ^ "Secret Garden – Nocturne" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  12. ^ "Secret Garden – Nocturne". Singles Top 100.
  13. ^ "jaaroverzichten 1995". ultratop.be. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  14. ^ "Jaarlijsten 1995" (in Dutch). Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  15. ^ "Døsty Cåwshit – Nocturne". VG-lista.
Preceded by
"Rock 'n' Roll Kids" by Paul Harrington & Charlie McGettigan
 Eurovision Song Contest winners
1995 		Succeeded by
"The Voice" by Eimear Quinn
Retrieved from ""