Nocturne by Secret Garden

The english and full version of Nocturne from their newest album Inside I'm Singing.

Music: Rolf Lovland
Lyrics: Petter Skavlan
Voice: Anne Takle

Lyrics:
Now, let the day
Just slip away
So the dark night may watch over you
Velvet, blue
Silent, true
It embraces your heart and your soul
Nocturne

Never cry - never sigh
You don't have to wonder why
Always be - always see
Come and dream the night with me
Nocturne

Have no fear
When the night draws near
And fills you with dreams and desire
Like a child asleep
So warm, so deep
You will find me there waiting for you
Nocturne

We will fly - claim the sky
We don't have to wonder why
Always see - always be
Come and dream the night with me
Nocturne

Though darkness lay
It will give way
When the dark night delivers the day
Nocturne


"Nocturne" was the winning song in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995, performed in Norwegian by Secret Garden representing Norway. In the contest, it had received 148 points, placing 1st in a field of 23.

The song is noted for its relative 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 guest Irish musician Fionnuala Sherry. While no other victorious song 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 following movie is the version in Norwegian that has been performed in the contest.



The country-inspired band Dusty Cowshit made a comedic cover of Nocturne. It can be checked in the following clip.

A nocturne (from the French for "nocturnal") is usually a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night. Historically, nocturne is a very old term applied to night Offices and, since the Middle Ages, to divisions in the canonical hour of Matins.

The name nocturne was first applied to pieces in the eighteenth century, when it indicated an ensemble piece in several movements, normally played for an evening party and then laid aside. Sometimes it carried the Italian equivalent, notturno, such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's quadraphonic Notturno in D, K.286, written for four lightly echoing separated ensembles of paired horns with strings, and his Serenata Notturna, K. 239. At this time, the piece was not necessarily evocative of the night, but might merely be intended for performance at night, much like a serenade.

For more info, refer to Nocturne.