Ding-a-dong!

by Yarin Motiei

Joined May 2021
Published Books 2

Most of us don’t really think that the typical winning song in the Eurovision Song Contest is interesting, but the following song has caught my attention:

Ding-a-dong (original Dutch title: “Ding dinge dong”) was the title of the winning song in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975. It was sung by Teach-In, representing the Netherlands, and was written by Dick Bakker, Will Luikinga, and Eddy Ouwens.

The song reached number one on the Swiss and Norwegian weekly charts, number two in Belgium and three in the Netherlands.

The English version which was performed at the contest is about positive thinking:

“Sing a song that goes ding ding-a-dong” when one is feeling unhappy, and continues “Ding-a-dong every hour, when you pick a flower. Even when your lover is gone, gone, gone.”

After I’ve found the original Dutch version and its translation, it turned out that the original “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:

Is it long ago now
Is it long ago now
That my heart called you with it’s ding-dinge-dong
Is it long ago now
Is it long ago now
In the summer sun it went bim-bam-bom

Pay attention to the wonderful bridge (1:05 – 1:30)!

I think that this song became more popular than the average Eurovision song because of several reasons:

Hook – Catchy repetition of the Glockenspiel throughout the song.

Feeling – Both English and Dutch versions are about love, the first is about positive thinking and the latter talks about a lover who left.

Authenticity and childishness –

The song just makes us children again. Cool beat and not sophisticated lyrics, about positivity after breakup – and it’s not boring, the beat makes us move our body unintentionally.

Personally I prefer the Dutch version. It’s so honest and authentic how the original lyrics describe how the singer felt her initial heartbeats as “ding-dinge-dong” which became “bim-bam-bom”.

It raises associations to a common feeling, but instead of lying depressed on the bed, we celebrate and dance to it – catchy hook!

Ding-a-Dong was covered by German band beFour for their fourth studio album Friends 4 Ever and released as the second single in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

This single reached a #61 in Germany – not surprising at all!

The cover is shallow, no hook, artificial Auto-Tune and industrial pop beat. Boring!

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