David also recorded the song in German and Italian, as "Sonnenkind" and "Ragazza sole" respectively.
Composition
The song is a dramatic chanson ballad, with David describing a youthful love affair with a stranger. The stranger is welcomed by the narrator's father and given lodging and work. Passion develops between the two: "every burning hot winter our love made the earth tremble", but one day men come for the stranger. "He tried to escape but it was too late, the trap was already closing around him" and he is taken away "with his hands above his head". The song ends with the protagonist calling for her lover's return.
The song was performed eleventh on the night, following Israel's Milk and Honey with "Hallelujah" and preceding Belgium's Micha Marah with "Hey Nana". At the close of voting, it had received 106 points, coming third in a field of nineteen.
Critics' reviews of the song varied. The Reading Evening Post's Albert Watson wrote the song was "quite beautiful" and a favourite to win the contest.[1] Concurringly, Der Bund's television critic praised the song for offering the contest a true chanson.[2] In contrast, Russell Kyle of the Evening Times called it an "abysmal [commercial] failure", labelling the single "rubbish".[3]