"Ding-a-dong" was notable for being one of the Eurovision winners that had quirky or entirely nonsensical titles or lyrics, following in the footsteps of Massiel's "La La La" in 1968 and Lulu's "Boom Bang-a-Bang" in 1969, later followed by the Herreys' "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" in 1984. "Ding-a-dong" was performed first on the performance night. The song was the first winner under the now-familiar Eurovision voting system whereby each country awards scores of 1-8, 10 and 12. At the close of voting, it had received 152 points, placing first in a field of nineteen. As the first song performed during the evening, the victory ran contrary to the fact that success usually went to songs performed later in the broadcast. According to author and historian John Kennedy O'Connor's The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History, this was the first of three occasions when the first song would win the contest, the second coming the following year in 1976, and the third in 1984. The song, performed entirely in English, was an up-tempo ode to positive thought; though the song is written entirely in a minor key. The band sings that one should "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." On the night of the DutchNational Song Contest, with the song already having been selected, Albert West and Debbie competed with Teach-In for the honour of performing. In the original Dutch version the "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--tak" for the ticking of the clock while waiting for the lover to return:
did a cover of the song for Eurotrash. "Ding-a-Dong" was also recorded by German band beFour for their fourth studio albumFriends 4 Ever and released as the second single in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Russian musiciansAlyona Apina and Murat Nasyrov recorded "Moonlight Nights" to the melody of Ding-a-Dong in 1997. Bessy Argyraki sang a cover in Greek, included in her LP "Robert & Bessie".
