Israel unveils new Eurovision song after original ballad called October Rain ‘referenced the cruelty of Hamas’ with lyrics like ‘they were all good children’

Israel unveiled its new Eurovision song ‘Hurricane’ on Sunday, after the original ballad October Rain was called ‘too political’.

The song, which will be performed on stage in Malmö, Sweden in May by Eden Golan, is about a woman going through a personal crisis, but reportedly contains some of the lyrics from October Rain.

Israeli broadcaster Kan 11 revealed the song, which was created by Keren Peles, Avi Ohayon and Stav Beger.

“Look into my eyes and see, people look away but never say goodbye,” the twenty-year-old Russian-Israeli sings in Hurricane.

‘Every day I’m going crazy, I’m holding on to this mysterious ride, dancing in the storm, I’ve got nothing to hide.

“Take it all and leave the world behind, baby, promise me you’ll hold me again, I’m still broken from this hurricane.”

Israel was disqualified if they did not change the lyrics of their original song October Rain

The new song has mostly English lyrics, with the exception of a few lines in Hebrew at the end that translate as: ‘We don’t need big words, just prayers, even though it’s hard to see, you always leave a little light behind me. ‘

Speak with Times of Israel After unveiling Hurricane, Golan said, “I ended up (competing) in a not easy year.

‘But on the other hand, I want to represent the country even more this year, because of its meaning: it has a completely different meaning.

“And we can take everything that we’re feeling, and everything that the country is going through, into those three minutes. To speak to the world through song.”

As part of the big reveal, Kan also aired a documentary exploring “the complexities of Israeli representation on the Eurovision stage over the years.”

TV writer Hen Aviddori, whose wife and daughter were kidnapped on October 7 and later released from Gaza, said: ‘I think it is super important that there is an Israeli delegation and an Israeli song at the Eurovision Song Contest.

“We have to keep going and keep doing it, and doing that is also music and showing that to the whole world.”

Golan’s original song caused controversy as the lyrics were thought to refer to the October 7 Hamas attacks.

Golan played October Rain with lines like “there’s no air left to breathe” and “they were all good children, every one of them”

According to the lyrics leaked to the media and later confirmed by Kan, October Rain contained lines such as “There’s no air left to breathe” and “They were all good kids, all of them.”

These were seen as an allusion to those trapped in bomb shelters when Hamas gunmen unleashed their bloody terror at the Supernova music festival that sparked the war in Gaza.

The song also made references to “flowers,” which are sometimes used as a military code for war dead, according to the Israel Hayom newspaper.

Israel had until today to change the lyrics and submit a song that complies with the rules of the international song contest.

As a non-political event, the Eurovision Song Contest can disqualify participants who are deemed to have violated strict impartiality rules.

All songs submitted will be checked by the EBU before the competition to ensure they comply with the rules.

Musicians from other Eurovision countries have called for Israel to be suspended over the war in Gaza.

This includes artists from Iceland, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden, with several artists pointing out that Russia has been disqualified since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago.

So far, Eurovision organizers have resisted these calls, arguing that the situations in Ukraine and Gaza are different.

The Eurovision Song Contest has previously blocked addresses that they fear could politicize the event.

In 2022, Russia was excluded from participating in the Eurovision Song Contest after the invasion of Ukraine.

The country’s national broadcasters subsequently suspended their membership of the EBU in protest, preventing them from participating in future competitions.

Last year, Israel was represented by Israeli singer Noa Kirel, who performed her song Unicorn, which came third.

Great Britain will be represented at the Eurovision Song Contest this year by Years & Years singer Olly Alexander.

The Years & Years singer will perform his new dance-infused single Dizzy, which some critics say is ‘enough to make the judges’ heads turn’.