On November 6, most of the United States set their clocks back one hour, ending Daylight Savings Time for another year. This welcomes back early sunsets and late sunrises, but it might be for the last time, as the Sunshine Protection Act intends to keep up permanent daylight savings time starting next year.
However, this phenomenon is not exclusive to the U.S. In Europe, Daylight Savings Time begins on the last Sunday in March and ends earlier, on the last Sunday in October. So days start getting darker a week before those on the other side of the Atlantic.
In both cases, they herald the coming of winter, which involves the cold as well as the dark. How does one mark it through song?
Secret Garden: Nocturne (Norway 1995)
Nocturne is better known for being an instrumental piece, with only 24 words bookending the song. In those words, they sing about how the darkness comes, but it will eventually end, and that a new day would begin. That way, one can marvel at the night, but hope that spring would come soon.
Jon Lilygreen & The Islanders – Life Looks Better In Spring (Cyprus 2010)
However, not all of us take note of the dark, and just want spring to come faster. It shows in “Life Looks Better in the Spring”, in which Wales-born Jon Lilygreen takes note of a previous relationship and reflects on how it ended. He hopes that “life will be better in the spring”, so that he may forget the pain or at least make sense of it all. For those who don’t necessarily have a broken relationship, that hope still remains.
Norma John: Blackbird (Finland 2017)
One of the most beloved non-qualifiers in the semi-final era, Blackbird is also one of the darkest songs the contest has ever scene. With a mournful atmosphere and sparse lyrics, it colors a world with a deep shade of black. It’s even more fitting seeing in the northern parts of Finland, the sun would not appear for a month after it sets in mid-November.