Way back in February, Victor Crone snatched the title at Eesti Laul, winning Estonia’s ticket to Tel Aviv. Some may say he’s an unlikely representative for Estonia since he’s, you know, Swedish. But he’s proven himself to be a worthy representative and has an incredible song behind him, as well as the might of songwriter Stig Rästa, the Estonian Godfather of Eurovision.
Being marked rather harshly by the international jury, it was the Estonian public that voted overwhelmingly in favour of “Storm”, which highlights to the rest of us that there’s something captivating about this country-EDM mashup. Why did so many Estonians fall in love with “Storm”? Is it simply because of a charming artist and radio-friendly sound, or is there something relatable about the lyrics?
Scroll down for the “Storm” lyrics
What do Victor Crone’s “Storm” lyrics mean?
What makes “Storm” different to the manufactured dance tracks that have graced the Eurovision stage in years gone by is its absolute sincerity. Behind every note there is pain that Victor invites us to understand through his lyrics. He tells us “all my life I’ve wondered why, I keep fighting all the tides” and “I’ve tried to find the meaning of what’s left behind, they say it’s life itself but I (feel) it might, it might be all wrong”.
This is a man who is searching and the journey has not been easy. That’s something that millions of Eurovision viewers can relate to. Who hasn’t felt that “a storm like this, can break a man like this” after a difficult experience? Victor isn’t afraid to admit that he’s had these dark moments. But more importantly he wants to remind us that “when it all calms down, we’re still safe and sound.” Whatever is troubling us will eventually blow over. Our wounds heal over time.
Let’s consider “Storm” in relation to Victor’s career trajectory. After working in both LA and Nashville, Victor competed in Melodifestivalen alongside Behrang Miri, failing to qualify to the Final. It’s fair to say that Victor’s artistic path hasn’t been straightforward and has involved lots of moving around. Is this what he means when he says “I’ve hit highs and I’ve hit lows” and mentions his journey on “the winding road”?
If we consider 2015 Victor as a caterpillar, the Victor we see today is definitely the butterfly — and flying in a new country. While he’s working with a new crowd (Stig Rästa of all people!) he has a whole host of cross-continental influences to draw on, and he exudes a new-found confidence when he performs. Even though at times “it felt like I could lose it all”, he nevertheless was always hopeful that “I might, I might have been wrong”.
Ultimately the take away is one of hope: “Even if the sky falls down, we can turn it all around, we’ll escape the darkest clouds and we’ll be safe and sound.”
Note that Victor shifts from “I” to “we” and sings it three times in one verse. You are not alone. Whether you fail to get that promotion or your Tinder match ghosts you, you’ll be FINE.
“Storm” lyrics — Victor Crone
All my life I’ve wondered why
I keep fighting all the tides
for a million reasons that I find
but I might, I might be all wrong
I’ve hit highs and I’ve hit lows
but somewhere down the winding road
it felt like I could lose it all
but I might, I might have been wrong
A storm like this
can break a man like this
but when it all calms down
we’re still safe and sound
All my life I’ve tried to find
the meaning of what’s left behind
they say it’s life itself but I
(feel) it might, it might be all wrong
A storm like this
can break a man like this
and when it all calms down
we’ll be safe and sound
Even if the sky falls down
we can turn it all around
we’ll escape the darkest clouds
and we’ll be safe and sound
Wherever we may go
whatever happens down the road
however far from home
I know we won’t let go
In no time the storm will end
it’ll be alright again
the battle scars won’t matter then
but I might, I might be all wrong
What do you think? How do you interpret Storm and how do you think the public will react to the song in Tel Aviv? Let us know in the comments!
I can definitely see the Nashville storytelling influences on the verses (now I wonder if Stig also lived there for a while), which are very nice. But I agree that the repetition of “like this” in the chorus that Dawid and Vrede mentioned could and should had been avoided.
While I agree with “like this” argument, I find it quite minor in comparison with the the whole song, which is really nicely written. The lyric is not out of place, gramatically inaccurate, cheesy or overused. It doesn’t make that of a difference to me. There are other songs which actually need to be scrutinized over lyrics. (Belarus, Croatia…)
That’s true. It’s not a big deal, it’s just something they could have done better. By the way, will Croatia entry be in English or in Croatian for Eurovision?
As there are no news about revamp, I assume it’s the bilingual song that goes on ESC. Interestingly, on Croatian portal, 71% of people said they prefer the solo Cro version in the poll. Then again, several comments said it was for patriotic reasons mostly. This is the first time since we came back that I’m not into our song. It’s in my bottom 5. Hopefully the presentation might change that, but I doubt it.
It would be the right choice to sing it in Croatian. I would love if your country had sticked to the “Lighthouse” vibe. That song would fit very well 2019’s Eurovision.
Lighthouse is a very beautiful song. My Friend also turned out to be really magnetic and unique. I love both. Crazy is a respectable song too. Considering the high competition last year, it was at the middle of my list. The Dream has nice vibes at the snippet, but the performance was cringeworthy. I still wonder how did this win next to Tower of Babylon (and few others).
thank you next
Sure Jan
Am I the only one who’s bothered by “like this” rhymed with “like this”? Like, couldn’t you put there “A storm like this can break a man like me” or anything like that? .-.
exactly, so cringy :/
Even if I really like this song, I have to say that rhyming with “man like me” would be better.
I guess in this line “like this” means something like “just like this”, “very easily”. So “like this” would have two different meanings in those two lines, which would make the chorus a bit less cringeworthy, if this is what they were going for (even though it clearly doesn’t work out).
Remember that it took five adults to write this song, who all got paid for it.
Damn, I’ve found my job.
Don’t see how this was marked harshly by the international juries….they simply gave their points to better songs.
I don’t really hear the country influences in this song… I do hear a lot of Avicii though. It’s basically Avicii’s Without You with a different vocal on top.
I think this will do better than the odds predict, he’s a good-looking guy and he sings an accessible radio song.
Even Play is better than this song.
For me, “Play” was a good song that suffered from the staging. From the magic trick, to Juri’s face all over the stage and the camera shots, it was all wrong. Still, it doesn’t change that the song was good and the lyrics were very entertaining. “Storm”, on the other hand, is a very current EDM song, which lots of people like but I don’t find it very engaging
This is one of my favorites this year and I would love to see Estonia getting a good result. The lyrics are quite nice and they have a meaning behind them. It’s about hope from a standpoint of someone who has had a difficult life and is unsure about everything. That is something I can relate to.
In Eesti Laul I supported Sandra and Stefan, while Victor was my 3rd. I was pleasantly surprised with his NF performance and now I support him too.
“You’re not alone, we’re in this together.
Together, we’ll get through this storm.
Storms don’t last forever, forever, remember…
It’s bigger than us, it’s bigger than you and me.”
My problem is his voice. It is so screechy and annoying. The song itself is okay
It’s a very unremarkable song that strangely gets stuck in my head with no intention of leaving. I’m guessing this will do better than expected at this moment.
The only thing that really bothers me is the repetition in the chorus lyrics. ‘A storm like this can break a man like this’. Couldn’t they have come up with something different for the second ‘like this’?
Exactly! Stig Rasta gave us Goodbye to Yesterday which is a masterpiece but he couldn’t find anything else besides “like this” for the second time? Was he lazy or something? I know he’s not the only writer of this song, of course
Interesting point