At Eurovision 2022, Croatia will be hoping to improve on their outing in 2021, where they just missed out on the grand final by a mere five points. Broadcaster HRT utilised their tried-and-tested song selection – their national final Dora – once again. The selection had faces old and new fighting to become Croatia’s participant for Eurovision this year. However, it was our former Wednesday Wishlist favourite Mia Dimšić who took the show by storm, winning both the jury and televote with “Guilty Pleasure”.
Scroll down for the “Guilty Pleasure” lyrics
Croatia in Eurovision 2022: Mia Dimšić “Guilty Pleasure”
Mia Dimšić is an established Croatian star, scoring six chart-topping singles, and two albums reaching the same feat in her home country. Her career started when she sang as a guest of rock band Džentlmeni when they toured in North America. She’s since branched into her own style, where she counts Taylor Swift and Norah Jones among her influences.
Mia has brought her whimsical romantic tones to the London Eurovision Party and Eurovision in Concert in Amsterdam, where she wowed audiences with her performances of “Guilty Pleasure”. Whilst we don’t know exactly what she will bring to Turin for staging, we know her Dora dancer Alex won’t be joining her. Speaking to our Cinan in London she stated it just couldn’t work when they tried to make it happen, and that it took her “like three weeks to get over” not working with him. She confirmed that the staging is different from Dora, so it seems it won’t just be a replaced dancer.
What do the “Guilty Pleasure” lyrics mean?
“Guilty Pleasure” tells an intricate tale of a possibly quite controversial topic. Mia describes being with a spouse but thinking of another lover in her dreams. She says “timing has never been our thing” in terms of them only coming in her dreams, which leaves questions about whether the this person is a real love in her life, or a past relationship that she is thinking about.
The song begins laying out what to expect, explaining the situation, and telling of the secrecy behind this fascination – “Five nights in a row of dreams I’d never share”. Sharing with who? Well, she’s left with the “souvenir” of guilt, as she’s laying in bed with her spouse, and she is “with him until the death do us part”. She describes her husband as devotion, whilst the man she is fantasising about is just a “secret treasure” and the titular “guilty pleasure”.
Mia goes on to say, whilst she knows they can’t be together, she wishes they could run away. The hook at the end of the chorus is dreamy to the core, emphasising the lack of reality in this hope.
In the second verse, Mia is further fighting within herself, lamenting that one love is “all you ever get”. She is trapped in a metaphorical thunderstorm, with her emotions flying everywhere.
At London Eurovision Party, Mia said the writing process was “actually kinda really fast”. She added that “normally when I write songs fast, it means that they’re just a stream of consciousness and those are always the best kind!”. She wrote it a short while ago, but it was part of a plan to release her first English record.
“Guilty Pleasure” lyrics – Mia Dimšić (Croatia ESC 2022)
Music and lyrics: Mia Dimšić, Damir Bačić, Vjekoslav Dimter
Woke up, you weren’t there
Five nights in a row
Of dreams I’ve never shared
Early in the morning
Timing’s never been our thing
Leaving me with guilt
The only souvenir you bring
He’s devotion, you’re a guilty pleasure
I’m with him and this is real life, honey
Guess the joke’s no longer funny
But it doesn’t do for this hungry heart
I’m with him, but in my frantic head
You always come and say
“Would you run away with me?”
“Would you run away?”
“Would you run away?”
That’s all you ever get
Least that’s what they tell you
Still, I can’t forget
‘Til the sunlight flashes
Can’t recall what I’ve been taught
Captivated by the thunderstorm
In which I’m caught
He’s devotion, you’re a guilty pleasure
I’m with him and this is real life, honey
Guess the joke’s no longer funny
But it doesn’t do for this hungry heart
I’m with him, but in my frantic head
You always come and say
“Would you run away with me?”
“Would you run away?” (Would you run away?)
“Would you run away?”
In this real life, I have to stay (would you run away?)
In this real life, there’s no way
In this real life
He’s devotion, you’re a guilty pleasure
I’m with him and this is real life, honey
Guess the joke’s no longer funny
But it doesn’t do for this hungry heart
I’m with him, but in my frantic head
You always come and say, say, say
“Would you run away with me?”
“Would you run away?” (Would you run away?)
“Would you run away?”
In this real life, I have to stay (would you run away?)
In this real life, there’s no way (would you run away?)
In this real life
Do you connect with the lyrics of “Guilty Pleasure”? How do you think Mia Dimšić will do for Croatia at Eurovision 2022? Let us know in the comments below.
i interpret this song as being about that feeling people in a long term relationship normally get from time to time to have a side adventure, that all stays in your head because you know you don’t actually want to give your true love away. it’s very well-written, you can tell taylor swift is her idol with this focus on songwriting.
Cinan: Are you ready for a wiwiblogs interview???
Mia : I don’t think you can ever be fully ready for that!!
This makes me smile every time! 😀