1944 (song)

"1944"
Single by Jamala
from the album 1944
Released9 March 2016
Recorded2015
Length3:00
LabelEnjoy
Composer(s)Jamala
Lyricist(s)
  • Art Antonyan
  • Jamala
Jamala singles chronology
"Breath"
(2015)
"1944"
(2016)
"Zamanyly"
(2016)
Music video
"1944" on YouTube
Eurovision Song Contest 2016 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Languages
English, Crimean Tatar
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
  • Art Antonyan
  • Jamala
Finals performance
Semi-final result
2nd
Semi-final points
287
Final result
1st
Final points
534
Entry chronology
◄ "Tick-Tock" (2014)
"Time" (2017) ►
Official performance video
"1944" (Semi-final) on YouTube
"1944" (Final) on YouTube
"1944" (Reprise) on YouTube

"1944" is a song composed and recorded by the Ukrainian musician Jamala, with it including lyrics by both her and performer Art Antonyan. It represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016, and the song won the event with a total of 534 points.[1][2]

In May 2022, the British news publication The Independent named the song as the twentieth best Eurovision-winning song and opined that its "melancholic" approach "works perfectly".[3] As well, in 2023, The Guardian ranked the song as the third best Eurovision winner in history.[4] An official music video was released on 21 September 2016.[5]

In terms of its lyrics and general production, the song describes the discriminatory persecution of the Crimean Tatars in the context of Joseph Stalin's rule over the Soviet Union. These violent military actions, which resulted in numerous deaths, had personally endangered Jamala's grandparents, which influenced the piece's emotional tone and its other attributes. Jamala summed the release up as a musical "memorial". It notably mixes together vocals in both the English language and the Crimean Tatar language.[6]

  1. ^ Omelyanchuk, Olena (21 February 2016). "Jamala will represent Ukraine in Stockholm!". eurovision.tv. European Broadcasting Union. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  2. ^ "Ukraine wins 2016 Eurovision Song Contest". Eurovision Song Contest. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  3. ^ Kelly, Ben (10 May 2022). "All 68 winning Eurovision songs ranked from worst to best". The Independent. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  4. ^ Petridis, Alexis (11 May 2023). "All 69 Eurovision song contest winners – ranked!". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  5. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Jamala – 1944 (Official Music Video)". YouTube. 21 September 2016.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference EV16Jb was invoked but never defined (see the help page).