1994 - Slovakia
Performed by: Tublatanka
Music by: Martin 'Maťo' Ďurinda
Lyrics by: Martin Sarvaš
Conductor: Vladimir Valović
Language: Slovak
Placing: 19th (15 points)
Other versions: English

In his youth, Martin "Maťo" Ďurinda had aspirations of becoming a hockey player while teaching himself to play guitar and piano. Martin learned to sing from his mother, who was a high school music teacher. Between 1977 and 1980, he was a member of the pop group Nervy. In 1982, he enrolled at Comenius University in Bratislava, where he majored in pharmacy. It was there that he met Juraj Černý and Pavol Horváth, and created the band Tublatanka. Together with his band Tublatanka he represented Slovakia at the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 in Dublin with the song "Nekonečná pieseň". Ďurinda has had a lengthy career with his band Tublatanka and they continue to perform to this day. He has also released a solo album, titled Perfektný svet (Perfect World), which came out in 1997.

The rock band Tublatanka formed in the autumn of 1982 in Bratislava, best known for the hits "Pravda víťazí" and "Dnes". The band's classic lineup consisted of Maťo Ďurinda, Palo Horváth, and Juraj "Ďuro" Černý, from 1982 to 1992. In 1992, Horváth left the band. Ďuro left the band in 1995 due to complications with drugs. Currently, the band consists of Ďurinda, Juraj Topor, and Peter Schlosser.

On 30 January 1983, there was a festival for amateur bands in PKO Bratislava (park of culture and relaxation) that was organized by Richard Müller under the title "Mladá vlna 82", where Tublatanka had an opportunity to appear as an opening act. The band had a notable unexpected success and the director of the Slovak Record Label OPUS, Milan Vašica, who was sitting in the audience, offered the boys to record their first big self-titled LP. The album sold over 100,000 copies in the first few months after it was released, so OPUS offered to record their second album, Skúsime to cez vesmír, which came out a year later. While recording that album, Ďurinda was called to do his basic military service, much to his dismay, since he wanted to finish recording the album.

In 1994, Tublatanka began to prepare a new album under the fresh lineup, and they started practicing a new live set. A partly recovered Ďuro Černý rejoined the band and a new CD, Znovuzrodenie, was recorded. This album saw the band experimenting with a sound closer to pop music than their previous material. At the beginning of 1994, the band won a competition on STV and represented their country in the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin, Ireland, with their song "Nekonečná pieseň". They placed 19th out of 25, so after their return to Slovakia, only negative press and bad reviews welcomed them.

Juraj "Ďuro" Černý, the band's original drummer, died in February 2016 at the age of 54 at his home in Hungary. The musician had struggled with health problems for close to twenty years.

The band's website is here:

https://www.tublatanka.sk/oficialna-w...

And their "Neverending Song" in English is here:

   • 1994 Martin Ďurinda & Tublatanka -Nev...  


LYRICS:

Nekonečná pieseň

Sám sa dobre pamätám na časy čarovné
Tak nekonečne vzdialené
Poď – tak vrátime sa späť, veď mali sme svoj svet
A niekto nám ho ukradol
Nie tomu neverím, že je to už dávno stratené

Láska, pamätáš na tú pieseň
Na naše znamenie
Vieš že ti vraví-tak sa vráť, vráť, vráť
Návratov nemusíš sa báť

Viem že dala si sa zviesť a že ťa zlákal svet
A sníva sa ti o šťastí
Čas sa nedá vrátiť späť, no ja som zostal tvoj
A pre mňa sa to nekončí
Vieš, že tu je tvoja zem
A to sa predsa nikdy nezmení

Láska, pamätáš na tú pieseň
Na naše znamenie
Vieš že ti vraví-tak sa vráť, vráť, vráť
Návratov nemusíš sa báť

Pamätáš na tú pieseň
Na naše znamenie
Vieš že ti vraví-tak sa vráť, vráť, vráť
Návratov nemusíš sa báť

Počúvaj našu pieseň moja láska vzdialená
Nocou sa k tebe nesie, vieš čo to znamená


TRANSLATION:

Neverending song

I remember well the magic times
Such a long time ago
Come – let's return back, to when we had our own world
And someone stole it from us
No I don't believe that it's been lost long ago

My love, do you remember that song
Our sign
That it's telling you – come back, come back, come back
No need to be afraid of returns

I know that you let yourself be lead astray and the world lured you away
And you're dreaming of happiness
The time can't be put aback, but I am still yours
And it doesn't end for me
You know that this is your land
And that shall never change

My love, do you remember that song
Our sign
That it's telling you – come back, come back, come back
No need to be afraid of returns

My love, do you remember that song
Our sign
That it's telling you – come back, come back, come back
No need to be afraid of returns

Listen to our song, my love far away
Flying to you through the night, you know what it means