Israeli singer Eden Golan, who participated in Eurovision and suffered numerous anti-Semitic insults and threats on this occasion, finally sang in public the original version of her song “October Rain”, which expresses the sadness of the Hebrew people following the massacres and hostage-taking of October 7 by Hamas.
For reasons of neutrality, in application of the Eurovision regulations, the jury had conditioned the participation of the candidate on a rewriting of the song. “October Rain” had become “Hurricane”, and if the references to the trauma of October 7 in Israeli society were not entirely erased, they became more discreet and metaphorical, through the elegy of a woman who this time sings of the torments caused by an internal hurricane.
The original, unrewritten version was performed by Eden Golan in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square on Saturday, May 18, in front of a large crowd that meets weekly to demand a ceasefire in Gaza and the return of all Israeli hostages. According to the Times of Israel, the singer addressed the crowd before singing, saying: “This is the first time I have sung in public since returning from Eurovision. I wanted to do it here, in this square. I wanted to sing ‘October Rain’ tonight, it’s my prayer for all [the hostages] to come home!”
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The lyrics of this song evoke Israel’s place in the world following the Hamas attack: “You who write History, stay with me” begins the first verse. Other verses evoke the sadness of Israeli society: “Someone stole the moon tonight, stole my light, everything is black and white, who is the fool who told the boys they must not cry ?,” and further: “I’m still soaked from the October rain, the October rain…”
The song ends with a verse in Hebrew: “No more breathing, no more place, no more everyday me, they were all good children, every one of them…”
The singer obtained 5th place in the final Eurovision rankings.