Saturday Flashback: Pirates of the Sea – Wolves of the Sea

Tim: I was having trouble thinking of a song to write about for today. Fortunately, I have a break glass for emergency bag of Eurovision delights to delve into for precisely this situation. Out of it today? This wonder, from Latvia in 2008.

Tom: Oh dear. This was a year or two post-Lordi, wasn’t it?

Tim: There are so many things to love about this, especially if you put the shonky vocals aside and dodgy mixing aside. Not least is the idea there’s the idea that pirates are indomitable as long as Peter Pan isn’t around, and while we’ve probably seen stranger stagings, none spring to mind right now. This is Eurovision novelty at it’s finest, and they didn’t go unrewarded, just finishing in the top half of the table.

Tom: I’m still astonished by that: I assumed they’d crash to the bottom as being a poor novelty act. But no: well done them.

Tim: Musically (if we can be serious about the music) that dodgy mixing really is a shame – you can barely make it out here, but in the studio version there’s a whole load ho-hi-ho-hi-haying going on throughout the middle eight, and a great harmony line after the middle eight, really going out for the hi-hi-ho-o-o-o-o and all we can be-e-e-e-e.

Tom: That’s one of the most ridiculous things you’ve ever written.

Tim: Probably, yes, but I love this, I really do. Even if it’s not exactly something I can point at when I say ‘look, other countries take it seriously!’