Arcade (song)

"Arcade" is a song by Dutch singer-songwriter Duncan Laurence written and composed by Laurence, Joel Sjöö, Wouter Hardy, and Will Knox. The song was released on 7 March 2019 by Spark Records. It was later included as the lead single on his debut studio album Small Town Boy, and also features on his debut EP Worlds on Fire.

"Arcade" represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel, which it won, marking the Netherlands' first Eurovision victory since 1975. After the complete line-up of songs was announced, "Arcade" was the bookmakers' favourite to win Eurovision, and had remained so until the contest ended. An acoustic version of the song was released on 19 July 2019, followed by a duet version featuring American singer Fletcher on 27 November 2020. In February 2020, "Arcade" won an Edison Award for Best Pop Song of the Year.

In the second half of 2020, "Arcade" went viral on social media platform TikTok, resulting in new chart successes and streams on various platforms. In January 2021, "Arcade" became the most-streamed Eurovision song on Spotify, passing "Soldi" by Mahmood, the runner-up of Eurovision 2019. Later that year, in April, "Arcade" became the first Eurovision song in 25 years and the first Eurovision winning song in 45 years to chart on the US Billboard Hot 100; by September, it peaked at number 30.

In August 2023, "Arcade" became the first Eurovision song to accumulate a billion streams on Spotify.

Background

Composition

Duncan Laurence wrote "Arcade" while he attended the Tilburg Rock Academy. He worked on the song for over two years, predominantly while collaborating with Wouter Hardy, a former band member with Sharon Kovacs. The song is inspired by the heartbreak of a loved one of Duncan's who died. Laurence told WiwiBloggs, "Arcade is a story about the search for the love of your life. It's about the hope to reach something that seems unreachable". The namesake lyric "Small town boy in a big arcade" refers to his experience, being from a small town, as a Rock Academy freshman entering the summer fair of Tilburg, the largest in the Netherlands. Throughout the song, the fair and its arcade games are used as a metaphor for love, addiction and gambling with relationships.

"Arcade" is inspired by film soundtracks and consists of 165 tracks. The pop song opens with four chords played on piano, accompanied by a simple piano riff and overdubbed vocals. The triple metre verses contrast with the 4/4 time signature of the rest of the song, giving it a distinct sound. Heavy emphasis is put on Laurence's vocals. After the soft verses, in which he expresses his sadness and vulnerability, the chorus kicks in with heavy drums, accompanied with a choir of backing vocals, to enhance the lyrics' expressions of anger and frustration.

Internal selection

Ilse DeLange, runner-up of Eurovision 2014 as a member of The Common Linnets, came across Duncan in The Voice of Holland later that year, where she became his coach, and he regularly shared his songs with her since. DeLange sent one of those songs, "Arcade", to AVROTROS for its Eurovision selection. On 21 January 2019, Laurence was revealed as its representative for the 64th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, after "Arcade" was internally selected by the Dutch broadcaster. The song was never specifically written for Eurovision. Following the announcement, AVROTROS received backlash from social media users, because of the decision to let an unknown artist represent the Netherlands in Eurovision, after previously sending unknown artists to the contest who usually achieved miserable results for the country.

Release and promotion

The song was revealed on 7 March 2019. Shortly after its release, the Netherlands became the leader of the betting odds; by April 2019, AVROTROS revealed they had a hosting plan on hand in case of a Dutch victory in Eurovision, written years beforehand, and The Hague had already applied a bid for hosting the following contest, might Laurence take home the trophy.

On 14 April 2019 Laurence performed "Arcade" during the London Eurovision Party, which was held at the Café de Paris venue in London. In addition to international appearances, promotional activities also occurred within the Netherlands where he performed at live events, radio shows and talk shows. On 6 April, he performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the AFAS Live venue in Amsterdam, and on 1 May he performed at a sold-out solo concert which was held at the Zonnehuis in Amsterdam.

Eurovision

On 14 May 2019, the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the Expo Tel Aviv in Tel Aviv hosted by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC/Kan). Laurence performed "Arcade" sixteenth on the evening, qualifying for the grand final. The performance of the song featured him sitting behind an electric grand piano, with three backing vocalists supporting him offstage. DeLange and the Netherlands' creative team decided that Laurence should sit behind a piano on stage, because, him being a singer-songwriter, they wanted to portray him on stage as a musician. Surrounding Laurence and his piano, smoke, water and lighting effects, reminiscent of the official music video, accompanied the performance. During the Eurovision week, the Netherlands remained a favourite to win the competition, according to the bookmakers; shortly before the contest's final, their chances of winning were as high as 46 percent.

On 14 May 2019, the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest was held at the same venue. Laurence performed "Arcade" twelfth on the evening. At the end of voting, it had received the maximum score of 12 points from six national juries, and twice from national audiences. The Netherlands finished third in the jury vote, behind North Macedonia and Sweden, and second in the televote, behind Norway, but ended up winning the contest with 492 points. After the Belarusian jury's results were revised, the final number of points was 498. It was the first Eurovision victory for the country since 1975, when "Ding-a-dong" by Teach-In won. Apart from winning the contest, "Arcade" also won the Marcel Bezençon Press Award. During his victory speech, the artist said: "This is to dreaming big; this is to music first, always."

Aftermath

As the winning broadcaster, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) gave AVROTROS the responsibility to host the following edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. This edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the special show Eurovision: Europe Shine a Light was held instead. AVROTROS, along Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO) and Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS), would held the 65th edition on 18–22 May 2021 in Rotterdam. In the final, Laurence performed "Arcade" and his new single "Stars" as part of the interval acts.

Critical reception

Upon its release, the track received mostly positive reactions. The sound of "Arcade" has been compared to that of Coldplay. Peter Van de Veire, Belgium's Dutch-language Eurovision commentator, said that the gravity of the song's lyrics and composition would appeal to Eurovision viewers. Editors of the Eurovision fan site Wiwibloggs praised the emotional atmosphere of "Arcade" and gave the song an average score of 9.15 out of 10. Dan Niazi from ESCXtra, another Eurovision fan site, said he was not prepared for a song "as good and as perfectly produced as Arcade" to represent the Netherlands. He praised the song's composition and lyrical content, and thought the song had "the potential of changing the face of the contest for good", comparing the song to Loreen's "Euphoria", Sweden's 2012 entry. OGAE members placed the song third overall, behind Switzerland's and Italy's entries.

Upon the Eurovision semi-final, reactions to the simplistic performance were mixed. The Telegraph's Charlotte Runcie found that "the song deserves to do well, but the pared-back staging was in danger of being forgettable". Heidi Stephens, reporter for The Guardian, found the Dutch performance "bleak, but hauntingly beautiful". Writing for The Independent, Rob Holley found that "Arcade" was well performed, and although he feared that the performance was underwhelming for Eurovision standards, he thought the Netherlands were the biggest contenders for victory. The BBC's commentator for the semi-finals, Rylan Clark-Neal, put the Netherlands in his top five.

Track listings

• Digital single

1. "Arcade" – 3:03

• Digital single – acoustic

1. "Arcade" (acoustic version) – 3:19

• 7-inch vinyl

1. "Arcade" – 3:03
2. "Arcade" (acoustic version) – 3:19

• Digital single – duet

1. "Arcade" (featuring Fletcher) – 3:07

• Digital single – Sam Feldt remix

1. "Arcade" (Sam Feldt remix) – 2:33

Commercial performance

Following its Eurovision victory, "Arcade" reached the weekly charts of 26 European countries, peaking at number one in Belgium, Estonia, Iceland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands; it was subsequently certified quadruple platinum in the latter. Starting in late 2020, "Arcade" went viral on TikTok, resulting in renewed success on various weekly charts, including in the United States, where the song became a sleeper hit. It debuted at number 100 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 17 April 2021, and peaked at number 30 by 4 September.

On 18 May 2021, during the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, Laurence received a Global Platinum certification for over one billion streams of "Arcade" worldwide. He was presented the award by the event's co-presenter Edsilia Rombley.

Certifications

Release history

Legacy

Covers from other Eurovision acts

The song was featured three times in the Eurovision Home Concerts series, and covered by all the acts in Armenia's Depi Evratesil selection for the 2020 contest that would be cancelled in a group performance. The song was covered once again by Polish Junior Eurovision victors Roksana Węgiel and Viki Gabor, alongside a hologram image of Laurence as part of the interval act of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2020 which took place in Warsaw, Poland on 29 November 2020.

Notes

References