ABSTRACT
A new Eurovision anthem was written specifically for the song contest held in Malmö, Sweden, in 2013. “We Write the Story” brought together two legendary Eurovision alumni, ex-ABBA band members Benny Andersson (music) and Björn Ulvaeus (lyrics), along with the popular producer and DJ Avicii. This anthem’s melody adapts the well-known Gavotte from Bach’s Orchestral Suite no. 3, BWV 1068, and its lyrics promote the noble ideals of justice, peace, liberty, and reason. It is a hymn that heralds “a new enlightenment” even though it evokes, musically and symbolically, the former eighteenth-century one. It was performed to an Olympics-style flag parade at the opening of the contest finals as all the contestants from across Europe proceeded onto the stage. These six minutes of music conveyed a spirit of collaborative competition and the noble cosmopolitanism that has long defined Eurovision.
