“Funny that it means something different there”

Singer Lily Castel finds it hard to believe that the song she performed at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1971 is another hit. Not in her home country, Belgium, but in Ukraine, where tiktokers with the number Good-day, good-day go get. “Crazy, right? I thought it was a joke,” he tells NOS.

“I’ve been sent two videos and I really think it’s great! The dances I’ve seen are very beautiful,” says Castel, 85, from Ghent. She received the videos today via email from singer Jacques Raymond, with whom she performed at the time. “He also thinks it’s amazing. He calls it very special that we can suddenly be seen everywhere again. He couldn’t believe it.”

Ukrainians massively sing the chorus of on TikTok Good-day, good-day impeccably as they walk around the house with candles and lamps on their heads when the power goes out due to Russian attacks on infrastructure. Especially in the last few weeks, countless videos featuring the Flemish song have been released.

The words have a completely different meaning in Ukraine: ‘Good‘ means something like ‘fucking shit’ or ‘cunt’, a dirty word used to express displeasure. “So when the lights go out: good morning,” a Ukrainian woman explains to journalist Kysia Hekster in Kiev.

“It’s funny that good morning there in Ukraine means something completely different. Who would have thought that possible?” says Castel.

Castel’s song and the Ukrainian TikTok videos it inspired:

The viral video is front page news for many Belgian media outlets. issuer VRT extension he calls it “a musical middle finger to Russia” because it helps Ukrainians put misery into perspective as Ukraine continues to get colder and Russia attacks crucial infrastructure.

“My girlfriend sings this song every day,” a Ukrainian man told NOS. “If we wake up and there’s no electricity, no water and we can’t take a shower, we mess around and try to stay positive.”

Castel is happy that his song encourages Ukrainians. “My husband said: I hope Putin can also laugh at movies.”

The renewed interest in the song comes in the year that the Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra won the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Sthephany. While it is customary for the winning country to host the next edition of the event, due to the war the festival will be held in Liverpool next year.

If Castel is asked to perform there, he will definitely think about it. “But I don’t decide it myself, of course Jacques must want it too.”