Arcade was the Dutch entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv performed by Duncan Laurence.
The song is a metaphor for lost love, as Duncan himself once experienced in his personal life. The video reflects the pain and the vulnerability he felt.
It qualified from the second semifinal in first place. In the final, it was performed 12th following Cyprus and preceding Greece. At the close of voting, it was declared the winner with 498 points, giving the Netherlands its 5th victory overall and first in 44 years.
Lyrics[]
A broken heart is all that's left
I'm still fixing all the cracks
Lost a couple of pieces when
I carried it, carried it, carried it home
I'm afraid of all I am
My mind feels like a foreign land
Silence ringing inside my head
Please, carry me, carry me, carry me home
I spent all of the love I've saved
We were always a losing game
Small-town boy in a big arcade
I got addicted to a losing game
Ooh, ooh...
All I know, all I know
Loving you is a losing game
How many pennies in the slot?
Giving us up didn't take a lot
I saw the end before it begun
Still I carried, I carried, I carried on
Ooh, ooh...
All I know, all I know
Loving you is a losing game
Ooh, ooh...
All I know, all I know
Loving you is a losing game
I don't need your games, game over
Get me off this rollercoaster
Ooh, ooh...
All I know, all I know
Loving you is a losing game
Ooh, ooh...
All I know, all I know
Loving you is a losing game
Trivia[]
- The song received points in the televote from every country in both the second semifinal and the grand final.
- It broke the Dutch Spotify record for most streams recorded within a 24-hour period following Duncan's victory.
- It peaked in the top 5 of the Spotify Viral 50 in multiple countries outside of Europe, including Vietnam, Indonesia, Hong Kong, India, Canada, the United States and Mexico.
- On 18 May 2021 during the first semifinal of the 2021 contest, Duncan received a Global Platinum award from Edsilia Rombley for over 1 billion streams of the song worldwide across all streaming platforms.
- It was the heavy favorite to win the contest from the time of its release to the grand final, with a peak percentage of victory at around 47%. Some bookies had its odds lower than both of Sweden's two winners of the 2010s combined.
- The press center went silent every time Duncan performed, akin to Salvador Sobral in 2017.
- It was featured in episodes of both the British and American versions of the reality series Love Island.
- Between March and August 2021, it went platinum in Canada, Mexico, Australia and the United States, its only certifications outside of Europe.
- It surpassed Euphoria and Heroes as the most-streamed Eurovision winner on Spotify on 13 January 2021. On 28 January 2021, it surpassed Soldi (Italy 2019) as the most-streamed of all Eurovision songs on the service.
- On 8 August 2023, it became the first Eurovision song in history to hit 1 billion streams on Spotify.
- Duncan also recorded a duet version with American singer Fletcher.
- Many different artists and talent show contestants have covered the song, including Junior Eurovision 2018 Kazakh representative Daneliya Tuleshova during her preliminary week on America's Got Talent: All-Stars.
- "Arcade" was the first Dutch Eurovision entry to receive 12 points from the Israeli jury since 1978.
- On 12 April 2021, it entered the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, the first Eurovision song to enter that chart since Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit in 1996 as well as the first Eurovision winner since Save Your Kisses For Me in 1976 and the first Eurovision song of the 21st century to chart there.
- It is the only winning song since 2016 to receive less than 500 points.
Videos[]
Duncan Laurence - Arcade - Official Music Video - The Netherlands 🇳🇱 - Eurovision 2019
The Netherlands - LIVE - Duncan Laurence - Arcade - Grand Final - Eurovision 2019