Eden Golan sings ‘October Rain,’ her disqualified Eurovision song at Tel Aviv hostage rally

18 May 2024, 9:58 pm 15 Edit

Eden Golan, who represented Israel and came fifth in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, sings at the rally to return hostages held in Gaza, May 18, 2024. (Pro-Democracy Protest Movement/Erez Volach)

Eden Golan, who represented Israel in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, sings her song “October Rain” at the Tel Aviv rally for a deal to release hostages held in Gaza.

“October Rain” was originally meant to be performed at the contest, but the European Broadcasting Union disqualified the song for having political messaging.

The song includes lyrics such as “writers of the history/stand with me”; “I’m still wet from the October rain/October rain”; and a final section in Hebrew translated to: “There is no air left to breathe/No place, no me from day to day/They were all good kids, every one of them” — believed to be a reference to those murdered by Hamas on October 7.

Golan qualified for the contest and came fifth place with a reworded version, titled “Hurricane.”