“A Little Peace” by Nicole
Nicole’s “A Little Peace” is centered on the idea that being optimistic and having a sense of positivity can bring life into the most hopeless situations.
The first few lines of the track talk about hopeless and dire situations. The writer mentions these to express how forlorn she feels at times. She however points out that just as she’s about to hit a low-end, she envisions a light at the end of that dark road and feels hopeful again.
The recipe for getting out of depressing situations, as the writer depicts, is to dream, love a little, give a little and hope for a better tomorrow. For the writer, virtues such as patience, understanding and peace are powerful enough to take away the sadness that usually engulfs people’s lives.
“A Little Peace” Facts
The original name of this track, in its native German tongue, is Ein bißchen Frieden. This was the song which Nicole Seibert, at 17 years of age, used to emerge victorious from 1982’s Eurovision Song Contest.
Said victory marked the first time Germany actually won the Eurovision Song Contest in 27 years of making an attempt. And during said competition, the teenaged Nicole was able to best musical representatives from 17 other countries.
Upon winning the contest, she translated Ein bißchen Frieden into a number of different European languages, including English, thus giving us “A Little Peace”. And overall the tune was very successful, reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart and in 10 other countries. In fact “A Little Peace” holds the distinction of being the 500th number one in the UK Singles Chart history. And it is also, as voted by fans, one of the most popular songs in the history of Eurovision.
Nicole didn’t write this song. It was composed by Ralph Siegel and Bern Meinunger. And it was translated into English by Paul Greedus.
“A Little Peace” also served as the title track to a complete English-language album Nicole dropped in 1982.
Summary
A Little Peace is a song that shares the view that the world can become better with a little more positivity.
Success of “Ein bißchen Frieden”
The song’s original German version titled “Ein bißchen Frieden” was a smash hit all over Europe. In addition to topping the official Singles Charts in West Germany, it also topped charts in the following European countries:
- Switzerland
- Sweden
- Norway
- Netherlands
- Denmark
- Belgium
- Austria
Success of “A Little Peace”
Shortly after Nicole achieved worldwide fame with “Ein bißchen Frieden”, she released the song in other languages, including English. The English version (“A Little Peace”) also did very well around the globe, especially in countries where English is a primary language. This gave Nicole a UK number 1 hit. She also accomplished the same feat in Ireland. In New Zealand, the song was also a top 40 hit. It also charted in Australia.
For the record, Nicole topped the UK charts on 15th May, 1982 after kicking Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder’s “Ebony & Ivory” off the spot. She enjoyed being on top for just 2 weeks before she also replaced by Madness’ “House of Fun“.
All in all, this song remains Nicole’s most notable work. It is also the most successful single of her entire career. Simply put, this is the song she’s best known for – both in her home country (Germany) and internationally.
