"Dover–Calais" is a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

written by

Tommy Ekman Tommy may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tommy (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army * Tommy Giacomelli (born 1974), Brazilian fo ...

and

Christer Sandelin Christer Eric Sandelin (born 5 November 1961) is a Swedish singer, songwriter and musician. He has been a part of two groups. In 1978, he was in the Swedish group Freestyle with Tommy Ekman, Joakim Hagleitner, Gigi Hamilton, Diane Söderholm ...

, and originally performed by

Style Style, or styles may refer to: Film and television * ''Style'' (2001 film), a Hindi film starring Sharman Joshi, Riya Sen, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal * ''Style'' (2002 film), a Tamil drama film * ''Style'' (2004 film), a Burmese film * '' ...

on 22 March 1986 at

Melodifestivalen Melodifestivalen (; ) is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest, and has been staged almo ...

where the song ended up third. The song lyrics describe a love meeting between two people on board a ferryboat moving across the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

between the UK and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in a pre-" Chunnel" era. The song topped the Swedish singles chart, and peaked at 6th position in Norway. At

Svensktoppen ''Svensktoppen'' () is a weekly record chart airing on Sveriges Radio. Until January 2003, the songs had to be in the Swedish language. Svensktoppen has aired since 1962, except for the years 1982–1985. In the years leading up to the January 20 ...

the song stayed for 18 weeks between the period of 13 April–29 June 1986, topping the chart during the seven first weeks. On 29 March 1986 the song also entered

Trackslistan ''Tracks'', or ''Trackslistan'', was a top-20 song list and a program on the Swedish radio channel SR P3. It premiered on 8 September 1984 and was broadcast on Saturday afternoons. The program had a listener vote-in format and was one of the ...

, reaching the first position on 5 April that year.

Track listing and formats

* Swedish 7-inch single :A. "Dover–Calais" – 2:49 :B. "Camera, Action!" – 3:50 * Swedish 12-inch single :A. "Dover–Calais" (Extended Version) – 3:56 :B1. "Drömmar" – 3:52 :B2. "Love Is Blind" – 4:11

Charts

References

Songs about Dover, Kent Songs about France 1980s ballads 1986 singles 1986 songs Melodifestivalen songs of 1986 Number-one singles in Sweden Song recordings produced by Christer Sandelin Songs written by Christer Sandelin Songs in Swedish {{1980s-pop-song-stub