Dana Songs of Praise

Back in 1970, Northern Ireland was in serious turmoil.

Catholics and Protestants fought on the streets of Londonderry and Belfast.

And yet, in the middle of this anger,

a different side of Northern Ireland emerged.

# Snowdrops and daffodils... #

A 16-year-old schoolgirl called Dana surprised everyone

by winning the Eurovision Song Contest with All Kinds Of Everything.

# All kinds of everything

# Remind me of you... #

# It's gonna be a cold, cold Christmas... #

It launched a career that included top ten hits,

success across the Atlantic,

and, to the surprise of many, a career in Irish politics.

Dana's had an extraordinarily varied life,

and today she's my guest on a special Songs Of Praise.

Coming up, some of Dana's favourite songs and hymns.

She's in for a surprise when she returns to her old school,

and Dana meets someone whose life was changed by a project

that's helped create a more peaceful Northern Ireland.

Songs Of Praise today comes from a remarkable building.

This is Air Studios in North London, once an abandoned church,

until Sir George Martin converted it into a recording venue.

Now, for the first time in 40 years,

a congregation is back within these walls.

And they're here, looking forward to our special guest.

Ladies and gentlemen, Dana!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Thank you.

And you are back on home turf,

-because you were born just up the road.

-I was.

I was actually born in Islington, just off the Caledonian Road.

I don't remember a whole lot of it,

but my mother talked about it for all of her life,

she just had such a happy time there, and wonderful neighbours.

She just loved it.

You were young, but the house was crammed with people, wasn't it?

It was, yes, because as people would move to London,

as a lot did in those days, looking for work, then they'd all come.

If my father found anyone at the railway station or whatever,

he'd just bring them home.

And your house always full of music,

which is good, because we've got plenty of it tonight.

-Yes.

-Tell me about the first hymn.

Well, it's a hymn that I hope you'll all know

and you'll all sing along with,

and it's called I Will Sing The Wondrous Story.

-Let's hear it now. Thank you.

-Thank you.

APPLAUSE

APPLAUSE

-Come and have a seat.

-Thank you.

It's a wonderful hymn, that, and without being too sacrilegious,

it's been a kind of wondrous life for you, too, hasn't it?

Well, yes, it has. A lot of things happened in my life

I really never dreamt would ever happen.

That Eurovision Song Contest win in 1970, it changed everything, didn't it?

Totally. Totally changed my life.

I wouldn't be here today but for Eurovision.

And yet it was such a long time ago, if you don't mind my saying so,

it was a time when you were sort of young and fresh and innocent,

it was a very sweet song.

You've had to live with that image all your life since, haven't you?

Well, I suppose so, except for the young. I'm not young any more!

You don't mind? It's not been hard to shake off?

I think part of the problem with people looking at someone,

maybe they think that you think you're better than they are, for Christians.

Maybe they think you're a holy Joe who feels they're better than they are.

The opposite is true, I think you realise how much

you've got to work on yourself and how much you rely on God to get you through life.

And it's interesting, because your career hasn't been plain sailing,

it's been gilded in all sorts of ways,

but you had a period in your life

where you thought you were going to lose that golden voice forever.

Well, I did lose it for quite some time.

In fact, it was five years before I actually came back

-to being able to sing normally again.

-What happened?

I had a growth with a root on one of the vocal cords,

which is a very delicate muscle.

And they thought it might be cancer, thank God it was not.

But the operation to cut into the cord,

of course, that's quite a devastation.

And it took me five years to get back.

How low did you get as a result of that?

I think after I had my first relapse,

I continued downward till I hit rock bottom.

And that particular day I'd had to cancel another comeback,

I was alone in my house and I remember sitting at my kitchen table

and just saying, "If there's anybody up there, please help me."

And I think looking back, that was one of the best prayers I ever prayed.

I didn't think it was a prayer at the time, but I remember thinking,

"Call the doctor and get the name of a teacher," which I did.

-You saw that as answer to prayer?

-Yes, looking back on it.

At the time I just thought, "How could I be so stupid not to think

"to ask my specialist for the name of a teacher?"

And he said he had one sitting on his desk for the past couple of weeks,

and I called her and then I began my walk back.

And she taught you to sing from down here rather than up there.

She did, she taught me how to protect my voice.

She was just a wonderful lady, and I'll always be grateful to her.

What effect did that experience have on you?

Because it made you very vulnerable for a while, didn't it?

I remember thinking, "I'll never be able to sing again."

And suddenly realising, what we take for granted is actually very precious,

whatever it is - being able to walk, being able to talk,

being able to sing...

It's very precious and we need to really remind ourselves

how important it is to appreciate them.

Tell me about the next song.

Well, I wrote it some years ago and it's basically...

I think I almost get really frustrated sometimes,

because we all know people who feel alone,

they feel quite isolated,

and how frustrating it must be for God who's there with us all the time,

but actually, those people see him in us.

So, if we're not his hands and his eyes and, you know,

if we don't love,

then those people may never encounter him.

-It's called I Am The Light.

-Let's hear it now. Ladies and gentlemen, Dana.

APPLAUSE

# Oh, I know why you are crying

# I can feel the pain you feel

# I am walking here beside you

# And my love for you is real

# Yet it seems that you don't know me

# You can't hear the words I say

# Are the eyes of those around you

# Cold and empty as your day?

# I am the light

# The light of the world

# I am the light

# And the light will burn

# Within the hearts of those who love me

# It lights the way for those who yearn

# To see the light

# The light of the world

# I am the light

# And the light will burn

# And like a moth drawn to the flame

# Consumed in my love

# You are born again

# Who will speak my word of comforts?

# Who will love for love of me?

# Who will shine out in the darkness?

# So that all the world can see

# When the flame of love is growing

# Like a tide that never turns

# Like the sun that's never setting

# So the flame of love will burn

# I am the light

# The light of the world

# I am the light

# And the light will burn

# Within the hearts of those who love me

# It lights the way for those who yearn

# To see the light

# The light of the world

# I am the light

# And the light will burn

# And like a moth drawn to the flame

# Consumed in my love

# You are born again

# And like a moth drawn to the flame

# Consumed in my love

# You are born again. #

APPLAUSE

Dana is going back to her roots. Back to Derry, where she grew up.

On the outskirts of the city,

is a collection of abandoned buildings -

Dana's old school, Thornhill College.

Whoa, it's so strange to see this place boarded up, you know.

I suppose in my mind, it's kind of,

as I always remember it and bustling with girls.

I remember my first day.

My school bag was so heavy, I couldn't lift it off the ground.

BELL RINGS

I suppose I just see little snippets of time

and I have memories of the people I went to school with.

It is sad to see it

but just across the road is the new Thornhill,

so it goes on.

In the brand new building, Dana wants to see

if its strong tradition of music teaching still survives.

CHOIR SINGS

# Our motto to the end. #

Well done. Girls, that brought back an awful lot of memories to me.

We always had a huge emphasis on the choir in Thornhill

and I'm glad to see that's carrying on because I think it brings,

you know, the whole year together.

When did you come here?

I came here in the early '60s,

and I left in 1970 when I won Eurovision.

So, I was wearing the same uniform you're wearing.

I took part in the musical and I got the lead role

in my junior year,

only because the girl who had the role got sick.

LAUGHTER

So, I got the lead role in Love From Judy,

which was a great experience. Do you still do the school musicals?

ALL: Yes.

What was your latest one?

ALL: Hairspray.

Hairspray? That's a fantastic... Any of you in lead roles in that?

I was the lead in it, so I was.

-So, will you sing us a few bars of it, then?

-Aye.

# Good morning, Baltimore

# Every day's like an open door. #

That's a short song.

LAUGHTER

'They're a great bunch of girls.

'They just love their music, love their singing and performing.

'I was thinking, you know, how...'

How much things change and yet how little things change

because you know, I could see myself in their position.

'Coming back here was, for me, a kind of,'

a process of uniting the memories with the present day.

Seeing these young girls today and meeting their teachers,

that's lovely to see that ongoing circle of life.

We come to Strasbourg once every month

and we're here from Monday to Thursday

and during that time, we vote on the bulk of the reports.

It's a chance to find out what's going on and for that reason,

it's excellent and of course, it's also a beautiful city.

It was quite a shock to everyone and possibly quite a shock to yourself

when you went into politics.

Oh, yes. I call myself an accidental politician.

And the question rises to my lips - why?

Well, I ran for the presidency in Ireland.

If you're going to start, you might as well start at the top

and work your way down.

But, basically...

But you've been singing successfully, you've got a great career,

you're living in Alabama with your children

and you think, "Ah, I think I'll stand for the Irish presidency."

Well, I was actually asked if I would.

I knew I wouldn't win it, but I knew I had an opportunity to speak

because I was a personality

and therefore I would get exposure for what I had to say.

But what was it you felt so strongly about that you decided to go there?

Well, the Irish constitution is a very special constitution.

It recognises a higher power, it recognises God.

It protects the family,

it protects parents as the first children of their teachers

and it protects life.

So, it's a very special constitution.

Also, because only the Irish people have the last say on any changes.

And there was obviously a...

People felt that they were being forced into change

and that the people were not being listened to.

So, I spoke on behalf of the people who felt

that no-one was listening to them and they were right,

and I spoke on their behalf.

Dana actually means "bold", doesn't it?

Yes, yes, to be bold, to be daring.

Is that, then, a part of your character that was there

all along or did you discover it?

I suppose that we don't know what's within us until we're tested.

We really don't.

And I never dreamt that I would be in the hurly-burly of politics.

Neither did I want to be there.

But there are certain values, I think, that, more and more,

you have to be willing to stand up,

"Well, this is what I believe, this is what I think,

"and I have the right to say it."

Now, you lost the race for the presidency

but you clearly had a taste for it because you stood, then, for Europe

and you got into the European Parliament.

Yes, I was there for five years.

Did you enjoy it, you who hated politics?

I'm not sure "enjoy" is the right word. It was a battle every day.

And politics is like that, you know, you do have to stand your ground.

You're going to lead us now in the hymn, Be Thou My Vision.

The wonderful hymn, it's my favourite.

And very much the right hymn for a politician with a cause.

For anyone facing everyday life, I think we all can benefit from this.

-Let's hear it now.

-Thank you.

APPLAUSE

Londonderry is divided by the River Foyle.

One bank is predominantly Protestant, the other, Catholic.

Last month, something rather remarkable opened,

designed to unite both sides.

After months of construction, the Peace Bridge, as it's known,

is proving extremely popular.

Well, I'm going to try out the bridge

and I'm going to meet someone who says her life

has been transformed by an organisation

that I've supported for a very long time.

And what they do is what this bridge is all about.

-Hi.

-Hi, nice to see you.

Marguerite Bradley grew up on a Catholic estate in Derry.

She knew nothing about her Protestant neighbours.

I went to Catholic schools and my friends were all Catholic.

I had no interaction for any reason with Protestants.

It's just the way I was brought up.

Then, aged 10, Marguerite was selected by a charity

called Project Children to spend the summer in America.

It's a simple but effective idea.

They stay with a host family,

mixing with people of a different Christian tradition.

The journey there is also part of the process.

It was just unbelievable.

900 kids in a plane from both denominations

and it didn't matter if you were Catholic or Protestant.

We were all going to America to have a great summer

and that just changed my life, that one summer.

Do you think that your life would have gone the way it did,

getting your degree, had it not been for Project Children?

Definitely not.

Project Children, when my host family came into my life,

they just inspired me so much.

My dad was great but my host family just were so educational-wise

and kept saying, "Get your degree, it'll teach you loads."

-Did it give you confidence?

-Definitely.

They believed in me, that I could do it

and then I ended up doing it and I needed that in life.

Do you think the work of Project Children helped the peace process?

Definitely. It changes your whole outlook.

I went to college with friends that said,

"Don't talk to them, they're Protestant."

But they're just the same as us.

Like, go talk to them and see how they are.

My whole opinion completely changed and we're just all the same, we're equal.

-And you've kept those friendships from...?

-I have friends from 20 years ago

that I first went out with from Project Children.

They're lifelong friends. I wouldn't part from them.

# Christ be beside me

# Christ be before me

# Christ be behind me

# King of my heart

# Christ be within me

# Christ be below me

# Christ be above me

# Never to part

# Christ on my right hand

# Christ on my left hand

# Christ all around me

# Shield in the strife

# Christ in my sleeping

# Christ in my sitting

# Christ in my rising

# Light of my life

# Christ be in all hearts

# Thinking about me

# Christ be in all tongues

# Telling of me

# Christ be the vision

# In eyes that see me

# In ears that hear me

# Christ ever be. #

APPLAUSE

Dana, I was wondering as I was sitting listening to that, whether that lovely Celtic prayer,

through all the ups and downs of your life,

actually remains, for you, your prayer for life?

Well, it does, because I have a great affection for that prayer

and for the melody, I love it and I find that really,

it's the only way I can get through life, so yes, I love it.

Well, thank you for joining us tonight.

And we finish with a hymn with which any singer can identify,

O For A Thousand Tongues.

Next week, Pam is in Salisbury where she encounters flower power

on a spectacular scale and discovers the remarkable story

of the church on the battlefield.

There's glorious music from Hayley Westenra

and favourite hymns from beautiful Salisbury Cathedral.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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