Satellit

"Satellit" (Satellite) was the Swedish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979, performed in Swedish by Ted Gärdestad.

Gärdestad's first four albums were produced by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA, featured backing vocals by Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, and were released on the Polar Music label. He had previously competed in Melodifestivalen, the Swedish pre-selections, three times before winning; in 1973 with "Oh Vilken Härlig Dag" (#4), in 1975 with "Rockin' 'n' Reelin'" (#7) and in 1977 when he and brother Kenneth wrote Lena Andersson's entry "Det Bästa Som Finns" (#8).

The midtempo rock track, originally composed with English lyrics, has a chorus that goes "I feel like a satellite, high in the sky, and now I understand how small the world really is" and the verses include phrases like "'Just like the earth and the moon we're attracted to each other" and "when the sun sets I really need your warmth". The song, which was arranged and produced by guitarist Janne Schaffer, features a guitar and bass riff influenced by Toto's 1978 hit "Hold the Line", and four of the band members - Jeff Porcaro, Steve Porcaro, David Hungate and Steve Lukather - were in fact among the musicians playing on Gärdestad's preceding album Blue Virgin Isles, recorded in Los Angeles, and released in late 1978. The English-language version of the track, "Satellite", was included on subsequent editions of the album, which was issued in both Europe, Australasia and Japan.