"Mil etter mil" was the Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1978

Eurovision Song Contest 1978

The Eurovision Song Contest 1978 was the 23rd of its kind, and was held on 22 April 1978 in Paris. With Denise Fabre and Léon Zitrone as the presenters - the first time more than one presenter hosted the contest - the contest was won by Izhar Cohen & the Alphabeta who represented Israel, with their...

, performed in Norwegian

Norwegian language

Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...

 by Jahn Teigen

Jahn Teigen

Jahn Teigen is a Norwegian singer and musician. Jahn received a knighthood from H.M. King Harald V. He represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest three times, in 1978, 1982 and 1983. His given name was Jan, he added the silent H later. Since October 2006 he has been living in Sweden...

.

The song is a ballad, with Teigen describing his long journey to find someone and telling this person that he simply cannot walk any further - having walked "mile after mile" already.

By all accounts, Teigen did not like Carsten Klouman

Carsten Klouman

Carsten Klouman was born in Oslo and was a Norwegian pianist, arranger and composer. He was the son of actor Thoralf Klouman....

's brass-dominated jazz arrangement; when the song was issued as a record a few weeks after the contest, it was in a rock version with more drums and guitar, a bit of strings and no brass. This version was recorded in Norwegian and English (English lyric by American singer/songwriter David Cooper), it was a huge hit in Norway and was also issued in many other countries. Teigen also recorded a mock-Russian version on his best-selling comedy album Brakara with the group Prima Vera

Prima Vera (band)

Prima Vera was a Norwegian comedy group existing from 1976 to 1984. For the most part, their music was humorous songs, often Norwegian versions of well-known international hits with totally unrelated, funny or sarcastic lyrics. The group ended in 1984 when one of the members, Jahn Teigen, left the...

; this version had most of the guitars mixed out.

The song was performed second on the night, following Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

's Colm C. T. Wilkinson with "Born To Sing

Born To Sing (song)

"Born To Sing" was the Irish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1978, performed in English by Colm C. T. Wilkinson ....

" and preceding Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

's Ricchi e Poveri

Ricchi e Poveri

Ricchi e Poveri is one of the most famous Italian pop music groups in Europe and Latin America. Active since the late 1960s, they have sold over 20 million records.-Formation and early success:...

 with "Questo amore

Questo Amore

"Questo amore" was the Italian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1978, performed in Italian by Ricchi e Poveri, at the time a quartet consisting of Franco Gatti, Angela Brambati, Angelo Sotgiu and Marina Occhiena...

". At the close of voting, it had received the dreaded nul points, placing 20th (last) in a field of 20.

It was succeeded as Norwegian representative

Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest

Norway has been participating in the Eurovision Song Contest since 1960 and only been absent twice: in 1970, when they boycotted the contest over disagreements about the voting structure, and in 2002, when they did not qualify....

 at the 1979 contest

Eurovision Song Contest 1979

The Eurovision Song Contest 1979 was the 24th Eurovision Song Contest and was held on 31 March 1979 in Jerusalem, Israel. The presenters were Daniel Pe'er and Yardena Arazi, and the event was staged at the International Convention Center. Representing Israel, Gali Atari and Milk and Honey were the...

 by Anita Skorgan

Anita Skorgan

Anita Skorgan is a Norwegian singer-songwriter. She was once married to Jahn Teigen, another successful Norwegian singer-songwriter...

 (Teigen married her later) with "Oliver

Oliver (song)

"Oliver" was the Norwegian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979, performed in Norwegian by Anita Skorgan. This was Skorgan's second participation in the Contest; in 1977 she had placed 14th out of 18 entries with "Casanova"....

".