The Cardigans

Released: August 12, 1996

Songwriter: Magnus Sveningsson Peter Svensson

Producer: Tore Johansson

[Verse 1]
How I always memorize every single misery
And I seem to glorify everything inside of me

[Pre-Chorus]
And the hero never dies
If the lover hides between the sheets
There's no escape 'cause you can't sleep
And then you'll see you're just like me

[Chorus]
That's what you called waste of time
I'll be waiting down the line
That's what you called waste of time
Waiting for your valentine
That's what you called waste of time
I know where your hero hides
That's why you don't sleep tonight
That's what I call, that's what you call
That's what I call life

[Verse 2]
With a hero in the past, you hang on to history
Such a loss will always last and there's no recovery

[Pre-Chorus]
And the hero never dies
If the lover hides between the sheets
There's no escape 'cause you can't sleep
And then you'll see you're just like me

[Chorus]
That's what you called waste of time
I'll be waiting down the line
That's what you called waste of time
Waiting for your valentine
That's what you called waste of time
I know where your hero hides
That's why you don't sleep tonight
That's what I call, that's what you call
That's what I call, that's what you call
That's what I call, that's what you call
That's what I
(That's what I call life)

[Outro]
That's what you called waste of time
That's what you called waste of time
That's what you called waste of time
That's why you don't sleep tonight
You're waiting for your valentine

One of the most pleasing pop groups of the ‘90s, the Cardigans specialized in sugary confections that would grow annoying very quickly if they weren’t backed by solid musicianship and clever arrangements. The band’s 1995 breakout album, Life, reflected the Cardigans at their most saccharine – the sunny disposition of vocalist Nina Persson being the major argument in favor – and critics inserted the group into the space age pop revivalist camp. the Cardigans later proved that they were more difficult to pigeonhole, however.

Even the band’s origins showed that their later appearance was quite misleading; two heavy metal fanatics formed the group in October 1992 in Jonkoping, Sweden. Guitarist Peter Svensson met bassist Magnus Sveningsson in a hardcore group, though he had previously trained in music theory and jazz arranging. The two later grew tired of metal and decided to form a pop band with vocalist Nina Persson – an art-school friend who had never sung professionally – plus keyboard player Lars-Olof Johansson and drummer Bengt Lagerberg.

All five Cardigans moved into a small apartment in 1993 and began recording a demo tape that entered the hands of producer Tore Johansson later that year. He liked what he heard and invited the group to record at his Malmö studio. Signed to the dance-oriented Stockholm label, the Cardigans released Emmerdale in May 1994. The single “Rise & Shine” became a hit on Swedish radio soon after the release of the LP, and a readers poll in Sweden’s Slitz magazine voted Emmerdale the best album of 1994.

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