Released: March 16, 1995

Songwriter: Peter Svensson Magnus Sveningsson

Producer: Tore Johansson

[Intro]
Rise in the morning
Shine 'til the dawning

[Verse 1]
Smooth dreams in leaves
Raised in a teacup
Sticked down to sleep
Like an envelope
Filled up with words for you

Wrapped up in curls
Sweet as the summer
Cheek soft as a fur
Grace in a slumber
Beautiful wonderboy

[Chorus]
Soft beams from an early sun
On my truly beautiful one
Shimmer from a Saturday sun
On my truly beautiful one

[Post-Chorus]
Rise in the morning
Shine 'til the dawning

[Verse 2]
Right up from sleep
Lost in the blankets
Tasting like salt
Roses an' candy bars
Coffee an' oval cigars

Stretched out to breathe
Down from the rooftops
Sticked down to sleep
Like an envelope
Filled up with words for you

[Chorus]
Soft beams from an early sun
On my truly beautiful one
Shimmer from a Saturday sun
On my truly beautiful one

[Outro]
Rise in the morning
Beautiful wonderboy

The Cardigans

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.