The Cardigans

Released: March 16, 1995

Songwriter: Peter Svensson Nina Persson

Producer: Tore Johansson

[Chorus]
So I say "Hey!
Get out of my way
Hey! hey! hey!
You've always been in my way"

[Verse 1]
Listen baby
Thoughts have crossed my mind
And it's clear now
You are not my kind
And I have tried boy
Better ways to say
What I feel now
It seems to plan to stay
But I won't waste a day

[Chorus]
So I said "Hey!
Get out of my way
Hey, hey, hey, hey
You've always been in my way"
And I say "Hey!
(Hello, goodbye)
Get out of my way
Hey, hey, hey, hey
You've always been in my way"

[Verse 2]
Hear now honey
I'll be good to you
If you stay gone
Far out of my view
I'm sick and tired
Of your dramatic ways
And when I think of
All those wasted days
I shake loose of your laces

[Chorus]
And say "Hey!
Get out of my way
Hey, hey, hey, hey
You've always been in my way"

[Bridge]
This is all that I will say
This is all that I will do
I'm not in love with you!

[Chorus]
So I say "Hey!
Get out of my way
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Ooh, you've always been in my way"
And I say "hey!
(Hello, goodbye)
Get out of my way
Hey, hey, hey, hey
And stay out of my way"

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.

more tracks from the album

Life (US Edition)

From the albums

The Cardigans popular songs

Hey! Get Out of My WayThe Cardigans

The Cardigans

Life (US Edition)