The Cardigans

Released: January 1, 1994

Songwriter: Lars-Olof Johansson Peter Svensson Magnus Sveningsson

Producer: Tore Johansson

[Chorus]
It's closing time, and a well-known fact
Is that life is very short
It's closing time says the band
And it seems that life is very short

[Verse 1]
The baker in town was fat as a cow
At the end of the day he ate all remains
The baker in town was murdered one day
An order was left of 200 pies
We've all got some vice
After closing time

[Interlude]
So this is it!
The carnival is now heading for a new town
We hope you enjoyed the show
The party at Gordon's developed into a chaos
But the report says no one was hurt
And we've also heard that Charley actually did solve the case
The gruesome killing of the bakerman
Finally, the clown left the circus to become a plumber
He says: "suits me just fine, and life is very fine
And this is closing time

[Chorus]
It's closing time, and a well-known fact
Is that life is very short
It's closing time says the band
And it seems that life is very short
It's closing time, and a well-known fact
Is that life is very short
It's closing time says the band
And it seems that life is very short
La la la la, la la lalala
La la la la la la la
La la la la, la lalalalalala
La la la la la la la
La la la la, la la lalala
La la la la la la la
La la la la, la lalalalalala
La la la la la la la
La la la la, la la lalala
La la la la la la la
La la la la, la lalalalalala
La la la la la la la

[Outro]
Life - greatest of all
Life - strongest of all
But at the same time
Most delicate time
Could well end in a moment

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

From the album

Life (1995)

The Cardigans popular songs

Closing TimeThe Cardigans

The Cardigans

Life