The Cardigans

Released: March 16, 1995

Songwriter: Peter Svensson Magnus Sveningsson

Producer: Tore Johansson

[Verse 1]
Once he gets a mystic call
Jump into his motorcar
Once we're rolling down the road
He's forgotten where to go

[Pre-Chorus]
Travelling with Charley
My detective darling

[Chorus]
My agent hasn't solved a case
My agent never finds a trace
But Charley has always style
Charley is always nice
My agent hasn't solved a case
My agent never finds a trace
But Charley has always style
Charley is always nice
Poor Charley
He would be nothing without me

[Verse 2]
Once I clear his memory
Bet he'll crash into a tree
Once we're getting to the place
Someone else has solved the case

[Pre-Chorus]
Travelling with Charley
My detective darling

[Chorus]
My agent hasn't solved a case
My agent never finds a trace
But Charley has always style
Charley is always nice
My agent hasn't solved a case
My agent never finds a trace
But Charley has always style
Charley is always nice
Poor little Charley
He would be nothing without me
But I do love him

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

Travelling With CharleyThe Cardigans

The Cardigans

Life