Released: October 14, 2005

Songwriter: Peter Svensson Nathan Larson Nina Persson

Producer: Tore Johansson

[Verse 1]
Slow dancing tight
My barren heart and I
Your name used to taste so sweet
Then you beat the love right out of me

[Pre-Chorus]
It's a mystery how people behave
How we long for a life as a slave
When he kissed me I gladly gave in
To a fight nobody could win

[Verse 2]
Man, he left me blue
And if I could, I would do it too
I tell you now like I told you before
Love is a powerful force

[Pre-Chorus]
And it's a mystery how people behave
How we long for a life as a slave
And tumble into any open arms
That will only ever do you harm

[Chorus]
Oh, you, you, it's always you
The best kisser that I ever knew
True love is cruel love
Not much to be proud of
Nerve-wrecking, acrobatic backwards bend
All for a happy end

[Pre-Chorus]
It's a mystery how people behave
How we worry ourselves to the grave
When he kissed me I lost everything
Then I got up and did it again

[Chorus]
Oh, you, you, it's always you
The hardest hitter that I ever knew
True love is cruel love
Not much to be proud of
Ass-kissing, mercy-missing faithless friend
All for a happy end

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.