The Cardigans

Released: February 18, 1994

Songwriter: Peter Svensson

Producer: Tore Johansson

[Verse 1]
I'd catch some stars for you
And just for you
And I'd paint the gray sky blue
And just for you

I'd catch some stars for you
And just for you
I'd paint the gray sky blue
And just for you

[Pre-Chorus]
So don't tell me you want the rain

[Chorus]
From a cloudy sky
To wash away the pain
That I've you given you again
I've always tried to find
What satisfies your mind
But I will never know where you are to go
But I want you to know
Do you want a golden ring?
I would buy you anything

[Verse 2]
I'd read some poems for you
Just for you
And I hope they won't make you blue
Like they used to do

[Pre-Chorus]
So please tell me they're like the rain

[Chorus]
From this cloudy sky
That wash away the pain
That I've you given you again
I've always tried to find
What satisfies your mind

[Bridge]
Don't tell me you want the rain
Don't tell me you want the rain

[Chorus]
From this cloudy sky
To wash away the pain
That I've given you again
I've always tried to find
What satisfies your mind
But one can never know where you are to go
But I want you to know
Do you want a golden ring?
I would buy you anything

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

Emmerdale

From the album

Emmerdale (1994)

The Cardigans popular songs

Cloudy SkyThe Cardigans

The Cardigans

Emmerdale