Lovefool

"Lovefool" is a song written by Peter Svensson and Nina Persson for Swedish rock band the Cardigans' third studio album, First Band on the Moon (1996). It was released as the album's lead single on 14 September 1996 in the United Kingdom and internationally on 5 October 1996.

This article is about the Cardigans song. For the Sunshyne song, see Sunshyne. For the album, see Alexis Michelle.

"Lovefool"
Single by the Cardigans
from the album First Band on the Moon
Released14 September 1996 (1996-09-14)
Recorded1995
Genre
Length3:21
LabelStockholm
Mercury
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Tore Johansson
The Cardigans singles chronology
"Hey! Get Out of My Way"
(1995)		 "Lovefool"
(1996)		 "Been It"
(1996)
Music video
"Lovefool" on YouTube
Re-issue cover

Following a re-release in 1997, "Lovefool" found international success, peaking at number two on the UK Singles Chart and achieving moderate success on other European charts. In North America, it reached number three in Canada and number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay Chart (it did not appear on the Hot 100 due to rules in place at the time). In Australasia, the song topped the New Zealand Singles Chart and climbed to number 11 in Australia, earning Gold sales certifications in both regions.

The song was featured in the film Romeo + Juliet just two months after the release of the single, as well as in the 1999 film Cruel Intentions and the 2007 comedy Virgin Territory.

Background

Persson wrote the lyrics to the song at an airport while waiting for a plane. She later said that the song is "quite a sad love song; the meaning of it is quite pathetic, really."[3] She also added that "the biggest hits are the ones that are the easiest to write".[4]

She said that, at the time, the song "was slower and more of a bossa nova". Persson noted that the band knew the potential commercial appeal of the song, saying, "We definitely were aware that it was a single and a catchy song when we wrote it, but the direction it took is not something we could have predicted. It wasn't necessarily our character; it felt like a bit of a freak on the record -- which, objectively, it still is. But then when we were recording, by chance, our drummer started to play that kind of disco beat, and there was no way to get away from it after that".[3]

Music and structure

"Lovefool" is a song that is performed in several keys and modulates based on chorus and verse. The chorus is in the key of A major using a I–IV–ii–V chord progression. The verses use a i–iv–VII–III chord progression in A minor. It is written in common time and moves at 112 beats per minute. The song's middle 8 is four bars long.[5]

Release

The song was initially a hit in Europe, reaching number 15 on the Swedish Singles Chart and peaking at number 21 on the UK Singles Chart on its first release in 1996, and at number two when reissued in 1997 following its use in Romeo + Juliet. It then achieved international success, becoming a number-one hit in New Zealand and peaking just outside the top 10 in Australia at number 11. "Lovefool" became a crossover hit in the US after peaking at number nine on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart then reaching number two on the Hot 100 Airplay chart. It reached number one on the Top 40 Mainstream chart and number two on the Adult Top 40, staying there for eight nonconsecutive weeks behind No Doubt's "Don't Speak" and Jewel's "You Were Meant for Me".[6] It was not eligible to chart on the Hot 100 at the time as singles not made commercially available in the US were ineligible to chart (these rules were later changed in December 1998).

In Persson's words, the immense commercial success of "Lovefool" "freaked [her] out". She explained, "We were kind of snobs. We felt like these things were glitzy, and we felt like, 'No, no, we're a rock band!'"[3]

Critical reception
"It’s one of the best things in life when a song comes along, you listen to it, and you just think: “Well, that’s perfect isn’t it?” Every little bit of this three minutes and 14 seconds is absolutely, utterly unimprovable, from the little bllllrrrrring guitar intro, all the way through to that gorgeous ritardando and final chord at the end. Impossibly stylish, groovy and ice cool, this is, you’ll be unsurprised to hear, still brilliant, fully 20 years on. The Swedes, they build things to last – Volvos and ‘Lovefool’, two sides of the same coin."

—Dave Fawbert from ShortList talking about the song.[7]

Justin Chadwick from Albumism said "Lovefool" is "one of the more exciting straight-ahead pop songs of the contemporary era", describing it as "pure, exquisitely produced pop perfection."[8] John Bush from AllMusic wrote that it is a "depressing lament of unrequited affection".[9] Annie Zaleski from The A.V. Club described it as "giddy".[10] Tom Moon from Knight-Ridder Newspapers said that the "mercilessly catchy" song "has become a rallying cry for jilted lovers everywhere."[11] Los Angeles Times noted that Persson "begs for lies on the almost criminally catchy" tune.[12] Bryan Lark from The Michigan Daily called it a "sugary sing-along".[13]

Thanos Lolis from Miscellany News said it is "three minutes of sparkly, ABBAesque disco, very danceable and very capable of making a global hit." He also noted that "this is catchy kitsch-in-sync".[14] Music & Media stated that it's a "trademark Cardigans track", adding that "this energetic mid-tempo single suggests summertime follies and lazy craziness. The cheerful chorus hints at old time disco."[15] NME described the song as "dizzy disco".[16] People Magazine labeled it as "boppy".[17] Jason Cohen from Rolling Stone noted that Persson's "airy lack of affectation actually deepens her dark, romantic sentiments when she chirps cheerily about her status as a willingly deceived doormat".[18]

Sal Cinquemani from Slant described it as a "tongue-in-cheek smash", and noted that "Lovefool" "criminally crowned the band as one-hit wonders in the U.S."[19] Charles Aaron from Spin called it "lounge music so chilly with irony that you better bring a sweater, binky."[20] Nick Mirov from The Stanford Daily noted that Persson is "sounding self-assured and confident" when she is "getting her own heart broken".[21] Jaime Holguin from Star-News said it is a "kitschy pop gem" and "sticky sweet".[22] Ian Hyland from Sunday Mirror stated that it is the "best pop song" of 1997.[23] Treblezine wrote that "it’s not difficult to understand the effect of this song. It’s got that certain quality that digs right down into your being and glows with a precise sense of rhythm and pleasure."[24]

"Lovefool" came eighteenth in the 1996 Pazz & Jop poll and nineteenth the following year.[25][26] Slant Magazine listed the song number 40 on its "100 Best Singles of the 1990s" list,[27] and Pitchfork Media ranked it number 66 on its "Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s".[28] Treblezine listed the song at number 50 in their "Top 100 Singles of the ’90s" in 2007.[24] In 2012, Porcys listed the song at number 2 in their ranking of "100 Singles 1990-1999".[29]

Music video

Two videos were shot for the song. The first one for the UK and Europe—"much more bleak, much more our original style" says Nina Persson.[30] "We had an actor playing a sort of handsome-man-love-interest of mine, and he was supposed to be a kind of gangster and the band played his gang members."

The second one was directed by Geoff Moore in New York.[3] It features a man being lost on an island and putting a message in a bottle into the water. A woman implied to be his lover is shown on a dock reading a newspaper and at the end of the video receives and reads the message and smiles. The video also shows the band performing the song in what looks to be the interior of the bottle released by the man lost at sea, as well as Nina Persson looking out from the bottle's neck and later through a periscope at the woman. Midway through the song, the band is also interviewed by several scuba equipment-wearing reporters who descend from a ladder into the room.

Track listing
  1. "Lovefool"
  2. "Nasty Sunny Beam"
  3. "Iron Man" (First Try)

Re-issue 1

  1. "Lovefool" (radio edit)
  2. "Lovefool" (Tee's Club Radio)
  3. "Lovefool" (Tee's Frozen Sun Mix)
  4. "Lovefool" (Puck version)

Re-issue 2

  1. "Lovefool" (Radio edit)
  2. "Sick & Tired" (live)
  3. "Carnival" (live)
  4. "Rise & Shine" (live)

Charts

Cover versions

Samplings

Justin Bieber sampled the refrain for his 2009 song "Love Me".

Twocolors version
"Lovefool"
Single by Twocolors
Released7 May 2020 (2020-05-07)
Recorded2020
GenreEurodance
Length3:13
LabelVirgin
Songwriter(s)
Twocolors singles chronology
"Overload"
(2016)		 "Lovefool"
(2020)
Music video
"Lovefool" on YouTube

The German electronic duo Twocolors recorded a cover of the song in 2020.[81] It charted in Germany and many European charts. It topped the charts in Poland[82] and achieved great success in post-Soviet countries, especially in Russia as well. A version of the song featuring American singer Pia Mia was released on 12 November 2020.[83]

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Poland (ZPAV)[108] 2× Platinum 40,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Media appearance

The song was featured in the films Romeo + Juliet, Cruel Intentions, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and Hot Fuzz (in a parody of Romeo + Juliet).

The song was used in television shows, a season three episode of the American version of The Office, a season one episode of Nip/Tuck, in season one of My Name Is Earl, as well as the films In 1997, the band played the song on the graduation episode of Beverly Hills, 90210, several episodes of Daria, All My Children, Sunset Beach, and The Young and the Restless, Haven, in the sixth episode of Orphan Black season one, and House of Hancock.

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