Sleeping in My Car

"Sleeping in My Car" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released on 7 March 1994 as the lead single from their fifth studio album, Crash! Boom! Bang! (1994). The song was composed by Per Gessle in under an hour, and was the final song the band recorded for the album. It is a pop rock song containing elements drawn from pop punk. Marie Fredriksson's vocal range on the track spans over three octaves. The band performed the song at the inaugural 1994 MTV Europe Music Awards.[1]

"Sleeping in My Car"
Single by Roxette
from the album Crash! Boom! Bang!
Released7 March 1994
RecordedJanuary 1994
StudioEMI Studios, Stockholm
Genre
Length3:32
LabelEMI
Songwriter(s)Per Gessle
Producer(s)Clarence Öfwerman
Roxette singles chronology
"Almost Unreal"
(1993)		 "Sleeping in My Car"
(1994)		 "Crash! Boom! Bang!"
(1994)
Music video
"Sleeping in My Car" on YouTube

The song was an immediate commercial success in numerous territories, including Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It became the duo's second number one single in their home country, and peaked within the top twenty in nearly twenty other territories. It also peaked at number seven on Billboard's European Hot 100 Singles. In Canada, the song reached the top three on two different national charts. In contrast, it was the duo's final song to enter the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 50.

Composition and style

"Sleeping in My Car" was the final song the band recorded for Crash! Boom! Bang!, and was written by Per Gessle. In the liner notes of their 1995 greatest hits compilation Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus!, Gessle described how, on listening to the first playback of the album just before Christmas 1993, the duo realised that it was "missing something. It all sounded so... perfectly grown up." He elaborated: "We had worked for a year, much too long, endless hours of studio time... I mean, I loved it but there was too little P-O-P. Went straight home, really pissed off and came up with this neanderthal-riff and wrote it in an hour."[2]

According to Ultimate Guitar, the track is an uptempo pop rock song, with a moderately fast tempo of 135 beats per minute. The song contains elements of pop punk, and its verse is composed of an F♯m–E–F♯m–D–F♯m–E–C♯–D sequence, while the chorus consists of a sequence of F♯–C♯–D♯m–B–F♯–C♯–B–C♯. The first two lines of the bridge are made up almost entirely of slash chords, consisting of two repetitions of a F#–C#/F–B/D#–F#/C# sequence. Marie Fredriksson's vocal range in the song spans over three octaves, from a bass note of F♯3 in the first verse to a C♯5 in the final chorus.[3]

When Roxette performed in the Workers Indoor Arena in Beijing, China in 1995 during the "Crash! Boom! Bang! Tour", Chinese government officials demanded that the band alter the lyrics of this song.[4] "We agreed, but didn't change them in the end," said Gessle.[5] Finnish melodic death metal band Children of Bodom included a cover of "Sleeping in My Car" as a bonus track on their 2013 album Halo of Blood.

Critical reception

AllMusic editor Bryan Buss wrote that with "their loose, jangly guitars", "Sleeping in My Car" is a "skillful pop/rock song" and noted further that it "might have been too pop for rock listeners and too rock for mid-'90s pop fans."[6] Larry Flick from Billboard said "that other popular act from Sweden ends a lengthy break from recording with a breezy pop/rocker that is easily its best single since "It Must Have Been Love"." He added, "Crisp production is heavy on tightly woven electric/acoustic guitar swapping and thunderous drumming, while singer Marie Fredriksson proves her evolution into a pouty rock belter. First single from the forthcoming "Crash! Boom! Bang!" is a sunny li'l toe-tapper that has already done well all over the world. A similar fate in the U.S. is likely."[7] Cashbox commented, "Well now, Roxette, no stranger to No. 1 records, has returned, hoping to recapture its past glories with this light and airy pop gem, already a hit across Europe." They stated that the song "stays true to the duo’s hit-filled past, mixing lightweight guitar lines, the sharpest pop production and Marie Fredriksson’s soaring vocals into a sure-fire hit single."[8] Swedish newspaper Expressen said that Fredriksson "has not sung so cocky" since "Dressed for Success".[9] Dave Sholin from Gavin Report noted that the duo "unleash some hot pop/rock" on the song.[10] Another Swedish newspaper, Göteborgsposten called it a "typical Roxette song in good old pop tradition." They added that it has a chorus "that stick quickly".[11] People wrote that "drive-time throwaways" like "Sleeping in My Car" "sport write-them-in-your-sleep hooks".[12]

Commercial performance

The song was an immediate commercial success throughout Europe, and became their second number one single in their native Sweden, where it debuted at number one.[13] It spent a total of three weeks on top of the Swedish Singles Chart.[14] The song peaked at number two in Denmark and Finland—held off the top spot in both countries by Dr. Alban's "Look Who's Talking!".[15][16] The song peaked in the top 10 of numerous other national record charts, including Austria, Belgium, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. It also peaked at number seven on Billboard's European Hot 100 Singles.[15] The song was also a hit in Germany, where it peaked at number 11 for two non-consecutive weeks, and spent a total of four months on the German Singles Chart.[17]

"Sleeping in My Car" became the duo's final chart success in Australia and New Zealand, peaking within the top 20 in both territories. The duo would have only one further single reach the top 50 in each country: "Run to You" (number 49 in Australia) and "Crash! Boom! Bang!" (number 50 in New Zealand).[18][19] It was also the final Roxette song to appear on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number 50.[20] Conversely, the song was a major commercial success in Canada, peaking at number two on the RPM Top Singles chart.[21] Likewise, the song peaked at number three on The Record's concurrent singles chart—which incorporated airplay into its methodology.[22]

Formats and track listings

All songs written by Per Gessle.

  • 7" single and cassette (Australia 8650694 · Europe 8650697 · UK EM314 · US 4KM-58143)
  1. "Sleeping in My Car" – 3:33
  2. "The Look" (Unplugged Version) – 5:11
  • Australian and EU CD single (8650712)
  1. "Sleeping in My Car" – 3:33
  2. "The Look" (Unplugged Version) – 5:11
  3. "Sleeping in My Car" (The Stockholm Demo Version) – 3:13
  • UK and US CD single (UK CDEM314 · US E2-58143)
  1. "Sleeping in My Car" – 3:33
  2. "The Look" (Unplugged Version) – 5:11
  3. "Sleeping in My Car" (The Stockholm Demo Version) – 3:13
  4. "Almost Unreal" – 3:59

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus![2]

Charts

References
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  3. "Sleeping In My Car by Roxette chords". Ultimate-Guitar.com. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  4. "Roxette lyrics censored in Beijing". The Albany Herald: 2. 20 February 1995. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  5. "Rolling Stones play China". thedailyroxette. 10 April 2006. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
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  8. "Pop Singles: Reviews" (PDF). Cashbox. p. 27. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  9. Expressen. 8 March 1994.
  10. Sholin, Dave (3 June 1994). "Gavin Picks: Singles" (PDF). Gavin Report. p. 66. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  11. Göteborgsposten. 4 March 1994.
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