"Kärleken är" (; literally " heLove Is"; English title: "Eternal Love") is a song by Swedish

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and

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

singer

Jill Johnson Jill Anna Maria Johnson (born 24 May 1973) is a Swedish country and pop singer, songwriter and TV-host. She performed in the Melodifestivalen 1998 contest, winning with the song " Kärleken är" ("Love Is"), and represented Sweden at the Euro ...

. A

Swedish-language Swedish ( ) is a North Germanic language from the Indo-European language family, spoken predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, making it the fourth most spoken Germanic language, and the first ...

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

about love, it was written by

Ingela Forsman Ingela Birgitta "Pling" Forsman (born 26 August 1950 in , Sweden) is a Swedish lyricist in popular music. As a student Forsman attended the Adolf Fredrik's Music School in Stockholm. 1981–2009, 33 of her songs have competed in the Swedish ...

Bobby Ljunggren Bobby Ljunggren (born 6 June 1961) is a Swedish songwriter. He has entered the Eurovision Song Contest as a composer six times, five times for his native Sweden (1995, 1998, 2006, 2008 and 2010), and once for Lithuania, in 2005. He is a veteran ...

and , and won the Swedish

Melodifestivalen 1998 Sweden was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 with the song "", composed by Håkan Almqvist and Bobby Ljunggren, with lyrics by Ingela "Pling" Forsman, and performed by Jill Johnson. The Swedish participating broadcaster, (SVT), ...

, gaining the right to compete for in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1998 The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 9 May 1998 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster the Br ...

. It finished 10th with 53 points. It was the last Swedish entry in the contest to be sung in Swedish until

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. Although lyricist Ingela "Pling" Forsman did not comment on the background of the song when it won Melodifestivalen and competed at Eurovision, she has since confirmed that the lyrics indeed were inspired by the aftermath of the death of

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William, ...

, in a car accident in

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in 1997. Melodifestivalen genom tiderna, Premium förlag 2006 (first released

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

), page 263-265 - ''Melodifestival 1998, I schlagerns mikrokosmos...'' The chorus in Swedish translates as follows: "An angel flew by on her way to heaven, so free, but she left her smile here on earth – like a warming sun, like heavenly starlight, so that we can contemplate life and its events with a faith; love is..."

Single

The single "Kärleken är" was released on 20 March 1998. It reached #5 on the

Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from IFPI Sverige. It was formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and has been known by its current name s ...

Track listing

# "Kärleken är" (radio version) – 3:00 # "Kärleken är" (instrumental version) – 3:00

List placings

Svensktoppen

"Kärleken är" entered the

Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio Aktiebolag, AB (; "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio programming, radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a television ...

radio chart

Svensktoppen ''Svensktoppen'' () is a weekly record chart airing on Sveriges Radio. Until January 2003, the songs had to be in the Swedish language. Svensktoppen has aired since 1962, except for the years 1982–1985. In the years leading up to the January 20 ...

on 2 May 1998 at #1 and spent a total of six weeks on the listing.

Tracks

"Kärleken är" also featured on Sveriges Radio's hit list

Trackslistan ''Tracks'', or ''Trackslistan'', was a top-20 song list and a program on the Swedish radio channel SR P3. It premiered on 8 September 1984 and was broadcast on Saturday afternoons. The program had a listener vote-in format and was one of the ...

. On 11 April 1998 the song entered the list, and spent eight weeks on the chart, peaking at #6 on 16 May 1998.

English

Jill Johnson recorded the song on her 1998 album '' När hela världen ser på'', both in its Swedish and English versions, the latter entitled "Eternal Love" and retaining the theme of the original Swedish lyrics.

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kärleken är 1998 singles Eurovision songs of 1998 Eurovision songs of Sweden Jill Johnson songs Melodifestivalen songs of 1998 Songs written by Bobby Ljunggren Songs inspired by deaths Songs with lyrics by Ingela Forsman Songs in Swedish Pop ballads Monuments and memorials to Diana, Princess of Wales 1990s ballads