"Lovefool" is a song written by Peter Svensson and

Nina Persson Nina Elisabet Persson (; born 6 September 1974) is the lead singer and lyricist for the Swedish rock band The Cardigans. She also has worked as a solo artist, releasing two albums as A Camp and one under her own name, and has appeared as a guest ...

for Swedish rock band

the Cardigans The Cardigans are a Swedish rock band formed in Jönköping, Sweden in 1992. The main lineup of the band consisted of guitarist Peter Svensson, bassist Magnus Sveningsson, drummer Bengt Lagerberg, keyboardist Lars-Olof Johansson and lead sing ...

' third studio album, '' First Band on the Moon'' (1996). It was released as the album's

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

on 10 August 1996 in Japan. In the United States, the song was serviced to radio two days later. A few months after its release, the track was included in the

Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony "Baz" Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962) is an Australian film director, producer, writer, and actor whose various projects extend from film and television into opera, theatre, music, and the recording industries. He is regarded by ...

film ''

Romeo + Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet or Romeo & Juliet may also refer to: Ballets * ''Romeo and Juliet'', a ballet score by Constant Lambert * Romeo and Juliet (Prokofiev), ''Romeo and Juliet'' (Prokofiev), a ...

'', helping the song gain international recognition. "Lovefool" peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart following a re-release in 1997 and achieved moderate success on other European charts. In North America, it reached number three in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and number two on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot 100 Airplay The Radio Songs chart (previously named Hot 100 Airplay until 2014 and Top 40 Radio Monitor until July 1993) is released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and measures the airplay of songs being played on radio stations throughout the United States ...

chart (it did not appear on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

due to rules in place at the time). In

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

, the song topped the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official Aotearoa Music Charts, formerly the Official New Zealand Music Chart (), is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The M ...

and climbed to number 11 in Australia, earning

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

sales certifications in both regions.

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 A love song is a song about love, falling in love, heartbreak after a breakup, and the feelings that these experiences bring. Love songs can be found in a variety of different music genres. They can come in various formats, from sad and emotion ...

; the meaning of it is quite pathetic, really." She also added that "the biggest hits are the ones that are the easiest to write". 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".

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 A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The A major scale is: Changes needed for the ...

using a I–IV–ii–V

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural, or simply changes) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from ...

. The verses use a vi–ii–V–I

C major C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel min ...

. It is written in

common time A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

and moves at 112

beats per minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...

. The song's middle 8 is four bars long.

Release

The song was initially a hit in several European countries, reaching number 15 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 ...

and peaking at number 21 on the UK Singles Chart during its first release in 1996. Following its appearance in ''

'', the song gained international attention, eventually reaching a new peak of number two on the UK Singles Chart following a re-release in April 1997. 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, reaching number two on the

chart. It reached number one on the Top 40/Mainstream chart and number two on the

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Syste ...

, staying there for eight nonconsecutive weeks. The single was not eligible to chart on the

at the time since singles not made commercially available in the US were ineligible to chart. In Persson's words, the immense commercial success of "Lovefool" "freaked erout". 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!'"

Critical reception

Kevin Courtney from ''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' declared the song as "a quirky, bittersweet tune about love, loss and lies." Tom Moon from ''

Knight-Ridder Newspapers Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. It was bought by McClatchy on June 27, 2006, allowing the latter to become the second largest newspaper publisher in the United States at the time ...

'' named it "mercilessly catchy", noting that it "has become a rallying cry for jilted lovers everywhere." Sara Scribner from ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' opined that Persson "begs for lies" on a "almost criminally catchy" tune. Bryan Lark from ''

The Michigan Daily ''The Michigan Daily'', also known as "''The Daily''", is the independent student newspaper of the University of Michigan published in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Established on September 29, 1890, the newspaper is financially and editorially independe ...

'' called it a "sugary sing-along". Thanos Lolis from '' Miscellany News'' said it is "three minutes of sparkly,

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

esque

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

, very danceable and very capable of making a global hit." He also described it as "catchy kitsch-in-sync". Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' stated that it's a "trademark Cardigans track", adding that "this energetic mid-tempo single suggests summertime follies and lazy craziness. The cheerful

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...

hints at old time disco." A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' gave it four out of five, commenting, "Prepare for world domination by these Swedish popsters, whose first single ..takes their candy pop style and injects it with a distinct Seventies disco feel." ''Music Week'' editor Alan Jones added, "It's a quaint and quirky pop nugget with a smooth, caressing vocal and a sublime hook. It seems certain to earn the group their biggest hit yet." Mark Sutherland from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' described it as "dizzy disco". A reviewer from ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'' magazine labeled it as "boppy". Jason Cohen from ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' 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".

Charles Aaron Charles Aaron is an American music journalist and editor, formerly for ''Spin'' magazine, where he worked for 23 years. Personal life Charles Aaron was born in Rockingham, North Carolina, and raised in Asheboro, North Carolina and Rome, Georgia ...

from ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' called it "

lounge music Lounge music is a type of easy listening music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It may be meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place, usually with a tranquil theme, such as a jungle, an island paradise or outer space. The ra ...

so chilly with irony that you better bring a sweater, binky." Nick Mirov from ''

The Stanford Daily ''The Stanford Daily'' is the student-run, independent daily newspaper serving Stanford University. ''The Daily'' is distributed throughout campus and the surrounding community of Palo Alto, California, United States. It has published since the ...

'' noted that Persson is "sounding self-assured and confident" when she is "getting her own heart broken". Jaime Holguin from ''

Star-News ''StarNews'' is an American, English language daily newspaper for Wilmington, North Carolina, and its surrounding area (known as the Lower Cape Fear (region), Cape Fear). It is North Carolina's oldest newspaper in continuous publication. It was ...

'' viewed it as a "kitschy pop gem" and "sticky sweet". Ian Hyland from ''

Sunday Mirror The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marked ...

'' named it the "best pop song" of 1997.

Retrospective response

Justin Chadwick from Albumism said "Lovefool" is "one of the more exciting straight-ahead pop songs of the contemporary era", declaring it as "pure, exquisitely produced pop perfection." John Bush from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

deemed it a "depressing lament of unrequited affection".

Annie Zaleski Annie Zaleski is a ''New York Times'' best-selling author and music historian. Career Zaleski is a regular writer for mainstream media outlets such as The Guardian and NPR Music, and a columnist at ''Salon''. She is based in Cleveland, Ohio w ...

from ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' described it as "giddy". Dave Fawbert from ''

ShortList A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates (sometimes via intermediate lists known as "long lists"). The length of short lists varie ...

'' commented, "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 –

Volvo The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...

s and 'Lovefool', two sides of the same coin." Sal Cinquemani from '' Slant'' declared it as a "tongue-in-cheek smash", and noted that "Lovefool" "criminally crowned the band as one-hit wonders in the U.S." ''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." "Lovefool" ranked 18th in ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

''s 1996

Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...

poll and 19th the following year. ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'' ranked the song number 40 on its "100 Best Singles of the 1990s" list, and ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' ranked it number 66 on its "Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s" in 2010 and number 64 on its "The 250 Best Songs of the 1990s" in 2022. In 2007, Treblezine ranked the song number 50 in their "Top 100 Singles of the '90s". In 2012, ''Porcys'' ranked it number two in their list of "100 Singles 1990–1999". In 2017, ''

'' ranked "Lovefool" number four in their list of "The 100 Greatest Pop Songs of 1997", and in 2023, the magazine ranked it among the "500 Best Pop Songs of All Time".

Music video

Three music videos were shot for the song. The first one for Europe—"much more bleak, much more our original style" says Nina Persson. "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. It features a man being lost on an island and putting a

message in a bottle A message in a bottle (abbrev. MIB) is a form of communication in which a message is sealed in a container (typically a bottle) and released into a conveyance medium (typically a body of water). Messages in bottles have been used to send distres ...

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

looking out from the bottle's neck and later through a

periscope A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position. In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...

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. The third and last music video was created to promote

's movie ''

''. Similar to the second music video, this video replaces some scenes with movie clips featuring

Leonardo DiCaprio Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (; ; born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for Leonardo DiCaprio filmography, his work in biographical and period films, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received ...

Claire Danes Claire Catherine Danes (born April 12, 1979) is an American actress. Prolific in film and television since her teens, she is the recipient of three Primetime Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards. In 2012, ''Time (magazine), Time'' named he ...

and

John Leguizamo John Alberto Leguizamo Peláez (, ; ; born July 22, 1960 or 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and film producer. He has appeared in more than 100 films, produced more than 20 films and documentaries, made more than 30 televisio ...

Track listings

Original release

* European CD single, UK 7-inch and cassette single # "Lovefool" – 3:16 # "Nasty Sunny Beam" – 2:53 * UK, Australasian, and Japanese CD single # "Lovefool" – 3:16 # "Nasty Sunny Beam" – 2:53 # "

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, the character first appearan ...

" (first try) – 3:39

Re-release

* European CD1 # "Lovefool" (radio edit) – 3:16 # "Lovefool" ( Tee's's club radio) – 3:21 # "Lovefool" (Tee's Frozen Sun mix) – 7:50 # "Lovefool" (Puck version) – 3:14 * European CD2 and UK cassette single # "Lovefool" (radio edit) – 3:17 # "Lovefool" (Tee's club radio) – 3:20 * UK CD1 # "Lovefool" (radio edit) – 3:17 # "Lovefool" (Tee's club radio) – 3:21 # "Lovefool" (Tee's Frozen Sun mix) – 7:50 * UK CD2 # "Lovefool" (radio edit) – 3:17 # " Sick & Tired" (live) – 3:34 # "

Carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

" (live) – 3:32 # " Rise & Shine" (live) – 4:01

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Twocolors version

The German electronic duo Twocolors recorded a cover of the song in 2020. It charted in Germany and many European charts. It topped the charts in Poland 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.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Other cover versions

* American actress and singer

Leighton Meester Leighton Marissa Meester ( ; born April 9, 1986) is an American actress, singer, and model. She is known for her starring role as Blair Waldorf on the CW television series ''Gossip Girl'', which ran from 2007 to 2012. She has also appeared in fi ...

performed a version of the song in June 2015 for ''

'' A.V. Undercover series. * In 2010, Japanese pop trio

Perfume Perfume (, ) is a mixture of fragrance, fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), Fixative (perfumery), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agre ...

teamed up with Pepsi for a Pepsi NEX commercial in Japan, where they performed a stylized cover of The Cardigans’ “Lovefool”. They covered “Lovefool,” produced by

Yasutaka Nakata is a Japanese music producer and DJ. He formed the group capsule (band), capsule in 1997 with vocalist Toshiko Koshijima and himself as composer and record producer. The group debuted in 2001 with the song "Sakura". He is known for being the ...

, but the full version never saw an official release, making it a unique, one-off tie-in with the commercial. * Japanese pop singer Dream Ami has recorded a cover of the song. * Musical collective Postmodern Jukebox recorded a cover of this song in the style of

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

and

big band music A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

. * Bad Suns released their cover of "Lovefool" in the style of psychedelic and funk influences after first playing it live during their tour performances.

Samplings

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

interpolated the chorus in his 2009 song " Love Me". * Claire Rosinkranz interpolated the chorus for her 2021 single "Frankenstein". * American singer

Sabrina Carpenter Sabrina Annlynn Carpenter (born May 11, 1999) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She first gained prominence starring on the Disney Channel series ''Girl Meets World'' (2014–2017). She signed with the Disney Music Group, Disney ...

performed a mashup of her 2022 song "

Feather Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and an exa ...

" with the song's chorus being sampled and sung in her performance on Weekend 2 of Coachella 2024, which was held at the

Empire Polo Club The Empire Polo Club is a 1,000-acre event venue in Indio, California, located in the Coachella Valley of Riverside County, California, Riverside County, approximately 22 miles southeast of Palm Springs, California, Palm Springs. It was founded i ...

Indio, California Indio (Spanish language, Spanish for "Indian") is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. Indio is approximately east of Los Angeles, east of Palm Springs, ...

. * K-pop girl group IVE interpolated the chorus in their 2023 song " Off the Record".

References

External links

"Lovefool" lyrics
* {{Authority control 1996 songs 1996 singles 1997 singles The Cardigans songs Mercury Records singles Number-one singles in New Zealand Number-one singles in Poland Number-one singles in Russia Number-one singles in Scotland Polydor Records singles Songs written by Nina Persson Songs written by Peter Svensson Stockholm Records singles Virgin Records singles