Spending My Time

Album: Joyride (1991)
Charted: 22 32
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Songfacts®:

  • Roxette's Per Gessle wrote this breakup ballad with Mats "MP" Persson, a Swedish guitarist who was his former bandmate in the group Gyllene Tider. Although it was Roxette's first charting single to miss the Top 30, Gessle believes it could have been a big hit if their record label hadn't dropped the ball. "I'm sure it would have become a Top 5 song in the US if EMI wouldn't have scrapped the entire company and sacked 122 people in the middle of marketing this one," he explained. "People loved it but radio never got the chance to catch up. The Music Business. You win some, you lose some."
  • The demo featured Gessle on lead vocals instead of his Roxette partner, Marie Fredriksson. If that version had hit radio, according to Gessle, it wouldn't have made the charts at all. "I knew we had a great song but the demo always sucked!" he said. "I couldn't sing it very well, I don’t know why. It was always meant for Marie. She did a tremendous job delivering it."
  • EMI wanted this to be the lead single in the US, but Gessle and Fredriksson successfully fought for "Joyride."
  • Using the pseudonyms MC King Carli and Dr. Renault, Joyride producer Clarence Ofwerman and sound engineer Anders Herrlin created a remix that was included on the single release.
  • A Spanish version was included on Roxette's Spanish-language compilation, Baladas en español, in 1996.
  • This was used in the 2015 German film As We Were Dreaming.

Comments: 1

  • Caligirl from Southern California, UsaThis is the most underrated pop song ever. Absolutely brilliant. The melody in the verses is gorgeous and perfectly sets up the punch of the chorus. And just when you think it couldn't get any better, the bridge takes it up another notch with crunchy guitars and Marie's angsty vocals. This song would have been #1 in the US if it had been marketed right. The only thing I would change is the words "I leave a kiss on your answering machine" - not only is this pretty cheesy but it immediately dates the song. But other than that little hiccup, this song is total pop perfection. Love it - one of my all-time faves.
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