“Love Fool” by the Cardingans
Nicole: Man, I love The Cardigans. The 90s were such an epic time in my life. I refer to the late-90s fondly, but in a semi-joking way like its a bygone era of cool. I was in middle school and then high school, on the cusp of becoming a mature and responsible adult. It was a time of Steve Madden stretchy platform sandals, mix-tapes – but on CD(!) and Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet. Modern music with Shakespeare! Leonardo DiCaprio! Claire Danes from My So Called Life! Every movie from those days is such a time capsule (please see The Craft, 10 Things I Hate About You, Never Been Kissed and Can’t Hardly Wait), but this one is really special. And it introduced the world to “Love Fool.”
This song hit peak popularity when I was falling in like and then in love with my now-husband. It instantly brings me back to the carefree days of dating with total ‘90s alt-rock nostalgia. And this song isn’t even their best work. The Cardigans have an excellent catalogue of music: “Erase/Rewind,” “Carnival,” “Paralyzed,” “Couldn’t Care Less” and on and on. I heard “Carnival” and fell down the rabbit hole of their music. They have several excellent albums and I don’t know why they weren’t more popular. It’s an injustice.
5songpjct: How long have you and your husband been together and do you remember when you met?
Nicole: We started dating when we were 15, so 20 years ago and were married 10 years ago. We met in school and knew each other and both dated other people, but everyone all went out together as friends. I had a crush on him and he had a crush on me. It was 1997, we were both about to be in high school and had that feeling of freedom with being young and having no responsibility. We were crushing on each other and started dating and that was kind of it.
I have a specific memory of “Love Fool” that just takes me back to those days. During that time, punk music was having another day in the spotlight (think earlier Green Day, Rancid, NOFX, etc.) There was this punk band in our town called Mr. Jinx, who were just so cool. There was a rumor that they might play “Love Fool” at an upcoming show but needed a girl to sing the lead. I knew every word but could never have had the courage to be on stage. Of course I can’t remember if they actually ended up performing it or if just the idea of it made such an impact on me – but all these things in my world were colliding: a song I loved, from a movie I loved, that I saw with a boy I loved, played by a band I loved. It was the coolest.
NEXT UP Thank god for summer after the harshest of winters.