The close-knit band hails from Jonkoping, Sweden, once known for its thriving matchstick industry. They lived together in an apartment while they recorded the demo tape that lead to their debut album, Emmerdale.
Nina, the primary lyricist for the band's latter two albums, told Songfacts about one of her major idols: "I'm a huge Neil Young fan and I'm actually inspired by his lyric writing, because he can be so very sort of subtle and vague, and still he really hits you where you feel like he's talking to you and about you. I think that's great, and I think that's a great element in writing for music."
Not everyone gets the Cardigans' sense of humor, as the group learned after touring with the English Rock band Blur. "I think we pissed them off," Nina laughingly told The Independent. "I know what went wrong: someone tried to make a joke, like saying, 'we sell more records than you in Japan, maybe we can be the main act in Japan.' And then somebody said in an interview that they ought to be grateful to have us on tour. Their manager called our manager and said, 'what the f*** are they up to?' Actually, it was an absolutely great thing for us to do, tour with them. We were very grateful. Sorry Blur!"
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