"Anyone" is a song by Swedish pop music duo

Roxette Roxette was a Swedish pop rock duo, consisting of Marie Fredriksson (vocals and keyboards) and Per Gessle (vocals and guitar). Formed in 1986, the duo became an international act in the late 1980s, when they released their breakthrough second a ...

, released on 10 May 1999 as the second single from their sixth studio album, ''

Have a Nice Day Have a nice day is a commonly spoken expression used to conclude a conversation (whether brief or extensive), or end a message by hoping the person to whom it is addressed experiences a pleasant day. Since it is often uttered by service employee ...

'' (1999). Composed by

Per Gessle Per Håkan Gessle (; born 12 January 1959) is a Swedish singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the male half and primary songwriter of the Swedish pop rock duo Roxette, which he formed with Marie Fredriksson in 1986 and which was d ...

, the song was inspired by the work of

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...

and

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

, and the album version of the song was mostly performed in a single take at Atlantis Recording Studio in Stockholm. In Japan, the single was released as a

double a-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

with "Pay the Price", although no music video was created for that song. The music video for "Anyone" was directed by

Jonas Åkerlund Hans Uno Jonas Åkerlund (; born 10 November 1965) is a Swedish film director, screenwriter, music video director, and drummer. His video for Madonna's song "Ray of Light" won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Short Form, and a record of fiv ...

and proved controversial upon release. It ends with a distressed

Marie Fredriksson Gun-Marie Fredriksson (; 30 May 1958 – 9 December 2019) was a Swedish singer, songwriter, pianist and painter, who was best known internationally as the lead vocalist of pop rock pop duo, duo Roxette, which she formed in 1986 with Per Gessle. ...

attempting to commit suicide by drowning herself in the ocean, and was banned from airplay on

MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly as MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV, a 24-hour music and entertainment TV channel that began broadcasting on August 1, 1987, as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initially, MTV serve ...

. As a result of this, the song performed poorly on national record charts, becoming a top 30 hit in Belgium, Spain and Switzerland. Its performance on European charts led to EMI UK deciding against releasing the single there.

Composition and style

"Anyone" was composed by

, who said that he was inspired by the work of

when writing the song. His original

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

recording of the track incorporated a large portion of "

I Love How You Love Me "I Love How You Love Me" is a song written by Barry Mann and Larry Kolber. It was a 1961 Top Five hit for the pop girl group The Paris Sisters, which inaugurated a string of elaborately produced classic hits by Phil Spector. Bobby Vinton had a To ...

", a 1961 single by

The Paris Sisters The Paris Sisters were a 1960s American girl group from San Francisco, California, United States, best known for their work with producer Phil Spector. Career The group consisted of lead singer Priscilla Paris (January 4, 1941 – March 5, 200 ...

which was produced by

. The demo version released as a

b-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

on this single differs from the original demo, with all trace of "I Love How You Love Me" removed. The original demo was later released on ''

The Rox Box/Roxette 86–06 ''The Roxbox (Roxette 86-06)'' is a boxed set compilation by Swedish pop duo Roxette, released on 18 October 2006 by Roxette Recordings and Capitol. It is an expanded companion piece to the single-disc greatest hits album '' A Collection of Ro ...

'', and also as a bonus track on the 2009 reissue of ''

''. Spector was an influence on the song's production aesthetic. With the exception of

overdubbed Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...

brass instrument A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips. Brass instruments are also called labrosones or labrophones, from Latin a ...

s, the album version of the track was recorded "almost completely live" in Stockholm's Atlantis Studio in September 1998. Vocalist

has described it as one of her favourite Roxette songs. According to

Ultimate Guitar Ultimate Guitar (Ultimate Guitar USA LLC), which is also known as Ultimate-Guitar.com or simply UG, is an online platform for guitarists and musicians. Its website and mobile application provides guitar tablature catalogues and chord sheets. UG ...

, "Anyone" is a

pop ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. Cur ...

with a moderately fast

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 143

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. Its basic chord structure during each

verse Verse may refer to: Poetry * Verse, an occasional synonym for poetry * Verse, a metrical structure, a stanza * Blank verse, a type of poetry having regular meter but no rhyme * Free verse, a type of poetry written without the use of strict me ...

consists of two repetitions of an A– F♯m–C♯m–D–E sequence, followed by a further two repetitions of B–A–Fm–E. The

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song) or refrain, line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in which all verse ...

is made up of two sequences of A–F♯m–E, while the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

consists of E–D–B–A–F♯m–D–B–E.

Release and promotion

The song was released as the album's second single from 10 May 1999 onwards, and was backed by multiple b-sides. Included on

maxi-single A maxi single or maxi-single (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. The first maxi singles Mungo Jerry's first single, "In the Summertime" was the ...

editions was the previously-released

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...

version of their 1995 single "

You Don't Understand Me "You Don't Understand Me" is a song by Swedish pop duo Roxette. Written by Per Gessle with American composer Desmond Child, it was released as the lead single from the duo's first greatest hits compilation album, '' Don't Bore Us, Get to the Ch ...

". Also included was the " Wish I Could Fly" music video, as well as an exclusive, orchestral version of album track "Cooper", subtitled the 'Closer to God Version'. In Japan, the single was released as a

with "Pay the Price", although no music video was created for that song. The video for "Anyone" was directed by longtime collaborator

, and was filmed in the

Tróia Peninsula Tróia () is a peninsula located in Grândola Municipality (parish of ), Portugal, next to the Sado River estuary. Tourism is the peninsula's main activity due to its long beaches facing the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic. There is a ferry boat conne ...

region of Portugal. Although an edited version of the video was placed on medium rotation on

MTV en Español MTV Tres (taken from the Spanish word for the number three ''tres'', stylized as tr3s, with an acute accent over the '3') is an American owned by Paramount Media Networks, a subsidiary of Paramount Global. The channel is targeted toward biling ...

in the United States, the video was banned from airplay on

and other European TV stations as it ended with a scene in which a distressed Fredriksson attempted to commit suicide by drowning herself in the ocean.

Critical reception

Jørn Holmen from Norwegian newspaper '' Gjesdalbuen'' called the song "beautiful and pompous" in his review of ''

''. Hege I. Hanssen from ''

Nordlys ''Nordlys'' is a Norwegian newspaper published in Tromsø, covering the region of Troms, and the largest newspaper in Northern Norway. History and profile ''Nordlys'' was founded in 1902 by Alfred Eriksen, who also was its first editor-in-chie ...

'' described it as an "absolute candlelight-schläger". Brendon Veevers from ''

Renowned for Sound ''Renowned for Sound'' is an Australian online magazine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a pri ...

'' stated that the song is "one of Roxette’s finest recordings". He wrote, "Heartbreak drips from every note on this track with Marie desperately trying to convey to the listener the pain of losing someone that you love and delivering moving lines like “lying awake in an ocean of teardrops, I float away”. The instrumentation of the track is truly epic – the strings are out in full force here and they complement the feeling of despair within this gem."

Commercial performance

The song became a moderate airplay hit on charts across Europe, charting within the top 25 of the Spanish Airplay Chart. With the music video banned, "Anyone" performed poorly on national sales charts, peaking in the top thirty in both Belgium and Switzerland. It peaked at number 35 in the duo's native Sweden, but stalled at number 62 on the

German Singles Chart The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindust ...

. Following the poor performance of the song on European charts, EMI UK decided against releasing the single there, despite already issuing promotional CD-Rs to various radio stations, DJs and media. Conversely, it performed well in parts of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, with the Spanish-version of the track – titled "Alguien" – receiving substantial amounts of airplay.

Formats and track listings

All songs written by Per Gessle, except "You Don't Understand Me" written by Gessle and

Desmond Child John Charles Barrett (born October 28, 1953), known professionally as Desmond Child, is an American songwriter and producer. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008. His hits as a songwriter include Kiss's "I Was Made for Lovi ...

. * CD single (Europe 8868922) # "Anyone" – 3:59 # "Anyone" – 4:13 * Japanese CD single (TOCP-40118) # "Pay the Price" – 3:48 # "Anyone" – 4:32 # "Cooper" – 4:20 # "Anyone" – 4:13 * CD-Maxi (Europe 8868920) # "Anyone" – 4:32 # "Anyone" – 4:13 # "Cooper" – 4:20 # "

" – 3:43 # " Wish I Could Fly" – 4:38

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''

The Ballad Hits ''The Ballad Hits'' is the second greatest hits compilation album by Swedish pop duo Roxette, released on 4 November 2002 by Roxette Recordings and Capitol Records. It was the first of a two-part series of "best of" albums released by the duo in q ...

''. * Recorded at Atlantis Studio in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden in September 1998. * Mixed by Marie Fredriksson, Per Gessle, Michael Ilbert and Clarence Öfwerman at

Mono Music Mono Music is a Swedish record label, established in 1987 by former ABBA member Benny Andersson. The Mono Music offices as well as the Mono Music studio, which is mainly used for mixing sessions, are located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central ...

, Stockholm. Musicians *

– lead and background vocals and

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

– background vocals and production * Magnus Blom –

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

* Hasse Dyvik – trumpet and

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

* Anders Evaldsson – trombone * Mats Holmquist –

conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duti ...

* Michael Ilbert –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

and production * Jonas Isacsson – electric guitar * Christer Jansson – drums, percussion and tambourine *

Christoffer Lundquist Carl Christoffer Lundquist (born 1970) is a Swedish musician and producer. He was once in the band Brainpool, where he started as a bass player and backing vocalist, but moved to play both the bass and the guitar. Brainpool won a Swedish Gram ...

– background vocals, bass guitar,

zither Zithers (; , from the Greek word ''cithara'') are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, the name has been applied to any instrument of the psaltery family, or to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat bo ...

, tambourine and additional

snare drum The snare (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often used ...

Clarence Öfwerman Clarence Öfwerman (born 22 November 1957) is a Swedish record producer, best known as the longtime producer of Roxette, having been with the band from their debut album ''Pearls of Passion'' in 1986 through to 2016's ''Good Karma'', Roxette's l ...

– keyboards, tambourine, string

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

and production * Stockholms Nya Kammarorkester –

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anyone (Roxette Song) Roxette songs 1999 singles 1999 songs Music videos directed by Jonas Åkerlund Songs written by Per Gessle EMI Records singles English-language Swedish songs Pop ballads