"Kärleken är" (; literally " heLove Is"; English title: "Eternal Love") is a Swedish-language

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

about love. It was written by

Ingela Forsman Ingela Birgitta "Pling" Forsman (born 26 August 1950 in , Sweden) is a Swedish lyricist in popular music. As a student Forsman attended the Adolf Fredrik's Music School in Stockholm. 1981–2009, 33 of her songs have competed in the Swedish M ...

Bobby Ljunggren Bobby Ljunggren (born 1961) is a Swedish songwriter. He has entered the Eurovision Song Contest as a composer six times, five times for his native Sweden (1995, 1998, 2006, 2008 and 2010), and once for Lithuania, in 2005. He is a veteran of ...

and , and sung by

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

pop and

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

singer

Jill Johnson Jill Anna Maria Johnson (born 24 May 1973) is a Swedish country and pop singer, songwriter and TV-host. She performed in the Melodifestivalen 1998 contest, winning with the song " Kärleken är" ("Love Is"), and represented Sweden at the Euro ...

in the Swedish Melodifestivalen 1998, where it won, gaining the right to compete for in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1998 The Eurovision Song Contest 1998 was the 43rd edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest, held on 9 May 1998 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcas ...

. It finished 10th with 53 points. It was the last Swedish entry in the contest to be sung in

. Although lyricist Ingela "Pling" Forsman did not comment on the background of the song when it won Melodifestivalen and competed at Eurovision, she has since confirmed that the lyrics indeed were inspired by the aftermath of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in a car accident in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in 1997. Melodifestivalen genom tiderna, Premium förlag 2006 (first released

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

), page 263-265 - ''Melodifestival 1998, I schlagerns mikrokosmos...'' The chorus in Swedish translates as follows: "An angel flew by on her way to heaven, so free, but she left her smile here on earth – like a warming sun, like heavenly starlight, so that we can contemplate life and its events with a faith; love is..."

Single

The single "Kärleken är" was released on 20 March 1998. It reached #5 on the

Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and known by its current name since October 2007, based on sales data from the Swedish ...

Track listing

# "Kärleken är" (radio version) – 3:00 # "Kärleken är" (instrumental version) – 3:00

List placings

Svensktoppen

"Kärleken är" entered the Sveriges Radio radio chart

Svensktoppen ''Svensktoppen'' () is a weekly record chart airing at Sveriges Radio. Until January 2003, the songs had to be in the Swedish language. Svensktoppen has aired since 1962, except for the years 1982-1985. The last years before the January 2003 cha ...

on 2 May 1998 at #1 and spent a total of six weeks on the listing.

Tracks

"Kärleken är" also featured on Sveriges Radio's hit list

Trackslistan Tracks, or Trackslistan, was a top 20 song list and a program of the Swedish Radio channel SR P3. The program premiered on 8 September 1984, and was broadcast on Saturday afternoons. The listeners voted for the songs they think is the best. Track ...

. On 11 April 1998 the song entered the list, and spent eight weeks on the chart, peaking at #6 on 16 May 1998.

English

Jill Johnson recorded the song on her 1998 album '' När hela världen ser på'', both in its Swedish and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

versions, the latter entitled "Eternal Love" and retaining the theme of the original Swedish lyrics.

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kärleken är 1998 singles Eurovision songs of 1998 Eurovision songs of Sweden Jill Johnson songs Melodifestivalen songs of 1998 Songs written by Bobby Ljunggren Songs inspired by deaths Songs with lyrics by Ingela Forsman Swedish-language songs Pop ballads Memorials to Diana, Princess of Wales 1990s ballads