Det börjar verka kärlek, banne mig
"Det börjar verka kärlek, banne mig" ("It's Beginning to Look Like Love, Damn It") was the Swedish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968, performed in Swedish by Claes-Göran Hederström, the winner of Melodifestivalen 1968.[1] Composer Peter Himmelstrand, who incidentally also wrote the two songs that finished in shared third place in the 1968 pre-selections, "Gå och göm dig, Åke Tråk" and "Du vet var jag finns", would go on to write fifteen Melodifestivalen entries as well as many other popular Svensktoppen hits all through the 1960s and 1970s.
 | |
|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 1968 entry | |
| Country | |
| Artist(s) | |
| Language | |
| Composer(s) | Peter Himmelstrand |
| Lyricist(s) | Peter Himmelstrand |
| Conductor | |
| Finals performance | |
| Final result | 5th |
| Final points | 15 |
| Entry chronology | |
| ◄ "Som en dröm" (1967) | |
| "Judy, min vän" (1969) ► | |
"Det börjar verka kärlek, banne mig" was performed eight on the night, following the Monaco's Line & Willy with "À chacun sa chanson" and preceding Finland's Kristina Hautala with "Kun kello käy". At the close of voting, it had received 15 points, placing fifth in a field of 17.
The song is widely considered a schlager classic in Sweden, mainly because of its - for the genre - highly unconventional title, its use of onomatopoetic expressions and slang and Peter Himmelstrand's humorous lyrics, including phrases like:
The day before yesterday I suddenly turned down the guys, when they invited me to a party and instead I spent a whole evening conversing with your mother, being polite.
Last night I went with you and watched a tearjerker, although I wanted to watch "bang bang". And then I sat listening to a string quartet - me, I only used to like "twang twang".
It's beginning to look like love, damn it. The kind of thing you read about in books, imagine that. I just don't get it, I guess I'm a little stupid. But by all means, I could be wrong...
The song was succeeded as Swedish representative in the 1969 contest by Tommy Körberg, singing "Judy, min vän".
An English-language version "My Time Has Come", was released in 1980.
References
- Leif Thorsson. Melodifestivalen genom tiderna ["Melodifestivalen through time"] (1999), p. 68-73, 260. Stockholm: Premium Publishing AB. ISBN 91-89136-29-2
| Preceded by "Som en dröm" by Östen Warnerbring |
Melodifestivalen winners 1968 |
Succeeded by "Judy, min vän" by Tommy Körberg |