One of Caroline of Ugglas most famous songs are perhaps the soul ballad “Please, please” which she wrote together with her husband Heinz Liljedahl. She competed with the song in Melodifestivalen in 2009, and the song was also included on her album “Så gör jag det igån” which came out the same year.
Caroline af Ugglas and Heinz Liljedahl. Image source: Claudio Bresciani/TT BildCarolina by Ugglas and Heinz Liljedahl have written “Please, please” and “She doesn’t have”
“Please, Please” ended up at number two in Mello that year, then Malena Ernman clinched the win with the bombastic opera-influenced pop song “La Voix”.
Even though Caroline didn’t take home the prize, the song was a success that made it to first place on the Swedish charts, and on Spotify the song today has over 7 million plays.
The song is about infidelity, “the other woman” and the guilt that the deceived woman feels for having been the victim of infidelity.
Caroline af Ugglas performs the song “Please, please” in Melodifestivalen 2009. Image source: Sören Andersson/TT Bild
Four years later, Caroline af Ugglas competed in Melodifestivalen again. Then with the contribution “She doesn’t have”. Caroline also wrote that song together with her husband Heinz, with whom she has now been together for over 26 years.
Just like “Please, please”, “She doesn’t have” is also about infidelity.
– One of the best in terms of lyrics that I try to live by. I have written it as a pointer to myself and to others not to end up in that situation. You must not forget that you have to work on a relationship for it to bloom all the time. It means a lot to me, Caroline said about the song in an interview with Study promotion.
Caroline af Ugglas and Heinz Liljedahl have been together for over 26 years, and have written lots of music together. Image source: Janerik Henriksson/TT BildCaroline af Ugglas wrote about infidelity
In an interview with The Express Caroline af Ugglas was asked in 2013 how exactly it is that both texts revolve around infidelity and “the other woman”.
“It is easy to believe that everything is not right at home?”, asked the journalist. Caroline then embroidered the text a little more.
– Yes, but I have had a number of relationships before, so Heinz is not my first. And I’m the kind of person my friends move in with when they have problems. It’s been like that since I was 12, when you got calls at night. I love psychology and could imagine being a couples therapist, Caroline said then.
Caroline af Ugglas and husband Heinz have been together for over 26 years. Here we see the couple in 2010. Image source: Stella Pictures.
When asked if the song is self-experienced, Caroline replied:
– In younger years. But otherwise I’m pretty spared. I guess I’m also quite afraid of things like this. I have a very good relationship with Heinz, perhaps also because with my lyrics and my music I try to process old mistakes and things that others around me do. It is so easy that it becomes boring, she said then.
Jonas Gardell sawing Caroline af Ugglas
But one who took the text a little more literally was the writer and comedian Jonas Gardell, 60. Just like millions of other Swedes, he sat on a bench in front of the Melodifestivalen on February 16, 2013, when the third part of the Melodifestivalen was held.
Caroline af Ugglas sings “Hon har inte” in Melodifestivalen in 2013. Image source: Jessica Gow/TT Bild
Caroline performed “Hon har inte” – and went for the second chance with the song. But one who got a strange feeling from it all was Jonas Gardell. On his X (then Twitter) and Facebook he then wrote:
“A bit creepy that Caroline af Ugglas sings a song to her unfaithful husband and that he himself wrote the song”.
In the comments section, several of his followers entered and commented:
Some of the reactions to Jonas Gardell’s sawing of Caroline af Ugglas. Image source: Facebook
Even when Caroline af Ugglas performed in Melodifestivalen 2018, Gardell went hard on her, saying that she moved like the Lord of the Rings character Gollum.
Jonas Gardell previously married to Mark Levengood
Jonas Gardell was previously married to Mark Levengoodwho, just like Caroline af Ugglas, is one of the participants in this year’s round of Stars at the Castle.
Jonas Gardell’s sour words to Mark Levengood – open to all: “So unbelievably stupid”
Mark Levengood in this year’s Stars at the Castle. Image source: SVTCaroline af Ugglas in Stjärnorna på Slottet. Image source: SVT