In the spring of 2005, a 17-year-old Carlsson auditioned for the second series of phenomenally popular Swedish singing competition Idol in Göteborg, singing "Varje Gång Jag Ser Dig" by Lisa Nilsson. The four judges were all hugely impressed by the strong power of her voice and she successfully passed through to the theatre rounds of the contest. Her vocals continued to impress, and she made it to the semi-finals. To the dismay of the judges, Carlsson did not get a place in the final eleven contestants, and when she again failed to grab a place through the special 'wildcard' round, they decided to pass her through to the finals as the judges' choice contestant. Despite this setback, Carlsson wowed both the judges and the public during every week of the finals, and after making it to the grand finale nine weeks later, she defeated runner-up Sebastian Karlsson and was crowned as the second Swedish Idol. Throughout the finals, Carlsson had never landed in the bottom 2 or 3, and she is currently one of only 4 wildcard contestants to win an Idol competition anywhere in the world. She was preceded in 2004 by Canada's Ryan Malcolm and Kazakhstan's Almas Kishkenbayev, and followed in 2007 by Australia's Natalie Gauci.
Immediately after winning Idol, Carlsson signed a recording contract with Sony BMG and her debut single, "Right Here Right Now" was released. A week later, the song debuted at number one on the Swedish singles chart, a position it held for six weeks. It was quickly certified double platinum for the sale of 40,000 copies in Sweden. Just one week later, on December 19, 2005, her debut album Agnes was released to positive reviews and massive opening week sales. It shot into the albums chart a week later at number one, a position it held for two consecutive weeks.
In March 2006, whilst touring in support of her debut album, Carlsson released her second single, "Stranded". Although it received positive critical reviews, the single did not gain commercial success and stalled in the singles chart at number twenty-seven. Despite this however, Carlsson's debut album continued to enjoy huge sales success, selling over 90,000 copies in Sweden alone. It was certified double platinum and to date holds the record for being the highest-selling album by any Idol contestant.
On August 22, 2006, only eight months after her Idol win, Carlsson's third single "Kick Back Relax" premiered on the TV-show "Sommarkrysset". The song, which would serve as the lead single from her much anticipated sophomore album, was released on September 7 and narrowly missed the top spot on the Swedish singles chart, peaking at number two. Her second album, Stronger was released on October 11, less than a year after the release of her debut. Like its predecessor, Stronger debuted at number one on the albums chart, and went on to sell 50,000 copies, certifying it platinum. One of the album's tracks, "Love Is All Around" has since been covered by numerous singers in three continents, the most notable being by Australian Idol alumni Ricki Lee Coulter, which peaked at number two in Australia and became one of the country's biggest hits in 2007.
On November 15, Carlsson released "Champion", the second single from her sophomore album. The song peaked at number nineteen, seemingly setting a pattern of high-low chart positions for Carlsson, which had also occurred with the two singles from her first album. In early 2007, Carlsson embarked upon her second national tour in just over one year. In December, Carlsson and her former Idol fellow contestant Måns Zelmerlöw joined forces for a huge Christmas campaign for clothing store MQ. In order to promote the company, they released a cover of the Mariah Carey song "All I Want For Christmas Is You", which peaked at number three on the Swedish singles chart.
In early 2008, it was announced that Carlsson had parted ways with her record label Sony BMG, citing creative differences as the reason behind the split. She quickly signed to record company Roxy Records, who stated that after taking a short break from the music industry, Carlsson would return with her third studio album, the first with her new label. On August 11, Carlsson's fifth single "On And On" was passed to radio stations and released as a digital download. Geared towards the dance and club genre, the single was a clear change of artistic direction for Carlsson's music, which had previously consisted of pop and RnB. The first public performance of the single was on August 16 during the Swedeish TV-show "Sommarkrysset". The single debuted at number twenty-seven, but following its physical release it surged up the chart and spent three weeks at its peak of number 8, as well as charting at the top spot of the dance and club charts.
On September 13, Kaj Kindvall, the host of the radioshow "Tracks" announced that Carlsson's highly anticipated third studio album would be called "Dance Love Pop" and then went on to explain the reason behind the record's name: "Dance Love Pop covers the three things that the music is all about on this album; dance-music that has a twist of pop and is about love". Roxy Records confirmed the album's title four days later, and also stated that the release date of the album would be October 29, 2008.
In an interview with Swedish radio channel P3 the song "Love Me Senseless" was played, and although it was confirmed as a track on Carlsson's third album, it was not confirmed whether it would be released as the second single. The album Dance! Love! Pop! was released on October 28 and debuted on the Swedish albums chart at number 5 with sales of 10,000 copies. On November 24, "Release Me" was released as the second single from the album. It debuted on the Swedish singles chart at number 60 based on digital downloads alone, whilst the album was certified gold for the sale of 20,000 copies since its release.
Love is all around
Agnes Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You knew every thought that I've had
(and) My wish was your command
Like a match made in heaven
Then we took it right back to earth
And things got out of hand
Now I'm looking into your eyes
It's like I'm meeting someone new
Makes me wanna' get it with you
[Refrain]
Suddenly I see
What you mean to me
(and) What we lost is found
Love is all around
Do you think of me
Like I think of you?
Can you hear the sound?
Love is all around
Love is all around
I was walking in circles
Used to know the way
But I couldn't find it anymore
I felt the word out of colours
Tried to read
But nothing would taste the same as before
Now I'm looking into your eyes
I feel something I can't describe
It's like I'm meeting someone new
Makes me wanna' get it with you
[Refrain]
Suddenly I see
What you mean to me
(and) What we lost is found
Love is all around
Do you think of me
Like I think of you?
Can you hear the sound?
Love is all around
Love is all around
We can have the good times
And take the bad times
Just remember when you're down
I will escape inside you
You look regard you
Baby love is all around
Love is all around
(Oh-oh-ooh)
[Refrain]
Suddenly I see
What you mean to me
(and) What we lost is found
Love is all around
Do you think of me
Like I think of you?
Can you hear the sound?
Love is all around
Love is all around
Suddenly I see
What you mean to me
(and) What we lost is found
Love is all around
Do you think of me
Like I think of you?
Can you hear the sound?
Love is all around
Love is all around
(Oh-oh)
The song Love Is All Around by Agnes is a pop ballad that talks about the complexities of a romantic relationship. The song narrates the story of a couple who were once very close to each other, but due to certain circumstances, they drifted apart. They both felt lost and alone until they eventually found their way back to each other. The lyrics are primarily about realizing one's true feelings and appreciating the love that exists between two people.
The opening verse talks about how close and connected the couple used to be. They knew each other's every thought and desire, and their love felt like it was heaven-sent. But as the relationship progressed, things got complicated, and they lost their way. The chorus talks about the realization of true love and how it can be found all around us; it's something that we only need to become aware of. The second verse talks about how lost the singer felt after the breakup. She felt as though she was walking in circles and couldn't find her way back. She longed to return to the vibrant and colorful world she knew before.
The song's message is that love is always present, and it's up to us to recognize and appreciate it. The singer urges her partner to remember that every relationship has ups and downs, but if they stick together, they can overcome anything. The song's reflective tone, combined with the slow piano-based melody, adds a sense of longing and melancholy to the overall theme of love and romance.
Line by Line Meaning
We were always together
We spent a lot of time together
You knew every thought that I've had
You understood me and knew what I was thinking
(and) My wish was your command
You always tried to do what I wanted
Like a match made in heaven
We seemed perfect for each other, like we were meant to be
Then we took it right back to earth
But then reality set in and we faced challenges
And things got out of hand
Our relationship became difficult to manage
Now I'm looking into your eyes
I am really paying attention to you
I feel something I can't describe
I’m having a feeling that I can’t really explain
It's like I'm meeting someone new
It's like I’m seeing a different side of you
Makes me wanna' get it with you
It makes me want to be closer to you
Suddenly I see
Now I realize
What you mean to me
How much you matter to me
(and) What we lost is found
And now we've regained what we had lost
Love is all around
Love is surrounding us
Do you think of me
Do you ever think about me?
Like I think of you?
As much as I think about you?
Can you hear the sound?
Can you feel it too?
I was walking in circles
I was lost and wasn't making progress
Used to know the way
I used to be on the right path
But I couldn't find it anymore
But I lost my way and couldn't find it again
I felt the word out of colours
Everything seemed dull and lifeless
Tried to read
I tried to make sense of it
But nothing would taste the same as before
But nothing was as meaningful as it used to be
We can have the good times
We can enjoy the good moments
And take the bad times
And support each other through the difficult moments
Just remember when you're down
Just remember that I'm there for you when you're feeling low
I will escape inside you
I will find comfort in you
You look regard you
I care about you and cherish you
Love is all around
Love is present in many forms all around us
Contributed by Joshua S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.