Wedding (song)

"Wedding" is a song written by Swedish musicians Benny Andersson and Svenne Hedlund, first recorded as the eleventh single by their group the Hep Stars in May 1966.

[2] Upon release, "Wedding" continued the Hep Stars chart success, reaching number 1 on both Kvällstoppen and Tio i Topp that same year.

The song was later included in altered form as the final track on their eponymous second studio album The Hep Stars in December 1966.

In March 1966, the Hep Stars released "Sunny Girl" as a single, a song which was written by Andersson and was a departure from their previous rock and rhythm and blues influences, instead dabbling into baroque pop.

[4] "Sunny Girl" became their first self-written song since 1965's "No Response", and was hugely successful on Kvällstoppen and Tio i Topp, reaching number 1 on both of them, topping the charts for several weeks.

[8] They were by this point still heavily touring Swedish Folkparks, which brought them to a man named Valter Pettersson in Falkenberg, Halland, who had lent them his house for 10 days where they rehearsed for these concerts.

[8][9] Andersson took this opportunity and played on the church organ during nighttime,[10] with an increased interest in classical music along with corresponding artists, something attributed to Pettersson.

[8][11] Andersson had started writing on the melody before introducing it to Hedlund, who liked the sound of it; the remaining parts of the composition and the majority of all lyrics were written in Pettersson's house.

But the rest of the melody was pretty much 50-50, and the lyrics as well.Andersson and Hedlund became a highly productive songwriting partnership, despite only writing a handful of songs.

Other notable changes are that the original organ outro is played twice (once solo by Andersson, and the second time with the entire band.

[23][24][25][26] The third version was the international single release in which Hedlund again sings the faulty opening verse, but that the organ outro is still played twice (again, once solo by Andersson, and the second time with the entire band.).

[18] The band was initially unsure on whether they wanted to release "Wedding" as a single, similarly to the situation with "Sunny Girl".

[29] This rendition of "When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again" feature The Jordanaires-esque backing vocals by the band, something not present on any other recordings by the group.

The single failed to chart outside Scandinavia, something that Hedlund attributes to the lyrics: "You mustn't sing things like that about the holy matrimony!

"[17] "Wedding" became, along with "Cadillac", "Sunny Girl" and "I Natt Jag Drömde" one of the Hep Stars biggest hits and is considered one of their best songs.