Oh Boy

Album: Late Night Heartbroken Blues (2006)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This was the first song written by Linda Carlsson, who records under the name of Miss Li. Carlsson is a Swedish singer-songwriter who performs piano-based jazzy-pop music. It was released as a debut single, peaking at #8 in the Swedish singles chart.
  • The song is known in some countries as "Oldboy."
  • "Oh Boy" was used in a 2010 television advert for the Volvo C70 convertible in the United Kingdom. It was also used in a trailer for Sky 1's screening of the TV series, Lost.
  • Linda Carlsson told the story of the song to The Daily Mail: "'Oh Boy' was one of the earliest songs I wrote under the name of Miss Li, just after I bought a piano, which I still had to learn to play.
    My initial compositions were slow, so I could take time on the piano, then Oh Boy became my first uptempo song. It is a true story: I was really desperate to catch this guy but he thought I was a bit too much - I was 23, had just moved to Stockholm (from my hometown Borlange) and was a little crazy.
    He met another girl and I was upset but now I'm glad he did, otherwise I wouldn't have written the song. It took 15 minutes to complete the music and lyrics. I didn't have any money in those days and I had to borrow some from friends and family to record it. It was made in the cheapest studio and I don't think the sound on it is that great, actually.
    One nice thing is, I'd started out in a band formed at school and one of the guys from that band made the video for Oh Boy. I love that song still. I don't see it as my masterpiece, but it was important for my self-confidence, making me think 'Maybe I can do this!'"

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

James Bond Theme Songs

James Bond Theme SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the 007 theme songs?

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)Songwriter Interviews

"Come On Eileen" was a colossal '80s hit, but the band - far more appreciated in their native UK than stateside - released just three albums before their split. Now, Dexys is back.

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")Song Writing

Wes Edwards takes us behind the scenes of videos he shot for Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley and Chase Bryant. The train was real - the airplane was not.

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," Kiss

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," KissSong Writing

After cutting his teeth on hardcore punk videos, Paul defined the grunge look with his work on "Hunger Strike" and "Man in the Box."

Spooner Oldham

Spooner OldhamSongwriter Interviews

His keyboard work helped define the Muscle Shoals sound and make him an integral part of many Neil Young recordings. Spooner is also an accomplished songwriter, whose hits include "I'm Your Puppet" and "Cry Like A Baby."