Spending My Time

Updated on Nov 10, 2023

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Format CD 7" 12" cassette Length 4:39		Genre Pop Label EMI
B-side "The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye" Released 21 November 1991 (1991-11-21)

"Spending My Time" is a song by Swedish duo Roxette, released as the fourth single from their third studio album, Joyride (1991). It was written by Per Gessle and Mats Persson, and produced by Clarence Öfwerman. The single attained moderate success in Europe, reaching the top ten in Germany and the top twenty in Belgium, Canada, Sweden and Switzerland, while peaking at number thirty-two on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.

A remix was created by MC King Carli and Dr Renault (pseudonyms used by Öfwerman & Anders) at EMI Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, in July 1991, and was included on the single. A Spanish version of the song, titled "Un día sin ti" ("A Day Without You"), was released in 1996 as the lead single from the duo's Spanish-language compilation album Baladas en español.

Music video

The music video for "Spending My Time" was directed by Wayne Isham and depicts lead singer Marie Fredriksson at multiple places in a house, such as sitting by a window, lying in bed, sitting on a couch and at a table. Gessle also appears occasionally playing the guitar.

Commercial performance

The song was not as commercially successful as the duo's preceding singles. It peaked at number thirty-two on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, ending a run of five consecutive top two singles on the chart. In the liner notes of their 1995 greatest hits compilation Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus!, Per Gessle said he believed that "Spending My Time" was "going to be our biggest hit ever, which might have happened if not our American record company had fired a lot of... ah, never mind." At the end of 1991, EMI merged with other record companies to form EMI Records Group North America. The merger resulted in the new company firing over a hundred members of staff, and saw Roxette receiving little support from the new label. The song also peaked at number nine in Canada.

Formats and track listings

All songs written by Per Gessle and Mats Persson, except "The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye" by Gessle.

Cassette and 7" single

"Spending My Time" – 4:39
"The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye" – 4:49

UK 7" single

"Spending My Time" – 4:39
"Listen to Your Heart" (Swedish Single Version) – 5:10

12" single

"Spending My Time" (Electric Dance Remix) – 5:27
"Spending My Time" – 4:39
"The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye" – 4:49

CD single

"Spending My Time" – 4:39
"The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye" – 4:49
"Spending My Time" (Electric Dance Remix) – 5:27
"Spending My Time" (Electric Dance Remix/Instrumental) – 5:27

UK CD single

"Spending My Time" – 4:39
"The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye" – 4:49
"Spending My Time" (Electric Dance Remix) – 5:27
"Listen to Your Heart" (7" Edit) – 4:06

"Un día sin ti" (1996)

Roxette released a Spanish-language compilation album, Baladas en español, in 1996. It consisted of twelve of their down-tempo singles and album tracks, which were translated by Spanish songwriter Luis Gomez-Escolar. This album was only released in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking territories. A translated version of "Spending My Time", titled "Un día sin ti" ("A Day Without You"), was released in November 1996 as the album's lead single.

Music video

A new music video was filmed for this version of the song. It was created by Jonas Åkerlund, who would go on to direct a total of twelve music videos for the duo. It features close-up shots of Marie singing and Per playing guitar, interspersed with clips of a woman descending into alcoholism, and suggestively sniffing a table counter.