The Swedish pop rock band The Cardigans’ ‘My Favourite Game‘ was one of the songs playing on the Netflix series The Crown this week, as the final episodes of the British royalty-themed drama dropped.
The song played on The Crown, Season 6, Episode 5, “Willsmania” right at the beginning of the episode as the camera focuses on Prince William, then he walks towards the window and puts his headphones on.
The Cardigans’ ‘My Favourite Game‘ is the track playing in the headphones.
When was ‘My Favourite Game‘ released and how did it perform?
The song, which has become one of the band’s most recognized song, was released in September, 1998 as the lead single from the band’s fourth studio album Gran Turismo.
It became a minor hit for The Cardigans, making it to #3 in Sweden and to #14 in the UK.
It was re-released a year later, however, on the soundtrack of the hit video game Gran Turismo 2, causing the song to then chart in 12 more countries including the United States.
The Cardigans’ ‘My Favourite Game‘ music video
‘My Favourite Game’ also became known for its music video, which was originally released to include footage of various car crashes.
Censor-minded authorities in Europe, however, decided this might encourage young people to joy ride (sure!), and so banned the video causing Jonas Åkerlund, the Swedish director of the video, to have to re-edit the music video several times to make it “acceptable” to European censors.
MTV UK was one of the worst offenders, refusing to air the video with any of the car crashes in it.
Although that was not surprising to most Brits, who have been well-aware they live in one of the most censored countries in the developed world for decades now.
In the U.S, however, most channels airing The Cardigans’ ‘My Favourite Game‘ music video aired the original version.
Listen to The Cardigans’ ‘My Favourite Game‘ as heard on The Crown this week in the Stone version of the song’s music video, and via Spotify.
As for The Crown, its final six episodes are now streaming on Netflix.