The Look

"The Look" is a song by Swedish pop duo Roxette. It was released in early 1989 as the fourth single from their second studio album, Look Sharp! (1988). It became an international hit, and was one of the most successful singles of 1989. It topped the charts in 25 countries, and was the first of their four number ones on the Billboard Hot 100. The song received mostly positive reviews from music critics. Background The duo released their second album Look Sharp! in October 1988. It was an immediate commercial success in their home country, spending seven weeks at number one on the Swedish Albums Chart. "Dressed for Success" and "Listen to Your Heart" were released as the album's first two singles in Sweden, both becoming top three hits there. "Chances" was released in Germany and France as the first international single from the album. Composition and style "The Look" was written by Per Gessle as an exercise while learning how to operate the Ensoniq ESQ-1 synthesizer he had recently purchased, using a repeated A–G–D bass line as the song's core. The track's sixteenth-note rhythm was inspired by the work of ZZ Top. The first two verses are composed of guide lyrics, with Gessle explaining he "scribbled [them] down instantly just to remember the rhythm. But they stuck in my head. 'Walking like a man, hitting like a hammer...', it all had a great groove. And in some pseudo-psychedelic way à la 'I Am the Walrus', it all seemed to make sense." He found it "impossible" to replace the lyrics when trying to rewrite them later, and said he sought to balance the lyrical content by making the "rest of the lyrics intelligent in some way."