‘Hooked on a Feeling’ started its history as a 1968 pop song, written by Mark James and originally performed by B. J. Thomas. Thomas's version featured the sound of the electric sitar (played by Reggie Young) and reached No. 5 in 1969 on the Billboard Hot 100. James wrote the song about the thrills of being in love, inspired by his feelings for his childhood sweetheart. Drug references were big in 1968, and this song has plenty of them, but the context is love as a drug; Thomas is "high on believin'" and will "just stay addicted" to the girl who can "turn me on." All very innocent.
In 1973, the Swedish pop rock group Blue Swede did a cover version, which included the ooga chaka introduction from a 1971 cover by Jonathan King. King had heard Johnny Preston's Running Bear, which was the inspiration for the ooga chaka chant. The Blue Swede version of the song also tweaked the lyrics to avoid a drug reference. This version reached No. 1 in the United States. Billboard ranked it as the No. 20 song for 1974. On 25 July 2012, the 1974 live performance was officially uploaded to YouTube; it has generated nearly 6 million views as of October 2022.
In 1992, Blue Swede's recording was featured on the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino's debut feature Reservoir Dogs. In 1998, during an episode of the legal comedy-drama series Ally McBeal, "Cro-Magnon", the main character's neurosis about being able to conceive a child before her biological clock runs out is illustrated by her imagining a computer-generated baby dancing into her bedroom to Blue Swede's recording of ‘Hooked on a Feeling’. A website featuring the dancing baby and the Blue Swede recording became an internet meme, further cementing the scene in pop culture history.
The 2014 feature film Guardians of the Galaxy, which featured the brass fanfare and title lyrics of the Blue Swede cover version prominently in its trailers and theatrical release, resulted in a significant spike in sales for the recording; the film's soundtrack reached the top of the Billboard 200 chart in August 2014. The song was also featured in the teaser trailer for the 2017 sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
Label – EMI Svenska
Songwriter – Mark James
Producer – Bengt Palmers
SONG LYRICS
[Intro]Ooga-Chaka, Ooga-Ooga
Ooga-Chaka, Ooga-Ooga
Ooga-Chaka, Ooga-Ooga
Ooga-Chaka, Ooga-Ooga
[Verse 1]
I can't stop this feelin'
Deep inside of me
Girl, you just don't realize
What you do to me
When you hold me
In your arms so tight
You let me know
Everything's alright
[Chorus]
I'm hooked on a feelin'
I'm high on believin'
That you're in love with me
[Verse 2]
Lips as sweet as candy
Its taste is on my mind
Girl, you got me thirsty
For another cup of wine
Got a bug from you, girl
But I don't need no cure
I'll just stay a victim
If I can for sure
[Pre-Chorus]
All the good love
When we're all alone
Keep it up, girl
Yeah, you turn me on
[Chorus]
I'm hooked on a feelin'
I'm high on believin'
That you're in love with me
[Pre-Chorus & Refrain]
All the good love
When we're all alone
Keep it up, girl
Yeah, you turn me on
[Chorus]
I'm hooked on a feelin'
I'm high on believin'
That you're in love with me
[Outro]
I'm hooked on a feelin'
I'm high on believin'
That you're in love with me
I said I'm hooked on a feelin'
And I'm high on believin'
That you're in love with me
Hooked on a feelin'