Happy 78th birthday, Benny!

 Wishing the maestro himself, Benny Andersson, a very very happy 78th birthday! Grattis på födelsedagen!

Cat Plushies

 So many years ago, over a decade by now, I had the idea to make for myself custom ABBA cat plushies based off of the cats that Owe Sandstrom designed for Agnetha and Frida's cat dresses!  But as we know, I am a girl with procrastination tendencies and hyperfixations, likely ADHD but I am currently undiagnosed, so the project was left unfinished with just the base of Agnetha's blue cat sewn.  I actually never posted about it, and even though I see this unfinished cat plush around my sewing area every once in a blue moon, I could not for the life of my find it so you'll just have to believe me that it exists.  

Recently, ABBA the Museum came out with the same independent idea of selling plush versions of Agnetha and Frida's cats, and let me tell you I was soooo happy when I found this out because a. obviously as they're official they are going to be so much better than any sloppy cat plush I was trying to make, and b. it means I don't have to finish my plush concept anymore!  I fell in love with these cats as soon as they came out, determined to get my hands on them ASAP, and that time finally arrived!

With Black Friday deals (which aren't really much a deal but certainly work to entice impulsive and kinda financially irresponsible buyers like myself), the cat plushies were on sale at a reduced price, so I couldn't help myself!  

And here they are!

I honestly think these are absolutely brilliant.  They are extremely well made, and each cat has printed on details.  I will say, they are not 1000% accurate, like there are designs and sequins that are not in the exact same place as the original cat, and some creative liberties were certainly made as it's really difficult to translate a 2d drawing into a 3d cat plush.  (Also Agnetha's cat is missing the greenish tinge on the ears but that's me being nitpicky.) For what it is, it's really really good and I couldn't be more impressed.  As a collector of many stuffed animals, these two are going to fit perfectly in with the monstrous amounts of plushies, webkinz, and famous social media stuffed animals that is my room.

Frida's cat:

Agnetha's cat:

Overall, I am quite happy to add these two cats to my ABBA collection, and I also got this fun ABBA t-shirt as well because who can say no to more ABBA t-shirts?

Happy 13th birthday, Benny Anderdoll

 Today marks 13 years since I officially completed my fourth and final homemade ABBA doll!  Happy birthday Benny Anderdoll!

Happy 79th Birthday, Frida!

 To our beloved princess, 1/2 of ABBA's impeccable vocalists, absolute powerhouse and crazy talented singer...  Dearest Frida, happy, happy 79th birthday!

 

Collection Update

  So it's been a good minute since I've done a proper collection update.  The last one I did was in June last year, and since then amassed a few more ABBA items.  Obviously some of these items I have already talked about considering I've already written reviews for them, but I'll include them in this because they deserve to be included in one big post.

To start, I purchased ABBA's new compilation album The Singles - The First Fifty Years in its CD format.  I haven't actually ripped the CD or listened to it, so I can't tell you if the mixes are different or not, but even if I don't necessarily think this compilation album is worth getting, I'm happy to have it in my collection.  Now the booklet claimed to include rare unseen photos of ABBA, and from what I can tell there's only two unseen photos, and they're just outtakes from photo sessions that we are already aware of.  I personally live for outtakes, especially ones that show the "goofy" side of ABBA, however I'm not sure this compilation album which is supposed to be a bit of a conclusion to ABBA's story, something to round it out, is the place for these "goofy" photos.  I'm not complaining of course, please ABBA provide us more goofy ABBA photos, but you know, just a thought.

This year my hyper fixation was ABBA books, as I really enjoy reading over the weekends, especially big books that take a while to finish.  

The first one is Frida Beyond ABBA, a book that, as I already mentioned in my review, is a must have.  It's amazing, well researched, and such a respectful book and a very good read, too.  Of course I can't help but question a couple of sources, specifically the ones that come from Bright Lights, Dark Shadows, but that aside, this book is in my opinion one of the best ABBA books to exist.

Speaking of Bright Lights, Dark Shadows, I purchased this book specifically because I wanted to know if it was a good book.  I've always seen so much praise for Carl Magnus Palm, people considering everything he says to be true, as if he is the only ABBA expert, which of course is strange when there are things in this book that are not accurate and are counter to things the ABBA members have said....  There is no doubt that this book was well researched and a lot of work was put into it, but I just question the sources, especially where they come from tabloids which are known to be untruthful, and also what are the intentions of the including extremely personal details in this book?  Why do I have do know that Agnetha had intense diarrhea and vomiting after the Boston plane incident?  Out of respect to the people, wouldn't it have made sense to just tell us that she was really sick?  Regardless, I respect Carl Magnus Palm for putting in the effort for this book, especially as the original version of the book was released at a time when there were hardly any "accurate" ABBA books, I just, don't like the book.  Out of curiosity, I have gone ahead and pre-ordered the new and revised version of the book in hopes that maybe things have been edited and changed, and I will definitely compare and contrast them when i get my hands on the book.

I purchased this book due to a misunderstanding on my end, and it's a pretty good book on it's own, telling in great detail how the record companies would promote ABBA's music back in the day.  It was a good read, but also not necessarily my interest area.  However, the section at the end all about Michael B. Tretow's tapes are absolute Gold!  It was written in the style of ABBA The Complete Recording Sessions, a book that I have yet to get my hands on and hope to someday get my hands on a physical copy, and if the section on Michael B. Tretow's tapes was that good, I'm sure the Complete Recording sessions will be awesome!  

Back in February I purchased a couple of things from ABBA the Museum, including this souvenir book.  It's very short, very sweet, but lovely, nonetheless.

Speaking of ABBA the Museum, do you remember back in the day I used to sell cat dress t-shirts on Zazzle?  They would sell like crazy, and shortly before my zazzle shop got shut down, ABBA the Museum came out with their own official ABBA Cat Dress t-shirts, and I couldn't help but feel that I inspired their cat dress t-shirts!  I am not complaining in anyway btw, and this all alleged, but I'm glad that since 2014 ABBA have been selling t-shirts that look so much better than the silly little drawings I did with MS Paint hahahhahaa, but I finally got my hands on the shirts that I may or may not have inspired.  Here they are as modeled by me and my sister. :')

Of course to celebrate ABBA's 50th anniversary, I went ahead and got myself some Waterloo themed apparel.  I just gotta say, as someone who has bought a few different concert/band merch, I'm happy to say that ABBA Voyage and ABBA the Museum's t-shirts are some of the highest quality merch t-shirts I've ever purchased, and I love wearing them.

Late last year I bought this small denim jacket from the ABBA Voyage store.  Very expensive haha, but it's such a cool jacket and I enjoy wearing it.  Unfortunately even the smallest jacket is too large on me, the sleeves are too long and it's a bit oversized, but that's more of a me being too petite, but it would be nice if they sold it in XS.

At ABBA's polar music store, to celebrate the 50th Anniversary, they sold this ABBA necklace with a star guitar charm and a little 50th anniversary charm as well.  Sadly it doesn't feel as high quality as the ABBA necklace as sold at ABBA the Museum that I have worn every single day since buying it, and I saw a lot of reports that it breaks easily, so I don't wear it much at all, but it's still nice.

That is a second stud in my ear not a weird red splotch on my ear haha

The Polar Music Store was also selling official ABBA earrings, which I immediately jumped on!  I have been dying for official ABBA earrings ever since I got my first piercings, so I'm glad they released them.  Although when they first arrived, the ABBA logo on one of them was put on backwards, so I had to flip it myself, but other than that, they're nice and sturdy and I have worn them pretty often.

I decide to add ABBA's 1986 live album to my collection.  I don't listen it often as the studio overdubs bother me, but it's nice to have it in my collection.

I also got ABBA Oro, so I could finally have my hands on all the Spanish language tracks in one place.  Also I just have to say, although I love ABBA's classic logo, it kinda looks out of place on this cover idk way.

I always feel weird including my own custom things amongst collection updates, but I got a poster of my birthday drawings that I did last year.

And although not directly ABBA related, I went ahead and got this CD and booklet on Swedish birdsong that was produced by Benny, as 1. I love Benny, and 2. I love birds, so it was the perfect fit.  Now it sits amongst all of my bird-themed items in my room. :D

So that's all I have for now.  I should mention I have been meaning to do a post like this for a good while now, but alas, the undiagnosed ADHD got the best of me and I kept on procrastinating....

Costume updates...

 2 and a half years ago, I began recreating these 1975 tour outfits again because you know me, I'm never satisfied.  But this project was actually a nightmare to work on, with several rage quits and lots of money spent...  But, they're finally done.  Unfortunately these are not my favorite recreations ever, which I of course explained in more detail on my sewing blog, but it is what it is, and I did the best I could with what I had. :3

3 years of ABBA Voyage

Three years ago today, ABBA's 9th and final studio album to date, Voyage was released! I still will never get over the fact that my favorite band ever, the group that I have pretty much dedicated the last 14 years to, actually made music again - the one thing they had had pretty vowed not to do during their 40 year hiatus.

When Agnetha and Frida sing together on top of Bjorn's crafty lyrics and Benny's impeccable compositions, the result is just magical. Even after 40 years, they still managed to capture the same essence that was ABBA from the 70s and 80s into 10 new tracks.

 Last night while working on this drawing (which I'm aware is not from any of the Voyage sessions but that's because I've already drawn pretty much all the voyage pictures haha), I listened to the entire Voyage album from start to finish.  It's nothing new for me to listen to the album from track 1 all the way to track 10 because I'm always listening to ABBA's albums in full, but as I was listening, I couldn't get over how unequivocally ABBA it is.  Even with 39 years since their last recording session, the sound of ABBA was there.  And I'm not just talking about their voices and the music.

We have songs that are about the close bond that people can have (I Still Have Faith In You), slow ballads as well as upbeat dance-able tracks (Just A Notion) and then some happy tracks with hint of melancholy (Don't Shut Me Down and When You Danced With Me).  We have songs about family - be it relationship/marital/divorce issues (No Doubt About It and Keep An Eye On Dan) or just family life (Little Things.)  We have songs that seem downright depressing until the final chorus of the song when we're left with a hint of hopefulness that maybe things are going to be alright in the end (I Can Be That Woman.)  And we have songs that are profound and philosophical (Ode To Freedom) and songs that are commenting on issues with today's world (Bumblebee.)  Just to name a few recurring themes.

I feel like a lot of people who just know ABBA as the band that provided the music to Mamma Mia or as just the band who has only the tracklist of ABBA Gold, aka uncultured dummies hahahhaha jkjkjkjkjk don't realize that these are all topics that ABBA have covered throughout their prior 8 albums.  I've talked a lot of this in my song analysis series that I will get back to posting when I feel like it, but here are some examples of past ABBA songs that are about the same topics. 

Relationship/Marital/Divorce issues: The Winner Takes It All, Hey Hey Helen

Philosophical: Move On

Social Commentary: What About Livingstone

Family life: Slipping Through My Fingers

Songs that are kinda depressing but then leave us with a hint of hopefulness at the end: One Man, One Woman

Close bond/friendship: The Way Old Friends Do

And these are just the ones that I can name off the top of my head.

Even from the moment I first heard the Voyage album in full, it just felt like an ABBA album.  Everything about it screams ABBA, and I cannot be more grateful to have been there to witness this momentous album, and still to this day listen to this album on the regular. 

Happy 3 years of Voyage, the Album. ❤️

Happy 13th birthday, Bjorn Uldollus

 Today marks 13 years since I put in the final stitches on my homemade ABBA dolls, officially completing 3/4 ABBA members.  

I realize how weird it is to be celebrating the birthdays of literal cloth dolls, but who cares haha.  Happy birthday, Bjorn Doll

Song Analysis: Our Last Summer

 Hello.  It has been a minute.  Do I likely have undaignosed ADHD?  Probably...  Erm, anyway, let's talk about Our Last Summer.  In early June of 1980, ABBA began working on the sweet but kinda melancholy track about a past summer romance.  Inspired by Bjorn's own French summer romance when he was a teenager, the song tells of a short-lived romance while away in France - a theme that has come up already once before in Monsieur Monsieur.  It wouldn't surprise me if Bjorn's same summer romance was the inspiration for that song as well.  

Frida takes the lead vocals on this song, perfectly capturing the sweet memories tinged with a bit of sadness in her performance.  

Both the first and second verses give us a glimpse into what this young couple were doing while in Paris -visiting various tourist spots like the Elysee Palace, the Eiffel Tower,  the Notre Dame, and the Seine, as well as trying out various foods like croissants and drinks from every cafe they visited.  You can get a sense that these two characters in the sound were very young, carefree, and happy not having to worry much at all about the future.  Although there were a few discussions of fear of dying, and also flying - which I've always wondered if that was a nod to Agnetha and her fear, but perhaps it's a common fear to be afraid of flying.  But overall, the summer romance was good, happy, and very peaceful.

But of course it wouldn't be an ABBA song if there was no happy ending!  The third verse is as follows:

And now you’re working in a bank, the family man, a football fan,
and your name is Harry.

How dull it seems yet,

you’re the hero of my dreams. 

Basically telling us how despite their sweet summer romance, eventually they had go off in their own separate directions.  He moved on, became a banker and has a family of his own, but she's still here having to reminisce on memories from a happier time.  It's like for her, one of the greatest things to ever happen to her was that summer romance, but for him, it was just a summer romance, you know?  As soon as they left each other, he was truly gone.  He moved on without her, but she's still caught up in him.  

I've seen a lot of people confused by the line "And your name is Harry," like, duh, wouldn't his name always have been Harry? But I see it as maybe Harry is such a simple name, like you wouldn't expect someone to be so obsessed with a guy named Harry hahahahahah, it's such an ordinary name, yet to her, Harry takes on a whole new meaning.  The name Harry will always remind her of happier times and places.

While Frida is the lead vocalist on this song, I truly think she was the perfect choice for the song, Agnetha comes in during the choruses, with amazing harmonies throughout.  One of my favorite parts of the song is when she sings the lines in "walking hand in hand" and "memories that remain" in the last two choruses. And of course the way Frida sings the lines "I stilll seeeee it alllll" and "weeeeee were living for the day, worries far away" in the last chorus honestly sends shivers down my spine each time I listen to it.  Even though that last part is mostly hidden away in the fade-out of the song, I still love it so much.  I don't know how present Bjorn and Benny were when it came to vocals for this song, I can hardly hear them, but it wouldn't surprise me if they're buried in there.

We can't talk about this song and not talk about the hidden harmonies in the instrumental interlude.  Underneath the electric guitar played by the one and only Lasse Wellander are some absolutely angelic vocals from Agnetha and Frida that are sang to the melody of what would become the song Anthem from the musical Chess.  That just goes to show how long Bjorn and Benny had been holding on to that melody.  Although these vocals are buried so deeply in the final mix of the song, you can find early mixes of the song up on YouTube that highlight these vocals perfectly.

 

So that's Our Last Summer, a song about longing for previous times and memories - be it romantic or just in general happier times - something that I think a lot of us can relate to. 

ABBA The Singles - The First Fifty Years

 So ABBA have a new compilation album coming out in October, titled "The Singles - The First Fifty Years", which I find to be an absolutely hilarious title, which is of course based on "The Singles - The First Ten Years" released back in 1982 to celebrate ABBA's 10 year anniversary from the group's formation in 1972.  

The album contains all of ABBA's official single releases give or take from the 70s and 80s, with the addition of the five singles from ABBA's Voyage album, making this a nice compilation of ABBA's singles from the span of their entire career.  

The album is available for pre-order on all of ABBA's official stores, like the museum and the universal music store, as well as Amazon.  I wasn't initially going to pre-order it because it's nothing I don't already have, and dare I say, there's nothing really to entice the consumer to buy it?  

Back in 1979, when ABBA were releasing Greatest Hits Vol.2, the album included ABBA's newest single at the time, Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight), and aside from the single release, this album was the only LP that featured that song, and it also included Summer Night City, yet another albumless song.  Fast forward to 1982, and for The Singles (The First Ten Years), the album includes two more albumless singles, The Day Before You Came and Under Attack.  Also, although not included on the initial release of the album, ABBA's Greatest Hits from 1976 as it was released in the US, included the albumless track, Fernando.  All three compilation albums featured something new, something that would entice the audience to buy that compilation album,.

 But The Singles (The First Fifty Years) doesn't have anything new.  There's no new single, nothing to really grab anyone's attention aside from the fact that this album is celebrating fifty years of ABBA, which is exciting in its own right!  I feel like this album is mostly targeted towards the existing ABBA fans, the ones who must buy every single ABBA album, compilation or studio, but not the casual listener, like all three former compilation albums from ABBA's active years were meant to do.  Now I know that ABBA are an already established act, and I'm also not asking ABBA to release anything more.  I'm more than satisfied with all that we have, I know better than to ask for more music from ABBA (and I'm also well aware that ABBA LOVE to surprise us and then out of nowhere announce that they recorded an entire new album not just two new songs and then cause me to give them all my money yet again...), I just think more thought could have gone into this compilation album.

Although I wasn't planning on preordering this album, especially as I can't spend over $100 on the compilation album in record format, I did see that it was available on Amazon in its CD form, and because I have prime, I was like, well okay might as well give more money to ABBA.

But that's actually not what I'm here to complain about hahahhahaa.  It's the cover of the album.  First of all, I love the fact that they used an image of ABBA in their prime.  ABBA in late 1975, as they looked when they were working on their most successful studio album Arrival.  ABBA in their prime.  Not ABBA in 1982 like as was originally featured on the back of ABBA Gold.  (They have since changed the image on more recent releases of the album.).  As an obsessed ABBA fan, I never complain about ABBA and their work, I'm always an optimist, but I just have to say, especially where ABBA Gold was my second introduction to ABBA, seeing ABBA at their most worn out and bored as they looked in 1982 as the first visual impression of the band was really confusing to me back in 2010.  Like I had a hard time connecting the way they looked on that image from 1982 to the youthful and energetic sound that I was hearing when listening to each track.  But anyway I digress.  

I also love the title, I think it's a fantastic title.  I like that it's in the style of ABBA's last compilation album from their active years as a band.  ABBA's The Singles (The First Ten Years) is such a stunning album cover, I love the layout of the font, yet, this new compilation looks poorly made in comparison, like a sloppy copy of the original, or more like a bad Disney live action money grab version of the original amazing film.  

I think what bothers me the most is that the modern graphic design, the even letter spacing of digitally applied text doesn't match the 70s appearance that ABBA has.  The drop shadow looks artificial, and it lacks the beautiful hand-written quality of the 1982 album.  It literally looks like the sloppy YouTube thumbnails that I produce for my videos, and I am not professional in any way and that's certainly reflected in my thumbnails hahahaha. 

So, although I love the concept of the album cover, it's really really bothering me, I decided to try my hand at fixing it up a little.  I literally spent all morning trying to figure out photoshop as I have it but hardly use it, and the end result is not perfect in any way shape or form.  I am not a graphic designer, I really don't have the eye for that sort of thing, but I had to do something to make this album cover look better.

I tried to keep it more in the style of the original 82 compilation album, the font a little more squished.  I didn't include drop shadows, and I didn't keep the byline in all caps.  I think it looks pretty good, I think it looks more in line with ABBA's other compilations albums, so if the people at UMG happen to see this simple edit I did in an hour (not including the time spent to learn photoshop....), feel free to use it hahahhahaa. 

Song Analysis - The Winner Takes It All

 In June of 1980, Bjorn and Benny began working on a demo for what would end up being of ABBA's most deep and heart wrenching songs, a song deeply inspired by their personal life, something they hadn't really gone into before.  The name of the demo was already on theme, titled "The Story Of My Life", and then "The Story Of My Life II" and "The Story Of My Life III."  Just a few short days later, Bjorn had come up with the lyrics.  It was the quickest lyric he'd ever written.  After taking a few drinks of whisky, the words just came pouring out, and within a couple of hours, the song was done, and the Winner Takes It All was born.

Considering Agnetha and Bjorn had just done through a divorce, it was no surprise that the topic of divorce was on his mind, however, contrary to popular misinformation, the song is actually not a retelling of how Agnetha and Bjorn's marriage broke down.  In fact, it's actually not our business how and what happened!

To quote Agnetha, "there's no such thing as a happy divorce," however that's not to say Agnetha and Bjorn's decision to divorce wasn't a joint one, and even with the break down of their marriage, they remained cordial, continued to work together, and even found that working together after their divorce twas easier.  In their divorce, there was no winner or loser in the situation, whereas in The Winner Takes It All, the whole song is about a winner and a loser.

The song beings with the line, "I don't wanna talk about things we've gone through.  Though it's hurting me, now it's history," followed by, "I've played all my cards, and that's what you've done too.  Nothing more to say, no more ace to play."  The metaphor of a card game, or just a game, is used through out the song, and in games like that, there is always going to be a victor and a loser.  Basically, both partners had done all they could for the marriage, but now it doesn't matter because it's over.  

The second verse goes on to explain how the narrator thought she was doing everything right, trying to make herself comfortable in the marriage, trying to make herself feel safe with her partner, trying to build a home together, and doing all these things because those are the "rules" of marriage.  But ultimately, even though she tried to do everything right, it still didn't work.  And eventually, she realizes that simply "playing by the rules" and trying to keep the marriage going as long as possible even when it's long gone.

The third verse has me quite interested in the meaning. The verse begins with, "But tell me does she kiss like I used to kiss you. Does it feel the same when she calls your name?" has me wondering if one of the reasons their marriage broke down is because there was some infidelity involved, and he cheated on her with another woman and then as soon as they decided to divorce, he just moved in with her.  Or the narrator is just commenting on how fast he just moved on and forgot her, whereas she's still caught up in their breakup.  

Regardless, the narrator of the song sees him as the winner, because he's happy and he's not hung up or worn down by the emotions of their broken marriage, but she's the loser because still hurting from it.  And she can't say anything about how much she misses him because it's all over.  The relationship is dead.  They've shaken hands, signed the divorce documents, they're officially over.  And he's happy, but she's ruined.

One thing that I always see pointed out is how EVIL BJORN WAS FOR MAKING HIS EX SING A SONG ABOUT THEIR DIVORCE, but again, this song is not about THEIR divorce, and as we know, they would often decide which lady they thought would sing the song best, and ultimately the decision was for Agnetha to be the one to sing the lead.  (Also I think originally Bjorn may have thought about singing the lead vocals on this song as well, and we actually have a snippet of Bjorn's demo vocals floating around online every once in a while.)

Agnetha's always been so good at story telling in the songs, and capturing the emotions of whatever character Bjorn (and Benny too) had come up with, and she managed to capture the pain and hurt of the woman in this song so well, it's hard to imagine that this fictional but painful story of divorce is not her own personal story.  The pain in her voice is almost tangible, and there is no doubt that this is one of her best vocal performances ever.   Especially the way she sings the final two "the winner takes it alllll"s at the end of the song.

And then of course we have the choir vocals from Frida, Benny, and Bjorn (and Agnetha's in there as well), with simple "aaah-aaah-aaah-aaahs" in the verses and even more so in the choruses, and then in full force in the outro.  

The minimal instruments in the song, with mostly the piano at the forefront, adds to the emotions of the song as well.  Just everything, from the vocals to the arrangement is just perfect in this song, and no one could have done it better.  There is no better version of this song than ABBA's. 

ABBA have a lot of masterpieces, and although I consider all of ABBA's songs as masterpieces, this one is definitely close to the top of the list.

Now of course ABBA filmed a music video for this song, and not only is Agnetha really good at capturing the raw emotions of their songs, she's also really good at acting as well.  Perhaps this was what inspired her to take on an acting role in 1982.  She put on a really good sad face in the music video, which of course leads people to really think Agnetha was miserable while filming the video.  however recently ish, ABBA released on instagram some BTS of the music video, where you can see Agnetha burst into a fit of giggles while filming the music video, which just proves that it's all an acting performance, and a really convincing one at that!  ABBA also performed this song on two TV shows in 1980, and the song also appears in ABBA Voyage as the final song of the show.

Three years ago today...

 I'll always remember September 2nd, 2021 as one of the most exciting days of my life thus far.  Waking up with anticipation of the live stream event that ABBA were hosting, not just on their YouTube channel but in various locations around the world.  There was so much curiosity, so many unknowns, yet we all had a suspicion that ABBA's long awaited "two new songs" were finally here.

I remember exactly where I was on that day.  I had set up the live stream to play on the TV and was seated on the couch for almost an hour before the event even started in fear that I would somehow accidentally miss it.  Skyler was seated on his favorite perch, chattering away, and when the live stream started, there was a lot about the various worldwide fan events, lots of people celebrating ABBA, talking about ABBA, dancing to ABBA.

For a moment I was not sure what this event was for, but then, I Still Have Faith Have You started to play.  Hearing Frida's voice, followed by Agnetha joining in harmony.  The music video featuring unseen footage of the ABBA members, seeing them goofing around and not just as the professional people they always presented themselves as.  Then the ABBA-tars in all their glory, and Bjorn and Benny adding some backing vocals.  The layers upon layers of harmonies just like in the old days in the chorus.  It was amazing.  Though I remember Skyler thought otherwise, haha.  He immediately flew out of his cage screeching because he didn't like the music at all.  (He did eventually warm up to it hahaha, but unless it was a new Roxette song, he was skeptical of EVERYTHING!)

It was all I could have dreamed of, yet Bjorn and Benny suddenly appeared in London, and Benny said in the most nonchalant way, "We have made a new album with ABBA."  I remember immediately being like "What?!  What did he just say?!?!?!?" I couldn't believe my eyes and ears, but then they presented us with some behind the scenes footage of ABBA working on the motion capture for ABBA Voyage as well as the four of them in the studio, recording new songs.  It was so heartwarming, seeing my four favorite people in the recording studio, creating magic together again.  It wasn't until two months later that we even got to hear the remaining 8 tracks on the Voyage album, but I knew they would be amazing.

I remember the moment Benny said that the album was available to pre-order, I jumped onto the website and it wasn't even up yet!  It said it needed a password to enter the shop, and I had no idea what to do.  I just kept on reloading and reloading the tab until it let me in, and even then, there were no images on all the listings but I just bought whatever I could justify spending on.  I gave ABBA a lot of money that day, but I didn't care.

Then, before the live stream ended, we got to hear the Agnetha-led Don't Shut Me Down, and what a treat it was to hear an uptempo ABBA song and know that they still had it in them to create a classic ABBA track.  

Although their voices had significantly aged, something I definitely noticed, there was no doubt that it was ABBA, and hearing them and seeing the four of them together felt so comforting.  Not only had ABBA given us the long promised two songs, they had prepared 8 more, one of them being one of my absolute favorite ABBA Undeleted songs revisited with a modern sound.

It was just such a wonderful day, and I'll always be grateful that I got to witness ABBA's comeback, and even more that I got to experience it with my best bird boy, my beloved Skyler Bird. :')

(Photo of Skyler from September 2, 2021.)

Song Analysis: Burning My Bridges

 Appearing at the 8:56 second mark in ABBA Undeleted is a short 1 minute and 26 snippet of a track titled Burning My Bridges.  Recorded June 3, 1980, the track is about a frustrated partner tired of the way their relationship is playing out, and instead of continuing to put up with it, the narrator of the song decides they're officially done with it and cutting ties.  

From the very little bit of information that we get from the song, you get the feel that the narrator's partner has been extremely nasty, hooting and hollering all the time, which makes the narrator stressed and upset.  So they decide to what's right for them, which is burning all the bad bridges from before, prioritizing themself, and giving themself peace.

Although the song is short, I actually find it to be very inspiring.   I feel like this song, although it isn't about being in a healthy relationship, is a really good and healthy song.  Prioritizing your needs and your mental health is a very important thing, and if a relationship just isn't working out no matter how hard you try, then ending it may just be the best thing.

Bjorn sings the leads on this song, although the track is just a demo, so it wouldn't surprise me if the intention was to have Agnetha or Frida or both take the lead.  But I actually like how Bjorn sounds singing it.  However as it is just a demo, he sounds rather bored and lazy while recording, which in a way  conveys how sick and tired the main character of the song is.

Musically, it definitely doesn't sound like a song that was fit for the Super Trouper album.  It has a very country, southern feel to it.  I'm curious how the song would have sounded with more of the synthesizer pop sound that a lot of Super Trouper tracks have.  

Also, I mentioned this before in my post about Hamlet III, but a portion of the melody from Hamlet was reused for Burning My Bridges, specifically the line "Burning my bridges, moving at last.  Girl I’m leaving and I’m burying the past" is the same melody as the line "Autumn’s chilly winds were blowing through the trees the rain fell softly on your face," as in Hamlet.  Unfortunately, no matter how much Bjorn and Benny tried to use this melody in an ABBA song, it never ended up happening and instead the song remained an instrumental track that Benny would eventually release as "Lottis Schottis."

Of course, I like this song, I like every single ABBA song, but I really wish they would have released this song in full.  Honestly, why not just release all the Undeleted tracks in full??  Please???

Mini Cat Dresses

 So I made Barbie-sized cat dresses for my barbies that vaguely resemble Agnetha and Frida.  As usual, a more detailed post is on my sewing blog, and I actually filmed a random video while I was making this that's on my YouTube channel. :3

Song Analysis - On And On And On

 ABBA's forthcoming Super Trouper album would be mostly filled with songs that discussed serious and mature topics, such as an existential crises in Me And I, the end of a marriage in the Winner Takes It All, being under the control of a dictator as seen in The Piper, etc, but then you have a couple purely fun songs to break it up.  One of those purely fun songs is On And On And On.  Originally titled, Esses vad det svänger när man spelar jazz, and then 'Til The Night Is Gone, On and On and On is a song about not taking life seriously.

The song begins by introducing us to the setting.  We're in the midst of the party, a pretty big one obviously considering there's a state minister of sorts at the part as well.  Plus while we don't know much about the narrator, she's obviously a star as mentioned in the second verse. The minister starts complaining about the state of the world, how people don't respect human rights anymore, and our narrator, is like, "Who are you to say all these things?"  He lowers his voice and is like "Wel, you see I'm a minster, a big shot in the state," and our narrator finds it amusing and is like "Omg that's so cool!  So brother, can you tell me what is right and what is wrong?" and he simply replies, "Keep on rocking baby, 'til the night is gone."  

His response kinda makes me thing everyone here at the party is a little bit tipsy, haha, because just one moment ago he's like "omg the world is such a scary place!! Evil times are coming!! :O :O :O" but then he's just like "Yeah, just keep on rocking, 'til the night is gone."  Essentially saying, there's nothing we can do about it, so just keep on living.

The chorus is super simple, literally just the same like "On and on and on, keep on rocking baby, 'Til the night is gone.  One and on and on, 'til the night is gone," repeated twice.

In the second verse, there's a guy at the bar at this party who starts eyeing up the narrator, so she decides to just go on over, see what he wants.  And he asks her this super amazing question, "who am I, and who are you, and who are we??" an he asks her if she has "time for us," and she's like "well, I'm not exactly waiting for the bus."  He asks if he can go along with her wherever she's going, and she's like "Keep on rocking baby 'til the night is gone."  I personally have always interpreted that as her not exactly giving him the response he wants, essentially telling him to buzz off, but I realize it could also mean that she's like "Well, we gotta keep on rocking 'till the night as gone," as in keep on living life to the fullest until you can't anymore, but as well literally keep on rocking 'till the night is gone, like the type of rocking that the song Rock Me is about....  

Anyways, originally the song had an added bridge which was, "Standing up is scary if you think you're gonna fall. Like a humpty-dumpty, 'fraid of falling off the wall.  I say if you ever wanna know what's going on, gotta keep on rockin', baby, 'til the night is gone," and this full version of the song was included in the official music video that is basically just a slideshow of images from ABBA's 1979 tour, and originally the only ABBA music video to not feature ABBA in it at all.  (The second one is the music video for Little Things.)  However the officially released version that was included on the album removed the bridge and replaced it with an instrumental bridge.  

Both Agnetha and Frida sing the lead vocals together on this song in a very monotonous way, kind of reminisce of how monotonous and boring life can be, and they capture that pretty well in the song.  There's not much in terms of stacks of harmonies in this track, but this song does feature some really lovely Beach Boys-style backing vocals performed mostly by Benny throughout the chorus.  And as simple as they are, they really add so much to the song and completes it.  

Musically, the song is very simple as well with a very 80s synth soundscape.  I think Bjorn once refereed to this song as one of ABBA's few rock'n'roll songs, but like, I don't personally hear that haha.  I like the song, it's very satirical almost, and while I wouldn't quite say it's an ABBA dance track, it's definitely very upbeat and fun and for once doesn't feature too depressing lyrics.

ABBA only performed this song twice, once on the show Show Express (we also have rehearsal footage from that performance) and once live on the Dick Cavett Meets ABBA TV special.  Their performance on Show Express is honestly one of my favorite ABBA performances ever, specifically because although this performance was post-Agnetha and Bjorn's split, you can see them having fun and teasing each other during the song's bridge.  And of course we have Frida and Benny's iconic literal head bang haha.

Song Analysis - Happy New Year

 On April 9th, 1980, ABBA began recording another song for their newest album, Super Trouper.  With the working title "Daddy Don’t Get Drunk On Christmas Day," the song was inspired by Bjorn and Benny's desire to write a musical set during the winter holidays.   Eventually the song would become Happy New Year, a melancholy track with lead vocals by Agnetha, about how depressing the world is.  But, at least there's the new year to look forward to, and maybe just maybe, with the start of the new year, things can start looking up for the better! 

As the title suggests, the song is set on New Year's Day after a night full of celebration, partying,  champagne, toasts to the new year - a momentary pause in the dullness of the current situation, but now as the new year begins, although there is a hope and a dream for better things to happen, it all still seems very far into the future.  

In the chorus, despite the fact that Agnetha and Frida are wishing us all a happy new year and sharing vision of a world where every neighbor is a friend, there is still quite a depressing overtone, especially with the line, "may we all have our hopes, our will to try, if we don’t we might as well lay down and die, you and I," essentially telling us that if we don't hold onto the hope that everything will be okay, then there's no point in living anymore.  

In the second verse, Agnetha sings about how foolish it is to think that even when things are tough and life isn't going anywhere, everything is going to be okay, essentially telling us that just being satisfied with how things are now isn't going to make any difference, and like I kinda get that.  Life can't change for the better if we're all just living in it and doing anything to make a difference.  So although this song on a whole is rather depressing, it is suggesting that things can get better.  And even if all our dreams are dead, nothing more than confetti on the floor, who knows what could happen ten years from now. 

I've seen it mentioned how a lot of people, I think Bjorn and Benny included, don't like how the song essentially traps itself in the past with the line "who can say what we’ll find, what lies waiting down the line, in the end of eighty-nine," and I've personally never been bothered by the fact that the song is dated, because it shows how even back then, people were still hoping for a better world.  Who can say whether the world is better off now than it was then, but as the song says, what are we without hope?  Also, I think it also adds how Bjorn and Benny had no idea the song would still be relevant today and would be played every year on New Year's in a lot of households, nearly 40 years since it was written!  So in a way, the song is a reminder of how even though they didn't expect ABBA to still be popular, the band still is amongst the young and old! 

The pacing of the song is quite slow and sad, capturing the melancholy feel of the song, with the slight hint of hopefulness in the chrous.  I think this song has some really beautiful vocals from the ladies, specifically in the second half of the 2nd and 3rd choruses, specifically when Agnetha sings "dragging on feet of clay, never knowing he’s astray," and "who can say what we’ll find, what lies waiting down the line," where Frida harmonizes with Agnetha and extends the last word, showing off her stunning vocal abilities.  Agnetha and Frida also capture the emotions of the song in the chorus perfectly.

For the release of the Super Trouper album in Spanish speaking territories, ABBA rerecordeded the song in Spanish.  Although Bjorn and Benny aren't very prominent at all in the English version of the song, their lack of vocals in the Spanish one is definitely noticeable, making the song seem a bit empty.  That's not to say Agnetha and Frida don't sound amazing as usual, it's just I wish Bjorn and Benny would have recorded their vocals in Spanish.

The Spanish lyrics are generally the same as the English one.  Here they are roughly translated via Google Translate:

Verse 1: No more champagne the sparkler went out. only you, only me, the celebration has already passed.  It is the end of the party and there is a gray dawn.  Where is that yesterday that we must propose?

Chrous:  Happiness, happiness, when toasting we wish you from now on peace, love where friendship reigns.  Happiness, happiness when praying for hope to change without letting discouragement dominate and triumph

Verse 2:  And when I see that world that will come, new at last it will come from ashes. Mistaken people who pretend to be very well, you see them dragging feet of clay and walking without knowing where to go

Chorus

Verse 3: I think I understand that dreams are unfaithful, when dying, they are nothing more than candy and paper.  It is the time past, and in the years to come, who can predict what the future holds, future that we have yet to live?

Chorus

 

Although ABBA did film a music video for both the Spanish and English version of the song and released it as a single, they only performed it on one TV show that was broadcast on New Year's Eve right at midnight.  And here they all are synchronized together:

 

Of course I love this song as it's an ABBA song and I love all of them, but every year I love doing a New Year's themed speedpaint set to this song and upload it to my YouTube channel on December 31st, so like this song is very fun for me hehe.

Also, floating around on YouTube every once in a while before getting copyright stricken is a video of outtakes and bloopers from filming the music videos, and it is so delightful seeing the ABBA members expressions go from all serious to suddenly laughing.  The clip keeps on disappearing for YouTube, but when it does show up it is always a delight to watch!

Can there be such a thing as a new ABBA?

I've been an ABBA fan for the last 14 years, which is well over half my life.  I have listened to ABBA pretty much every single day.  I didn't discover ABBA through Mamma Mia!, my knowledge of ABBA isn't limited to ABBA Gold.  I've been obsessed with ABBA and I know every single one of their songs by heart.  To quote the guy in "ABBA in Concert", I live, I breath, I ABBA.  So I think that makes me a pretty qualified to know what I'm talking about when it comes to ABBA.

When someone mentions ABBA, I don't think ABBA can simply be defined as one thing.  They're not just some band from the 70s/80s.  They're not stereotypical pop and disco from that era.  They're not just two guys and two girls.  They're not just a blonde and a brunette/redhead.   They're not tacky satin and sequin-y costumes.  And they're not just the tracklist to ABBA Gold.  They're not just two couples from Sweden.

Musically, ABBA is that perfect blend of Agnetha and Frida's voices.  With Agnetha being a Soprano and Frida a Mezzo-Soprano, their voices are each so distinct yet they blend together so perfectly and in such perfect harmony.  ABBA is the layers and layers upon layers of harmonies and also layers of the same instruments recorded multiple times, over and over again to get that fuller "wall of sound" effect. 

ABBA's songs are sometimes made up of happy lyrics set to sad music.  Some songs are just plain happy, other songs are just plain sad.  ABBA have numerous songs that cover various themes like divorce, young love, mature love, philosophical subjects, and so much more.  

As an ABBA fan, I know ABBA as all of those things, and all of those combined is what makes ABBA.  If you take out any of those elements, it just doesn't sound like ABBA.

...

So there is this British Indie Pop band that I've been seeing around called The Last Dinner Party.  I haven't really listened to them, but interestingly, I've seen them described in a couple of places as the "New ABBA" and this kinda baffles me.  Around a year ago someone in a forum shared a link to their song Nothing Matters and mentioned that they felt the song had ABBA vibes.  I listened to it, I didn't hear it, I never thought about it again.  Then again more recently, I watched a video where in it, the person described Chappell Roan as the 'New Kate Bush" and The Last Dinner Part as the "New ABBA."  And I was very confused by that statement.

Ever since Kate Bush's song "Running Up That Hill" was featured in I think it was season 4 of Stranger Things, people who hadn't hard of Kate Bush were suddenly introduced to Kate Bush, and people who had heard of her before but not really into her were suddenly re-introduced to Kate Bush.  I've heard a few Kate Bush songs prior to the release of Stranger Things, specifically Wow as featured in ABBA in Switzerland, and her song Wuthering Heights, as well as a few other songs of hers that were suggested to me on YouTube, and if I had to describe her music in one word, I would use the word Eclectic.  She has a very unique vocal style, a very distinct look, but also, none of her songs sound the same and Running Up That Hill is just a sample of what she has to offer.

Chappell Roan has been rising in popularity, and she is definitely a very interesting listen!  I don't really listen to her songs as a lot of them are too sexually explicit for my taste, but she's got some very good songs and she too has a very unique style!  She sings in a variety of different styles, many different themes, a very unique vocal style, and her songs also don't all sound the same.  If I had to compare any of her songs to Kate Bush, it would probably just be the way she sings the chorus of her song Good Luck, Babe!  Other Chappell Roan hits like Pinky Pony Club and Hot To Go don't sound at all like Kate Bush...  So, why do people compare Chappell Roan, the artist on a whole, to Kate Bush, when like only parts of one song resemble that of Kate Bush, particularly only that one Kate Bush song that has gained recent popularity?  It's almost like people heard one Kate Bush song, associated that one song with her, ignored everything else about her, and then assume that anyone who sings similarly to Kate Bush is obviously now the "New Kate Bush" when there's nothing else that is comparable.

Then we have The Last Dinner Party and ABBA.  Much like how people associate Kate Bush with only Running Up That Hill and not any of her other hits or songs, here in the US at least, ABBA is often synonymous with Bubble-gum Pop songs like Dancing Queen, Take A Chance On Me, and honestly, the entire tracklist of ABBA Gold.  The average person doesn't typically know anything more than ABBA Gold, or perhaps some of the songs that were not on ABBA Gold but were featured in the Mamma Mia! films.  So, when people start calling The Last Dinner Party the NEW ABBA, they're probably just thinking about ABBA Gold. 

In an article by Hard Of Hearing Magazine written by Lloyd Bolton, the critic wrote, "Indeed, who since ABBA has had the guts to aspire to sounding like ABBA?" and of the song Portrait Of A Dead Girl, "worthy of ‘ABBA Gold,’ relates a more contemporary sentiment, and as the strings win our hearts, the “over and over again” of the chorus propels the song through the pop stratosphere."  

And like, I don't know what the critic means???    Portrait Of A Dead Girl is definitely more ballad-y and honestly more Fleetwood Mack ballad-y than any of ABBA's ballads.  Considering ABBA Gold doesn't really feature many ABBA ballads at all (there's The Winner Takes It All, One Of Us, Fernando, and Chiqutita, but also many of those songs I wouldn't even consider ballads), where would would that song fit into ABBA Gold?  Where????  

Vocally, I don't even hear any similarities either.  ABBA songs often feature one A singing lead and the other singing in harmony, and then they have so many backing vocals as well, but it never sounds like "gang-vocals" our shouty vocals.  It sounds orchestral almost, like Agnetha and Frida's voices are just another musical instrument.  Of the three The Last Dinner Party Songs that I listened to that are often compared to ABBA ("Nothing Matters", "Portrait Of A Dead Girl," and "Sinner") I do not hear anything that remotely resembles ABBA. 

If anything, perhaps you could say it matches more with the dark and mature, synth-laden sound of some of the tracks on ABBA's the Visitors album, but according to the music critic, they are only focusing on ABBA Gold, and none of the songs that I'm thinking of (The Visitors (Crackin' Up) and I Let The Music Speak) feature on ABBA Gold.  And again, most people don't usually know of those "deep-cut" ABBA songs because they're not on ABBA Gold or in Mamma Mia!.  

I feel like the music critics that compare The Last Dinner Party to ABBA don't really know who or what ABBA is.  Just because a band has a lot of synthesizers reminisce of the 70s synthesizers and female vocals doens't immediately mean they sound like ABBA.  ABBA's not the only 1970s band or band with synthesizers in a lot of their songs, and people tend to forget that ABBA is not just two female vocaists but rather two male and two female.  So just because a band has synths and female vocals doesn't mean they're ABBA, you know?  That's like saying "omg Sabrina Carpenter is a blonde, singer/songwriter who can play the guitar!  Obviously she's the new Taylor Swift!" when their music sounds nothing alike, you know?

Now, I just wanted to point out that neither The Last Dinner Party or Chappell Roan (from what I can find) have compared themselves to ABBA or Kate Bush.  If they were inspired by them, that's awesome - it's always amazing when a band or a singer are seen as inspirational and for sure they have inspired many modern artists form after their time.  I don't have a problem with that.  I think my real issue is music critics who find it important to tie an up and coming artist' success to an older band/artist, and then have the nerve to call them the "new" version of said band/artist.  Especially where these new artists and bands are not trying to be the new version of anything, they're just trying to be themselves.  

And also, I know music critics are probably only tying the sound of Chappell Roan and The Last Dinner Party's music to ABBA and Kate Bush's music, but personality and the story behind each artist tie a lot into their music as well, and none of their stories are comparable either.  Each band/artist as their own unique story which plays into how their music is, and you can't have ABBA's sound without the members of the band and their unique situation.  

In conclusion, you can't claim a band is the "new ABBA" when you don't fully know ABBA, and especially not when a band isn't trying to be ABBA in anyway.  As I wrote in my introduction to this blog post, ABBA can be defined my many things and are their band in their own right, with a variety of different songs and styles and sound, and there cannot be a "New ABBA" without any of the elements that originally made ABBA.

Anyway, that's my rant for the day haha.  

And of course, no hate towards The Last Dinner Party or Chappell Roan!  Keep doing what you're doing and stay true to yourselves and unique!

Song Analysis - The Piper

 In early February, 1980, Bjorn and Benny began working on a demo initially titled Ten Tin Soliders.  It wasn't long before the song was changed to Sherwood, and then Äntligen krig, and then finally, The Piper, which they officially began recording in April.  

Musically, the Piper is unlike any prior ABBA songs.  It has an extremely medieval feel, with flutes and drums, but with the modern touch of Benny's keyboard and synths.  The song features both Agnetha and Frida on joint vocals, singing in unison much like some of their earlier songs where their voices are almost indistinguishable.  Although a COMPLETELY different style of song, it kinda reminds me how in Honey Honey, it almost doesn't sound like two separate voices, just one single voice.

Bjorn has said this song is inspired by the book The Stand by Stephen King.  I don't know what that book is about, but I'm guessing it has something to do with some sort of leader or dictator of sorts, seducing the people to follow his lead.  The song is almost cult-like, with dark and creepy lyrics.

The song begins by telling how people come from all over, the hills, the valleys, the plains, traveling through snow and rain, just to hear the Piper play his music.  And whenever he plays, basically everyone just mindlessly follows.  In the chorus, it compares the blind and mindless following of the Pipers' words to following his music, having been summoned by the tune that the piper plays.  And so the people, his congregation, all dance beneath the moon for him.  They basically do whatever it is they tell him to do.

The third verse, "He gave them a dream he seduced everybody in the land, the fire in his eyes and the fear was a weapon in his hand.  So they let him play, play their minds away," kinda reminds me of people who use their power to instill fear in the people, and makes me think of a lot of Doomsday fearmongers who were trying to convince everyone the world was gonna end in 2012 because everyone is a sinner, etc.  

Honestly, this song is so creepy, and awful, and it's amazing how Bjorn managed to capture that in a song.  Where a lot of ABBA's music tends to sound very feel-good and happy (even when the lyrics themselves are the complete opposite), this song is just entirely dark and moody and scary.  Also the way Agnetha and Frida chant the Latin phrase "Sub luna saltamus" after each chorus, which means "dance under the moon" is also sooooo creepy.

Although Andante, Andante is of completely different context, similar to the Piper, it uses music as a euphemism.  In Andante, Andante, music is used to describe intimacy, whereas the Piper uses it to describe mind-control almost, using music to guide and control you.  Interestingly, the concept of letting music guide you also shows up a year later on the song I Let The Music Speak.  There's no correlation between the song, but very interesting nonetheless.

This song is creepy and dark, but it is honestly such a well-crafted song.  Often times I like to just sit and write with an ABBA album playing from start-to-finish loudly in my headphones, and this song  just sounds so good.  Although there aren't as many harmonies as prior ABBA songs, I think it fits the song perfectly and the created such a beautiful soundscape for this song.  A very, very good song.