Song Analysis - Åh, vilka tider

 Okay so I guess I'm just going in the order that ABBA's songs were recorded in the studio rather than order they were released, and that's okay.

Åh, vilka tider is a pretty unusual ABBA song seeing as it's the only official ABBA song in only Swedish, with no English version.   The song was originally recorded June 1972 and the released as the B-side to Ring Ring Bara Du Slog En Signal in February 1973.  Oddly enough, the song hasn't really been released anywhere else in subsequent compilation albums, only in like a handful.  It's almost like the song is excluded as an ABBA song, even though it is.

The song features all four ABBA members on vocals, though Agnetha and Frida are only in the chorus.  The song is very similar to a lot songs from Bjorn and Benny's short-lived solo career, like "Tänk Om Jorden Vore Ung" and "På Bröllop", sound-wise.   

Very on theme with ABBA's songs from this time, the song is about a perfect world almost, where "No one was angry and no one was gloomy each was a brother and a sister" (rough translation of "Ingen var sur och ingen var dyster var och en var en bror och en syster" courtesy of Google Translate.)   Really a beautiful message, and again something that I wish people of today's world could learn from, with lines like "Dreamed a dream I remember and I feel water became wine and enemies became friends"  

As I mentioned, Agnetha and Frida are only singing along in the chorus with Bjorn and Benny, who also sing the verses together, but when the four of them are singing along you just get hit with that magical ABBA sound with all four of their voices blending together.  It's a very early version of that ABBA sound, but you can still recognize it.

I realize I don't listen to this song as much as I do the rest of ABBA's songs, but just looking through the lyrics and understanding what the song is about adds a whole new level of appreciation.  A very good, sweet, and beautiful song. :)