Song Analysis - I Am Just A Girl

Not the kind of woman men would like to meet....  

I Am Just A Girl tells that tale of an ordinary, not special, Miss. Nobody who has no luck finding love... until she does.  

The song shows the progression of how the title character starts out thinking that she's nothing special (in fact she's a bit of a bore, haha jk).  Nothing stands out about her at all, men wouldn't want to meet her, no one ever notices her.  "It's an evil world, that has only made me a girl."  

But then, one day, she meets a guy and he smiles and whispers "I Love You."  No longer is she just a girl, now she can see that she was "meant to be your girl."  

It's honestly a super cute song, about trying to find  love and then ultimately finding the right one.

To my ears, it sounds like just Agnetha singing lead, with the other three members singing in unison in the background, until the bridge?  solo passage? sang by just Agnetha.  When I was younger, it always cracked me up that you can hear Bjorn and/or Benny singing "I am just a girl" alongside the ladies.  (Kind of like the way Senorita by Shawn Mendes and Camilla Cabello cracks me up because Shawn Mendes sings "I love it when you call me Senorita" or the male backing vocalist in Love Story by Taylor Swift sings "You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess."  It's just funny to me.)

Prior to this song being recorded by ABBA, the song was released by Swedish artist Jarl Kulle, as Jag är blott en man, which translates to "I am just a man."  Bjorn, Benny, and Stig had contributed two songs sang by Jarl Kulle as part of the soundtrack for a film, Ture Sventon.  The song is played on the same backing track that ABBA later used, and the song allegedly features some very familiar backing vocalists 🤔🤔🤔, though upon researching it more by looking at the listing for the Jarl Kulle single on discogs, the choir and orchestra is credited to S-O Walldoffs Kör & Orkester*, which I think discredits the idea that it is Agnetha and Frida singing backing vocals. 

The Swedish lyrics are similar to the English ones, though instead of being about a man desperately wanting to find love, it's more about a man who feels ordinary compared to other males, who feels weak and unexceptional.  "I'm just a man, one of many others, weak to my nature, ordinary frail man."  And the solo passage sang by the choir roughly translates to "Man, a poor creature, has something special.  In a fragile boat on the turbulent river of life, you lean on the woman who feels sorry for you, yes, almost as much as yourself."  

Of course I prefer ABBA's version because I am an ABBA fan and I love and worship everything ABBA does (with the exception of Mamma Mia the Musical/Movie).  But also, lyrically it's just better, and with Agnetha singing lead, it gives the song an extra layer of sweetness.  A lot of people really dislike I Am Just A Girl, but I find it to be really sweet and cute, and shows how ABBA can effortlessly sing in a variety of different styles and always sound good doing it.