Song Analysis - I Saw It In The Mirror

I Saw It In The Mirror is probably the most hated ABBA song amongst fans young and old, probably because when compared to all the rest of ABBA's catalog, it sounds nothing like ABBA have produced before.  Some find the song too boring, others dislike Bjorn and Benny's vocals, and others just hate the song on a whole.  

Unlike the majority of fans, I actually really love this song for a variety of different reasons, but specifically Agnetha and Frida's backing vocals.  But more on that in a moment.

I Saw It In The Mirror was originally written in 1970,  recorded and released by Billy G-Son, I believe as the B-side to the song There's A Little Man, also written by Bjorn and Benny and featuring Agnetha on backing vocals.

The Billy G-son version of the song is a lot faster in tempo, whereas the ABBA version that was recorded in 1973, is slower and presumably more in the style of R&B.  The lyrics to both versions of the song are generally the same, at least in the verses, however the bridge of the Billy G-son song is entirely different.  "Girl, you made me feel so good, you know you did.  It takes a fool like me to act the way I did.  I just can't realise you don't love me anymore-more.  It made me feel so bad when you walked out that door."

The structure of the ABBA song is a little different.   While the Billy G-son version is Verse, Bridge, Verse, Verse, ABBA's is Verse, Verse, Bridge, Verse.  Of course I'm biased so I prefer ABBA's version, but I personally think the structure of ABBA's version just makes more sense.   (Also in case you are all wondering, unlike what it says on Genius, Agnetha and Frida are not singing the backing vocals on the Billy G-son version.  That is not Agnetha and Frida, okay?)

Yes, I Saw It In The Mirror, ABBA's version, is a lot slower and almost "boring", however the real highlight to the song is Agnetha and Frida's backing vocals.  They may sound super simple, but for pretty much the only time in ABBA history that Agnetha and Frida's vocals are put on separate channels.  (The only other time Agnetha and Frida's vocals are somewhat on separate channels is a good 40+ years later in Little Things.)  So when you import the song into Audacity, for example, and split the stereo track into two, you'll have Agnetha's vocals playing on one speaker, and Frida's on the other.  When you listen to each track individually, you can hear Agnetha and Frida's distinct vocals, yet when you merge them back together again, their blended vocals have that third voice quality that just sounds absolutely magical.  And for just that reason alone, I Saw It In The Mirror will always among my top favorite ABBA songs.