Song Analysis - I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do

 If I were ever going to get married, I would 100% walk down the aisle to this song.  

I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do is a true love song.  It's filled with the sound of wedding bells, saxophones, and jubilant piano playing.  Agnetha and Frida sing jointly together, and they sound absolutely amazing, especially with some absolutely heavenly "aaaahs" throughout the last verse. 

  The narrator of the song is wholeheartedly in love with their partner and is 100% committed to them.  With lines such as ,"So come on, now let’s try it, I love you, can’t deny it ’cos it’s true, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do," the main character declares how much she is in love and wants to make it work, but it's the first line of the song and the second chorus that really stand out to me.  "Love me or leave me Make your choice but believe me I love you I do, I do, I do, I do, I do," and "Oh, no hard feelings between you and me If we can’t make it, but just wait and see."  It's the reasonable, mature, and level headed thinking that shows this isn't just a mere crush, but that this is real.  

  The final version of the song is structured like verse 1, chorus 1, verse 2, saxophone interlude, chorus 2, verse 3, however there was an original version of the song that featured an extra verse between the saxophone interlude and chorus 2, which was as follows: Let's  get together, every day we'll be better, I love you, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do.  Leave it or take it, I believe we can make it.  Don't you too? I do, I do, I do, I do, I do."  I'm always a big fan of extra verses, demos, and original versions of songs, so I love this extra verse, however I think I agree with ABBA's decision to cut it from the final mix.  I feel like it made the song a bit congested.  

  ABBA would perform this song on various TV shows throughout 1975 and early 1976.  I especially love the little routine they would do with Bjorn joining Agnetha and Frida and swaying with them during the saxophone break.  It's super cute and I have a suspicion that would be part of their routine when they'd perform the song live during their 1975 tour.

Speaking of tour, as mentioned, they would perform the song as part of the setlist of their 1975 tour, and we have one bootleg recording of that from Eskilstuna, and then the song was included in their 1977 tour, and they sound amazing in all of the recordings.  The song seems like it was very easy to perform, and they performed it beautifully.  My favorite part though is the cold ending they added for the live 1977 performances, where Agnetha and Frida would end the song with a slow "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do...." It sounds almost like a lullaby and they sound absolutely heavenly.

Anyways, sadly we have no video footage of ABBA during the 1975 and 1977 tours singing this song, but there are plenty of TV performances and all of them are extremely fun, in particular ABBA's performance on the Sylvestertanz Party in late 1975.  They were having a ton of playful fun in that performance. 

 

All in all, an extremely lovely song about being mature and in love, and I love it.