Song Analysis - Intermezzo No. 1

Of ABBA's entire musical catalog, there are only two instrumental tracks, and one of them, aka Arrival, isn't even a full instrumental because it features Agnetha and Frida as instruments essentially.  

Intermezzo No. 1 is basically Benny's time to shine.  Together Bjorn and Benny would come up with the music and lyrics together for all of ABBA's songs, but it's very clear that Benny was usually more into composing the music and Bjorn more into the lyrics, and both of them shine in those areas and together they create the most incredible music.  Very similar to how Agnetha and Frida's individual vocals are so radically different, with Agnetha being a soprano and Frida a mezzo-soprano, but together they blend so pefectly to create that pristine and magical ABBA sound.

Recording for Intermezzo No. 1 began in December of 1974.  I don't quite know how to describe this song.  It's an instrumental masterpiece.  There are so many different sections and pieces to this song, and it goes from slow to fast to slower to faster.  The track begins with a beautiful piano and guitar intro, and more and more instruments show up as the song progresses.  It's such a cool, musical piece, very rocky and has so many different elements.  

From their 1975 tour to their final live concert in 1980, Intermezzo No. 1 made it's way into the setlist.  I'm not sure if it was used as a bit of an intermission for a quick costume change backstage during the early 1975 tour, but ABBA would place this song right before a need for a change of costume or setup, having Benny and the rest of the band play this amazing track while Agnetha and Frida (and even Bjorn during the 1979 tour) run backstage to change out their outfits.

In 1977, right after performing Fernando, Agnetha would go backstage while Bjorn and Frida rock out with Why Did It Have To Be Me, followed by Benny playing Intermezzo No. 1 while Frida and possibly Bjorn idk go backstage, and during that break, Agnetha and Frida change into their Girl With The Golden Hair Costumes. 

And then in 1979, Agnetha would also skedaddle during Why Did It Have To Be Me to go backstage to change, Benny would then perform Intermezzo No. 1 while Frida and Bjorn change outfits, and then Agnetha would come out and perform I'm Still Alive, giving Benny the opportunity to go backstage and change into his next outfit.  Honestly very efficient.

But all of that is not to say that Intermezzo No.1 is just an intermission song.  While the studio version of this track is amazing on it's own, but this song absolutely slaps live!  Benny puts his all into these performances, and you can hear from just the bootleg audios and the live 1979 album how much fun they're having with this track.  And we also have the video footage from ABBA the Movie as well, where you get to see Benny having the time of his life and bouncing around behind his piano, absolutely having a ball.  You can kinda tell that Benny's having a lot of fun when he starts mouthing along with the instruments.  

For funsies I did sync up the live footage from ABBA the Movie with the studio track, but honestly just go look up the original clip from the movie and also listen to Intermezzo No. 1 from the Live At Wembley album.  They're just epic.