(Okay trying to find a picture of ABBA from this era with the men standing in the middle is apparently very hard but look I found something similar enough.)
I've already shared some of my thought on Man In The Middle on my rant about parodies and false assumptions, but I don't mind talking about it some more.
Man In The Middle is a song about a guy who is very I guess well off, or at least trying to play the part of a wealthy guy. He flaunts his wealth by driving around in his limousine, drinks champagne while everyone else drinks a beer, he eats rich food like caviar, and he's fifty-years-old but is with a 17-year-old girl. He lives in a mansion, he has servants, he's a tough boss, he's never bothered by his conscience, and he doesn't mind doing questionable things because he wants to be the man in the middle.
A lot of people dislike this song because they think ABBA are promoting these questionable things and are okay with the man in the middle being this way. But these things that the guy is doing are not good things. He's not a good man. However it is quite clear in the lines "he’s never bothered by his conscience. deals with the devil ’cause he wants to be man in the middle," and "But you see that man made a big mistake even though he’s got all his servants and a mansion beside a lake. And the money too, all that he can spend. He can buy the most, nearly anything but he can’t buy an honest friend" that these are not good behaviors. The lyrics don't hide the fact that morally, he's pretty rotten. I mean, he's an adult with a minor! That's creepy and gross, on top of all the other things wrong with him.
Similar to what I wrote about Gonna Sing You My Lovesong, it's a just a song about a person. It's not saying the person in the song is good and perfect, but rather it's a song about humans, and some humans are just scummy.
The song is sang by Bjorn and possibly even Benny. Specifically at the end of the chorus, when they repeat "in the middle middle middle middle middle" etc, I think that's Benny. Agnetha and Frida also sing the chorus, with some lovely backing vocals singing along with Bjorn. The music itself is funky and groovy, and it's pretty fun sonically.
So yeah, those are my thoughts on the song. It's a good song about a bad guy. Not in any way promoting the bad behavior displayed in the song.
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