Song Analysis - S.O.S.

A common theme throughout ABBA's catalog is breaking up.  And SOS is no exception.  

A lot of the aforementioned ABBA songs that I have already talked about on this blog, (Dance (While the music still goes on), Disillusion, Hasta Manana, Another Town, Another Train, etc) have all been about break ups, but dare I say, I think SOS has a much more mature sound when compared to those tracks?  Maybe it's Agnetha's vocals that really make it seem more mature than the other tracks.  When you compare her singing style of SOS to say, Disillusion, there's something to her voice in SOS that just sounds older.  Yes this song is also from two years later, so she is a little older, but there is something there.   And of course I'm not trying in anyway to put down her singing in Disillusion, because in Disillusion, you can feel her pain so clearly in her vocals.  There's just something different about SOS and it's beautiful.

Anyways, SOS is a song about a relationship breaking down.  "Where are those happy days?  They seem so hard to find.  I try to reach for you, but you have closed your mind."  The main character's partner is just cutting our main character out, not communicating, not interacting.  A relationship that used to be so good is now dying.  "What happened to our love? It used to be so good." In the chorus, our main character pleads with her partner, explaining how without them, life can't go on.  How is she supposed to even try to go on without them being there?

While I have never been in a relationship like this and subsequently had to deal with a break up like this, the lyrics feels so real, and I'm sure are relatable to a lot of people in similar situations.  Bjorn, Benny, and Stig managed to capture those feelings so clearly in the lyrics.  I don't think they could have worded it any differently.  The song is just perfect.

Agnetha takes the lead on this song, being joined by the other three in the chorus.  I love how you can very clearly hear their different, distinct voices in the chorus yet they blend together so well.  At least for me, it's honestly very hard to hear the main melody in the chorus because all the different layers of vocals and harmonies, but it's so cool.  And then Benny's keyboard solo in the bridge...???? idk I don't speak music terminology - is really good and also manages to capture the sadness of the song in the instruments. 

It's no wonder that SOS went on to become a big hit for ABBA.  It's catchy, the lyrics I think are relatable, and that classic ABBA sound is so prominent and beautiful in the chorus. 

Now, in 1975, when Agnetha was getting ready to release her next solo album, Elva Kvinnor I Ett Hus, it was highly recommended that Agnetha include a Swedish version of SOS on that album to increase interest in the album.  So she did.  With lyrics written by Bjorn, Benny, and Stig, the song is pretty much the same as the English one.  First verse: "Where is the happiness that I once dreamed of? You have moved and are so far from me Where are the feelings that you had, how did it become that way? You are a stranger now, is there any help?"  Chorus: "Say who can answer and who can explain? S.O.S Where is my dear who was so close to me? S.O.S Who are you, as I now, do not recognize Where is he, this man, who was once my friend?"  and second verse: "The great love, where did it go then? How did that melody go, which was so fragile and beautiful? Although we can walk next to each other, you are far from me And my feelings them, do not reach you."

The Swedish version also features presumably the other three singing in the chorus.  I love hearing them all sing in Swedish, and of course that ABBA sound is still quite prominent.  Though, during the "When you're gone, how can I even try to go on" part of the song, in the Swedish version Frida is not really there like she is in the English version, allowing Agnetha to really make this song her own.

Speaking of, I think one of the contributing factors as to why this song is so good, is Agnetha's story-telling abilities.  She somehow always manages to capture the essence and feelings of the lyrics, accurately portraying the emotions that are being conveyed through the words.  (I am not trying to say Frida is not good at this btw - I'm just highlighting Agnetha's storytelling ability at the moment.)  Even to this day, Agnetha is still amazing at telling the story of the song through her emotions.  She manages to make you feel that she herself has personally gone through whatever it is the character of the song is going through.  When listening to Keep An Eye On Dan from ABBA's 2021 album Voyage, Agnetha sings out the lyrics with such emotion, such pain, and you're just taken away by it.   She was even praised from either Bjorn or Benny or even both for her vocals on that song for that exact reason.  Also, surprisingly, Keep An Eye On Dan does have a slight nod to SOS, with the piano intro translated into the end of the song.  I don't quite know the significance of that, but maybe it has to do with Agnetha's emotional vocals being so similar in style to SOS?  (A slight digression, but another good example of this, is when watching the music video for The Winner Takes It All, it looks like she is sooooo sad and heartbroken, especially as the other three interact and mingle without her.  You can read all those emotions on her face, hear it in her voice.  You'd really think she was so sad at this time.  But then when ABBA have released those few second outtakes and bloopers, from the filming of that music video, you can see that it's all just a very convincing act. )

Anyways, with SOS being such a big hit, of course ABBA would perform it a lot, but on TV performances and live in concert.  We have bootleg and official releases of ABBA singing SOS live in their 1975, 1977, and 1979 tour.  And each performance is epic.  Though, a personal highlight for me, is the live in Eskilstuna bootleg audio.  SOS is Agnetha's song, and she shines in it, though in 1975, ABBA had Frida sing the second verse, and she absolutely shines on this verse.  (She also messes up one the lines: "You made me feel alive but something died I fear," instead accidentally singing "I tried to make it out, but something I died I fear," yet she still makes it seem so natural and intentional.)  For some reason I love it when there are recordings of one ABBA member singing a song or parts of a song that in the final result was sang by a different member entirely.  (For example, Agnetha singing an early demo of Rock Me, called Baby, Agnetha singing a part of I Wonder backstage during ABBA the Movie, Bjorn singing a demo of The Winner Takes It All, Bjorn singing an early demo of Like An Angel Passing Through My Room, and even Agnetha taking lead on an early version of Like An Angel Passing Through My Room.)  

Anyways, here is a compilation of some of ABBA's many performances of SOS throughout their career, most of them being from 1975-1976.  Throughout 1975, Agnetha and Frida have a really cute dance routine for SOS, that I'm assuming they'd also do as part of their 1975 tour, but idk because there are no videos.  I like how they even write out the letters SOS as part of their dance routine.  It's cute.  And then in 1976, with the performance on the Sylvester Tanzparty being the last appearance of the dance routine, they kinda just stopped the dance routine entirely, just swaying back and forth instead haha. 

So yeah, those are my thoughts on SOS by ABBA.  Epic song.  Epic vocals.  Epic performances.