Song Analysis - Dum Dum Diddle

 So a lot of people don't like this song.  They consider it amongst ABBA's worst songs.  They say it's cheesy, silly, and is so weird.  A woman is jealous of a man's violin?  That's so absurd! If I remember correctly, even Bjorn dislikes it.  I think he once said that it was among the last song lyrics completed for the Arrival album and he was rushed on time and the result is this rather simple, and silly lyric.  

But I dispute all of that.  Personally, I think this song is a masterpiece.  Okay maybe not a masterpiece, but sonically, it has that pure ABBA sound, that beautiful blend of vocals from Agnetha and Frida singing lead, some amazing harmonies from all four blending together in the chorus and even during the second verse, and some amazing synthesizer from Benny.  This song is another example of happy, jubilant sound but actually some really sad and rather depressing lyrics.  

The song on the surface is about a woman who really wants the attention of his guy, but he's too busy playing his fiddle all the time to even notice her.  He's only ever happy when he's with his fiddle, and she kinda wishes she was his fiddle. But I think the song is a lot deeper than that.

There's a line in the first verse, "but it’s bad.  You’re so sad, and you’re only smiling when you play your violin."  It can happen to a lot of people when depression hits and you become so hyper focused on the one thing that brings you joy to the point of solely focusing on that and cutting out everyone around you.  Perhaps this guy is a close friend of the narrator, and something has happened and his mental health isn't doing so well, so he's distracting himself with the one thing that makes him happy.  He's been practicing so much, playing night and day, and he's gotten really, really good at it.  But he's so distracted with this, he doesn't notice the narrator and her really strong interest in him.  

I know the second verse, "But I think you don’t know that I exist, I’m the quiet kind, wo-oh. From the day when I first listened to you you’ve been on my mind, wo-oh" kinda refutes this theory, but like maybe she's someone who kinda knows him, but not super well, and she's developed some really strong feelings for him but maybe he only sees her as a friend or even just an acquaintance, and when she's around him she's always quiet and shy and he has no way of knowing she's interested in him.  Plus with whatever has been going on that has made him so sad, he's cut everyone out and would never really notice her. 

And because she cares about him, and really likes him too, she wishes she could be the person to bring him joy rather than his violin.  It's not that she wants to be his violin, she wants to replace the violin.  She thinks she can make him smile again and be happy again instead of being so distracted and only focusing on his violin.  But if only he would just notice that she's there, thinking and caring about him.

I know this is only my interpretation of the song, and that doesn't mean that's what 100% truly accurate an factual and that I know exactly what Bjorn and Benny were thinking of when they came up with the song, but for me it really opens up the world of the song and makes it even greater than it seems.  And for that reason I think it's underrated.

A bit of a digression, but my type of young adult novels and romance-ish genre that I enjoy reading are ones when you have emotionally-scarred man who's not like evil or hurting anyone, but he's going through some stuff and has never really been able to open up or be comfortable around anyone, but then there's this one girl who's determined to get to him and is trying to convince him that she can be there for him, she'll make things better, and she spends a lot of time trying to get him to see that she's there, and there's maybe a little bit of friends-to-lovers aspects as well.  Honestly this is what my own personal book that I have been writing for the last decade or so but don't have the guts to share anywhere is kind of about, at least one of the many characters in my series is going through in one of the many subplots and arcs.  And for that reason as well, with my personal interpretation of the song, Dum Dum Diddle really resonates with me.

Back to the song, the music itself is so jubilant.  It sounds so happy.  And Agnetha and Frida sound superb in the song.  Their vocals are just perfect, the harmonies are some of their best.  And when performing this song live, which they did once in 1976 for the ABBA-Dabba-Doo TV special, and during the 1977 tour, they sound just as amazing.  Especially as Benny plays this song with an accordion rather than synthesizer. 

So yeah, I really, really love this song.  I think it is so underrated and everyone should really take a chance on it (heheheh I had to) and see that it can be more than a song about a woman jealous of a violin.