Song Analysis - Get On The Carousel

 The final song in ABBA's mini musical, The Girl With The Golden Hair, is this absolutely epic finale, Get On The Carousel!  ABBA just amp up the energy for this song, with Agnetha and Frida both performing at their absolute finest, and each getting the chance to show off their individual vocal strength.  ABBA's backing vocalists, Lena Andersson, Lena-Maria Gardenas, and Maritza Horn get the chance to shine as well, singing most of the chorus on their own.

The song has the backing vocalists trying to encourage our titular character, The Girl With The Golden Hair, to get on the "carousel", and stay put.  They try to entice her, telling her how fun it is, how much the world adores her.  It's so worth it, you know, the loss of control, that feeling of helplessness....  But the Girl with the Golden Hair does not want to!  She's had enough. She feels completely out of control, feels sick, and wants to get off this carousel asap.  After all, all she wanted to do was dance and sing!

There's a lot of really fun and heavy electric guitars, dare I say making this one of ABBA's rockiest numbers they ever performed live?  This song honestly feels like an emotional breakdown, and though I used to dislike this track a lot, I really like it now.

I mentioned in my post about I Wonder that I was curious why Agnetha was seen rehearsing this track in the dressing rooms in one scene in ABBA the Movie, and I realize now that's because she and Frida sing it during one part of Get On The Carousel that goes back and references I Wonder. The two of them sing it together and they honestly sound so good.  I kinda wish Agnetha was featured more in the studio version.  

They also go back and sing I'm A Marionette again, (before I Wonder actually), just tying together all the different parts of the musical into this finale.  And also the line "I only wanted to dance and sing" is in reference to Thank You For The Music.

Unfortunately, ABBA didn't end up releasing this song.  It ended up remaining a piece of the mini-musical and was never recorded in the studio to be included on their forthcoming album.  I'm curious if it's because ABBA never utilized other vocalists in any of the song, and this song is clearly very heavy on the backing vocalists, and honestly I don't think the energy from the live performance could have translated well into a studio environment.  

Also perhaps Bjorn and Benny were never really satisfied with the song, as they did end up reusing sections of the song.  The melody in the chorus, specifically on the lines,"Get on, the roundabout is just beginning! Get on, it's fun to see, the world is spinning!" ended up being turned into the bridge of Hole In Your Soul, specifically, "Aha, you paint your world and use all colours.  Aha, and then you find it all comes out too bright."  Interestingly, the outro of Get On The Carousel was also later reused for the outro for Hole In Your Soul live during the 1979 tour.

Now, while Get On The Carousel never saw an official release, most of it is featured in ABBA the Movie (placed before I'm A Marionette despite the song being after I'm A Marionette in the setlist). Sadly they did not include any footage of Agnetha and Frida's dance break in between I'm A Marionette and Get On The Carousel, nor did they include the full song.

Here are the lyrics, transcribed to the best of my ability.  It's not perfect, I can't guarentee it's 100% accurate, but I did my best:

Get on the carousel
Get on the carousel
Get on,
the roundabout is just beginning!
Get on,
it's fun to see, the world is spinning!
Get on the carousel
(Well all I really wanna do is get off)
Get on the carousel
(Well all I really wanna do is get off)
Get on,
Your happiness is waiting for you!
(It’s only making me scared!)
Get on
be famous, let the world adore you
(You know I don’t think I care)
Get on the carousel
(Well all I really wanna do is get off)
Get on the carousel
(Oh, I really wanna go!)

Agnetha:
I feel so dizzy I wanna go
Listen!
No, I don't think I can take much more

Frida: So won’t you tell ‘m to make it slow?
Listen!
I want the speed that I had before

Agnetha:
I’m feeling sick and I wanna stop
Spinning!
So won't you let me get off this thing?

Frida:
I got a feeling I reached the top, spinning!
I only wanted to dance and sing!

The roundabout is just beginning
get on!
it's fun to see, the world is spinning
Get on the carousel
(Well all I really wanna do is get off)
Get on the carousel
(Well all I really wanna do is get off)
Get on
your happiness is waiting for you
(It’s only making me scared)
Get on
be famous, let the world adore you
(You know I don’t think I care)
Get on the carousel
(Well all I really wanna do is get off)
Get on the carousel
(Oh, I really wanna go!)

Agnetha: I feel so dizzy I wanna go
Listen!
No I don’t think I can take much more

Frida; So won’t you tell ‘em to make it slow
Listen!
I want the speed that I had before

Agnetha:I’m feeling sick and I wanna stop spinning!
So won’t you let me get off this thing?

Frida: I got a feeling I reached the top, spinning!
I only wanted to dance and sing!

I’m a marionette, just a marionette, pull the string!
I’m a marionette, everybody's pet, just as long as I sing!
I’m a marionette, see my pirouette,
Round and round
I’m a marionette, just a marionette,
Just a silly old clown!

The roundabout is just beginning
get on
it's fun to see the world a-spinning
Get on the carousel
(Well all I really wanna do is get off)
Get on the carousel
(Well all I really wanna do is get off)
Get on
your happiness is waiting for you
(It’s only making me scared)
Get on
be famous, let the world adore you
(You know I don’t think I care)
Get on the carousel
(Well all I really wanna do is get off)
Get on the carousel
(Oh I really wanna go!)

Oh I’m not a coward,
Oh no I'll be strong.
One chance in a lifetime
Yes I will take it,
Yes I will take it,
It can’t go wrong…

Agnetha:
I feel so dizzy I wanna go
Listen!
Now I don’t think I can take much more

Fida: So can't you tell ‘em to make it slow
Listen!
I want the speed that I had before

Agnetha:
I’m feeling sick and I wanna stop spinning!
So won’t you let me get off this thing?

Both:
I got a feeling I reached the top, spinning!
I only wanted to dance and sing!

Now, regarding Agntha and Frida's dance break, while we don't have any officially released to the public on like a DVD or TV show or anything of the actual performance, in a couple of cases clips of Agnetha and Frida rehearsing the dance routine has been shown to the public. During the ABBA World exhibit in Syndney in 2010-2011 ish, a film by Jack Churchill featuring rehearsal footage was shown there, and you can see Agnetha and Frida working on their dances for both I'm A Marionette and Get On The Carosel.  More footage from those rehearsals was inclued in a 2005 interview with Bjorn, Benny, Lasse Halsstrom.  Then in 2023 I think it was, when ABBA the Movie was playing in Cinemas around Europe, they showed a couple more minutes of rehearsal footage before the movie.  ABBARoxAus on YouTube also has a couple of seconds of the performance in Sydney up on YouTube as well.  

So, yeah, that's Get On The Carousel.  If you want to hear the song in full, there might still be some bootleg audios up on YouTube, and I definitely recommend listening to it because it is quite the song. :)

(Also ABBA pls don't block me I just wanted to include a quick comparison.  Footage and audio do not belong to me.)