Song Analysis - I Am An A

During rehearsals for ABBA's 1977 tour, it's said that ABBA decided to come up with a brand new song, telling their perspective audiences a little bit about themselves. I think this is such a fantastic idea, especially as during this time, per ABBA in a 1977 interview with Sveriges Magasin, a lot of magazines and tabloids were making up myths and fake information about them, coming up with false perseptions and characters for each member. Bjorn found it quite offensive that he was labeled as very "business-minded, and Agnetha was being deemed as this romantic with of course so much attention being in her bottom. I actually really like this interview because each member, specifically Frida, is so mad about the tabloids and they're being extra snarky and are clearly upset, a sit of them that didn't really come out when they were busy promoting their music or tours or whatnots. (Never mind that in the 80s, Agnetha even went to war with some tabloid magazines and even suing them hahaha. Love that for her!)

Anyways, while I am an A is a more accurate than not telling about each ABBA member, it's definitely leaning more on the side of playfulness. ABBA are telling a bit about themselves through more of a funny lens, but everything they're saying is true and you're really getting a feel for who they are and what they're like as people. Until that point, I think ABBA had always kept a lot of their personal lives and own personalities rather shielded from their professional live, never mind that a lot of ABBA at that time was made up of personal factors- I mean they're literally two couples! But you didn't really get to know what as people. Maybe in their home country, who they were was a lot more known, but internationally, all people knew about them was what they saw on TV and what they read in magazines.

I've been reading ABBA on Record, Carl Magnus-Palm's newest book (I have a lot of thoughts on this book, and will very likely write a review when I get around to finishing it!), and I find it to be so interesting how much the ABBA members originally disliked the name ABBA, and so badly did not want their group to be called ABBA. But eventually the name ABBA was agreed upon, despite Bjorn's personal dislike for the name, and I like how by 1977, they fully accepted it and went as far as to write a song completely around that title.

Sometimes I wonder if I Am An A is the official title of the song, especially as during the 1977 tour, ABBA didn't actually introduce the song by its title. According to ABBA omnibus, the song has a couple of unofficial titles that it's also known by - "A-B-B-A", "A Simple Four-Letter Word", and "We Are A Simple Four-Letter Word". But it seems the agreed upon title, whether official or not, is I Am An A, so that is what I'm going to be calling it.

One thing I really like about this song is that fact that each member sings a verse about themselves. In all of ABBA's catalog, Benny only has one lead-vocal track, and Benny singing alone is a very rare feat, but he did for this song. Agnetha playfully states when ABBA would introduce the track right after performing Rock Me, "Benny's going to play guitar for a change, and even sing! And I promise you, that doesn't happen very often." Benny replies, "No it doesn't," and Bjorn adds, "And you'll soon see why!"

The song starts with Frida's verse, which is:

Frida: I’m Frida, hello! I’m the star of the show!
Agnetha: That’s what she thinks anyway
Frida: And I like to perform, Benny says I am warm
Benny: Well, hot is the least you can say
Frida: Independent and free, and ambitious, that’s me! Fighting for fame and success. And I’m tough too, you see
Benny: No she’s not, just ask me
Frida: Singing and dancing is what like best

 Then we have the chorus:

Agnetha & Frida: I am an A
Bjorn & Benny: I’m a B
Agnetha & Frida: He is okay
Bjorn & Benny: So is she
All four: Singing together in harmony
Agnetha & Frida: He is a B
Bjorn & Benny: She’s a bird
Agnetha & Frida: Do you mean me
Bjorn & Benny: Yes you heard
All four: We are a simple four letter word
A-B-B-A

Bjorn's verse is next:

Bjorn: I’m Björn, I’m the guy, who is careful and shy. Don’t like to spend every dime.  But I love my guitar, and I drive in my car.
Agnetha: Scares me to death every time!
Bjorn: And I don’t like to shave
Agnetha: You should live in a cave
Bjorn: No, I feel more at home on the stage. When I sing and I play, with my group, it’s okay
Benny, Frida, and Agnetha: You’re group? You’re kidding or is it your age?

Then there's the chorus again, as well as a bridge, which is:

All four: Two and two together make four, every song opens a door

Agnetha: I am an A
Bjorn: I am a B
Benny: I am a B
Frida: I am an A

Agnetha's verse is next: 

Agnetha: I’m Agnetha, hello, I’m the young one you know
Frida: And she never lets me forget
Agnetha: I am gentle and mild, underneath it I’m wild
Bjorn: Craziest woman I’ve met
Agnetha: I’m romantic they say, but it’s not quite that way. I’m down to earth, yes indeed.  And I like early nights, so I turn off the lights
Bjorn: And I never get any chances to read

Another chorus, followed by Benny's verse:

Benny: I’m Benny at last, and I’m living quite fast. I like to travel and see. I can play day and night if the feeling’s all right
Frida: And it’s sometimes a problem for me
Benny: I can play ‘In The Mood’. I like wine, I like food
Bjorn: Now that’s something he just can’t deny
Benny: But I’m the talented one, with a place in the sun
Bjorn, Agnetha, Frida: When he’s not bragging, he’s quite a nice guy!

Then there's a final chorus before the song ends.

I cannot stress how much I love this song! Not only is their performance of the song absolutely amazing, with lovely acoustic guitars and such beautiful harmonies especially in the chorus, but their humor, playfulness, and close bond with each other is super evident. We have a decent amount of bootleg audios of this song, which are the only reasons why people today who didn't get the chance to see ABBA live during their 1977 tour, can enjoy this track. My favorites are the ones from the 8th of March in Adelaide, and the 10th of March in Perth. This song also has a special place in my heart as it was the song that I made my first ever ABBA Lego animation and uploaded to my original YouTube Channel in February, 2012. I was only 11, haha, and had no idea what a lot of the lyrics meant, so I would ask my Grandma what a lot of them meant. I remember asking her, "What does living fast mean?" and she gave me a very nice explanation. I can also pretty much quote these lyrics as I know them all my heart at this point haha. I just really love this song.

ABBA only performed this song during the 1977 tour, and if not for the bootleg recordings, the only memories of this song would have been from concert goers, and of course ABBA's own recordings of some of the stops in the tour that they refuse to release smh hahahhaha. If not for these recordings, I don't think anyone would have noticed that ABBA began to reuse the melody from the chorus for future songs.

In 1978, Bjorn and Benny reused part of the song for the demo Svantes Inferno, which would later become Free As A Bumblebee, which was recorded on May 29th, 1978, but a one minute and 29 second segment of it was included in the 1994 medley, ABBA Undeleted, appearing at the 14:41 mark. The melody from I Am An A was used in the post-chorus???, which goes, "What a good life, lying laid back, like an old railroad bum by the track. What a good life, living outdoors, lie in the grass and chew on a straw."

But Free As A Bumblebee remained unreleased and unused, and Bjorn and Benny, who very clearly liked the melody that was originally from I Am An A a lot, were still eager to reuse it somehow. So when ABBA went on their 40 year hiatus in 1983 onward, namely so that Bjorn and Benny could begin working on a musical, they got the chance to reuse the melody for the song I Know Him So Well. Obviously that song went on to become a major hit, and ended up being the first time this melody ended up being officially released. The original I Am An A melody is used in the first part of the chorus which is:

Florence: Wasn't it good?
Svetlana: Oh so good
Florence: Wasn't he fine?
Svetlana: Oh so fine
Florence: Isn't it madness?
Both: He can't be mine?

I Know Him So Well is not an ABBA song, so I'm probably not gonna disucss it much further in my song analysis posts, but I just gotta say, the song is almost structured like an ABBA song and I bet would have sounded amazing with Agnetha and Frida singing it tgoether, playing the parts of Svetlana and Florence.  If they wanted to do that irl sometime, or even someone who knows how to do AI vocals wanted to give us a hint of what the actual thing could sound like wanted to do that, I wouldn't mind.... :)

So yeah, there's some history on the beloved track, I Am An A.  I know ABBA did record a couple of nights from their 1977 tour, one at the Royal Albert Hall I think, as well as some if not all of their Australian leg of the tour.  I know they are 100% against releasing a 1977 live album like they did the 1979 one, but if they would please please PLEASE release I Am An A officially, I would be the happiest little ABBA fan in the world.  Please and thank you. :D

Also, if you want to listen to the song, just look it up on YouTube!  There should be some bootleg audios still on there, so if you find it, enjoy!!