Song Analysis - Knowing Me, Knowing You

 I haven't really been discussing much of ABBA's working titles to their songs, but I found the working titles to Knowing Me, Knowing You to be interesting.  We have "Ring It In" and "Number One, Number One."  I find Number One Number One to be interesting as the phrase "feeling like a number one" became part of Super Trouper from 4 years later.

Anyways, Knowing Me, Knowing You is a glorious song.  Lyrics wise, it is sad.  It's about a breakup, but not just between two partners but also there are children and a family involved, which makes it all the more painful.  ABBA had already discussed breakups involving a full on family before in Hey, Hey Helen, and that song is a lot more empowering, reminding the character of Helen that she's doing the right thing, whereas Knowing Me, Knowing is just pain and sorrow.  

The first lines of the song really set the scene.  "...Walking through an empty house, tears in my eyes. Here is where the story ends, this is goodbye." And then with the chorus, "...There is nothing we can do.  Knowing Me, Knowing You, we just have to face it.  This time we're through...."  

Frida sings lead vocals on this song, and you can feel the pain in her voice.  She managed to perfectly capture the emotions of the song and the feelings of he narrator in her voice.  I talked a bit about Agnetha's story telling abilities in my post about SOS, and how she manages to capture the emotions of her songs as well, but that's not saying that Frida doesn't do that as well.  Frida gives this song her all, her vocals are incredibly powerful, and then when Agnetha joins her, it's just magic.  Agnetha also adds some really nice whispered words in the second verse, repeating what Frida sings, "Memories, good days, bad days.  They'll be, with me, always."

In the chorus, we're hit with an amazing wall of harmonies stacked on top of one another, layers upon layers of Agnetha and Frida's voices blending together so well.  Then we also have Bjorn and Benny, not only singing some lower harmonies, but also they get some pretty amazing backing vocals, with ABBA's iconic "aha"s, and "this time we're through, this time we're through, we're really through" and "I have to go, this time, i have to go, this time I know." I love how the boys' backing vocals mirror Agnetha and Frida's vocals, and honestly it reminds me of Bjorn and Benny's backing vocals in Keep An Eye On Dan from 2021, in the way they're singing almost the same lines but from the man's perspective.  Keep An Eye On Dan is also about a family breaking up.

Though I think Knowing Me Knowing You is possibly also referenced in Don't Shut Me Down from ABBA's same Voyage album.  The line "Once these rooms were witness to our love, my tantrums, and increasing frustration" is reminiscent of "in these old familiar rooms, children would play. Now there’s only emptiness, nothing to say."  

A lot of people have always wondered if Knowing Me, Knowing You was inspired by real events, especially as ultimately, both couples in ABBA ended in divorce, however this song was written and recorded in 1976, long before their relationships were beginning to end.  This song is a fictional story about a painful divorce, and nothing more than a fictitious story.  As I've already mentioned multiple times throughout my postings, Bjorn and Benny would, at most, write their songs loosely inspired by personal life, but most if not all ABBA songs are complete works of fiction.  And we love that.

In 1980, ABBA included Knowing Me, Knowing You on their Spanish language album, and it was titled Conociéndome, Conociéndote.   It's generally the same song, verse 1:"There is no more smile everything ends our house is empty today it makes me cry and the story ends here you have to forget."  Chorus: "Only you, only me little and nothing was achieved only you, only me our love who can deny, happened was over separating is so difficult I know but I will go knowing me knowing you."  Verse 2: "Good, bad, both I keep laughter, tears in the rooms where we saw children play today there is only a great silence in the place"

My thoughts on the Spanish version of KMKY is the same as the other Spanish songs.  Without Bjorn and Benny, and not as many harmonies as the English version, it just kinda sounds empty.  Still good, just not the same. 

Anyways, ABBA performed Knowing Me, Knowing You as part of their 1977 tour and 1979 tour, even performing the song for the last time on the Dick Cavett TV special in 1981.  The song is just as good live as the studio, though in the live versions it's not as easy to replicate all the amazing harmonies that are in the studio version.  Not saying their backing vocalists aren't good, of course.  they all did amazing.

Here's a compilation of all the recorded performances of them performing this song. 

 

All in all, I really love this song as it's really that perfect ABBA sound - beautiful harmonies, deep lyrics, the use of Aha, and just overall good.