Song Analysis - Does Your Mother Know

 In February, 1979, Bjorn and Benny came up with a demo track for a song titled I Can Do It featuring reworked parts of the song Dream World.  Eventually, the song would become the song Does Your Mother Know, and first appeared on the TV show, ABBA In Switzerland, which was recorded that same month.  However, ABBA continued to work on the song in March, 1979 before it eventually became the version that was released on the album.

The song is honestly a bit controversial.  On one hand, at a time when so many rock and pop stars were know to do very creepy things like sleeping with fans, but not just that but sleeping with minor fans who were younger than the age 18, Does Your Mother Know is a song about actively turning down the opportunity to be close with a minor and saying NO.  On the other hand, an adult should not be getting turned on by a minor, should not be calling them hot, and should not be flirting with them.  That's just a no-no.  

Bjorn has said in an interview with The Economist in 2018, that in today's day and age, he probably would hesitate on writing this song, but the song was inspired by a young fan who came up to him and he turned her away.  So I find it to be awesome that he chose to take that experience and write a song about actively saying no to the "advances" of a minor fan, something that other rock stars, both of that time and even in modern day, completely disregarded.  

Now, while I never praise the Mamma Mia! musical franchise, but the scene in which the character of Pepper is trying to flirt up Tanya and Tanya, despite acting rather flirtatiously and honestly creepy back in the scene (I haven't seen Mamma Mia!, never have never will, but I have watched this clip,) it suggests that the song doesn't necessarily mean a literal child.  The song could be about someone significantly younger trying to make flirtatious advances to someone older, but the older person is like, "No, you are a child in comparison to me.  So no."  And that's a fine interpretation of the song.

So, while the song is definitely very icky, I think it proves to be a fairly decent song once you actually read into it and understand the context.  I can't for the life of me remember which song, but there is a song that I think I saw in a RoomieOfficial video on YouTube about a guy actively trying to turn away a "child", and I was thinking "omg yay another song like Does Your Mother Know that can be interpreted for good! but then there was a line that went something along the lines of "leave before I change my mind" and I was like ewwwwww.  So as far as I know, Does Your Mother Know remains one of the only songs to not be that level of disgusting because the narrator of the song never suggests that he wants to change his mind.  He sets a boundary, that is to only dance and flirt (still wrong but it's something), and will not step past that. 

Musically, the song is great.  I love that for the first time since the Arrival album, Bjorn got another lead vocal, and his vocals are great in this song.  Agnetha and Frida's backing vocals are amazing, especially in the post-chorus, with their high pitched "Does your mother know?"s.  When ABBA would perform this song live during the 1979/80 tour, the song is just full of energy and it is so fun seeing Bjorn dash all over the stage.  There's one moment especially during ABBA in Concert before the second verse where you can see Agnetha playing with Benny at his piano and it is just absolutely adorable.  The song is just so fun live on stage.  ABBA also took the moment to hang out and highlight with their different backing musicians.  They kinda took the highlighting the musicians in a bit of a "flirty" route which honestly, not my fave, but I'm happy to see Mats Ronander, Lasse Wellander, and Rutger Gunnarson get the spotlight for a bit.

Anyways, here is a compilation of their performances of Does Your Mother Know.

 

Also, I have to share this bootleg clip of ABBA live in Copenhagen in 1979, where you can see Agnetha and Frida dancing together during Does Your Mother Know. Absolutely adorable.