The recording is not of professional quality, yet they sound really, really good. Although during the recording they're all goofing around a bit, as can be heard during the second verse when Agnetha and Frida are laughing, and when they sing "higher, higher" at the end of the song, they both sound extremely good. Something that, dare I say, ABBA's live recordings lack is that metallic sound of their voices blending together, yet when Agnetha and Frida sing the line "There is no way I will let this moment pass me by, listen to me now, set yourself free now," in the last chorus they managed to capture that sound and it's so crystal clear and perfect.
The song is a completely different vibe than Rubber Ball Man. Although the bootleg recording of Under My Sun seems to be a bit sped up and as a result Agnetha and Frida sound rather "chipmunk-y", Under My Sun seems to be more fleshed out song. At least in this rehearsal audio, they have a lot more instruments, and the sound seems a lot more fun. Plus Agnetha and Frida's goofing around definitely adds to the vibes. The song also seems to fit quite well with the soundscape of the 1979 tour, specifically the live versions of If It Wasn't For The Nights and As Good As New, which I mean is obvious considering they're using the exact same instruments and everything as they're literally rehearsing for that tour.
As the song was never officially released or recorded, we don't have the lyrics, but I believe they are as follows:
Verse 1:
I lead my love alone
I don't hide it
Sometimes I am an open steamy fire
That the water can't swell
Verse 2:
Now everything is cold
You can't hide it
Now let your body slowly take you higher
Let your dreams be fulfilled
Chorus:
You are the one
You're the new star
Under my sun
Second to none
You're the true star
Under my sun
There is no way I will let this moment pass me by
Listen to me now
Set yourself free now
You are the one
You're the one star
Under my sun
Verse 3:
I lead my life alone
I don't hide it
Because I am an open steamy fire
That the water can't swell
Verse 4:
You're in the danger zone
You can't hide it
Now, let your body slowly take you higher
Let your dreams be fulfilled
Chorus:
You are the one
You're the new star
Under my sun
Second to none
You're the true star
Under my sun
There is no way I will let this moment pass me by
Listen to me now
Set yourself free now
(You are the one, you're the new star, you are the one, you're the one star)
You are the one
You're the true star
Under my sun
Second to none
You're the true star
Under my sun
There is no way I will let this moment pass me by
Listen to me now
Set yourself free now
You are the one
You're the one star
Under my sun
You are the one
You're the one star
Under my sun
Higher
Higher higher
Based on the fact the all the verses are exactly the same, I get the feeling this version of the song wasn't finished either. And I'm honestly not entirely sure what the song is about either. The lyrics are a bit disjointed and not complete, the verses don't match with the chorus, which is completely fine by the way, but you can just tell that it's incomplete.
I am so curious what was the reason for revising Rubber
Ball Man into Under My Sun, and were they intending to finish and then perform the song during the 1979 tour as a new song, or was it just them messing about while rehearsing? I guess we'll never really know.
Interestingly enough, clearly Bjorn and Benny liked portions of the melody and had been eagerly trying to turn it into something usable. It wasn't until 1982 that they were able to reuse a part of the song and turn it into something they saw releasable. The melody of lines such as "Sometimes I am an open steamy fire that the water can't swell," and "Now let your body slowly take you higher, let your dreams be fulfilled," would be used in Under Attack when Agnetha sings, "It's just like taking candy from a baby, and I think I must be..." and "I hardly dare to think of what would happen, where I'd be if I fell." (I find it interesting how parts of Under My Sun became Under Attack, like, both songs have the word "under" in it lol)
Although Under My Sun was not released officially, the song exists on YouTube if you look it up, and some versions even have some chatter and discussion before the full run through of the song, which can give some insight into the reason why Under My Sun is there in the first place. Here's the translation of what they're saying from the YouTuber Aggy Productions USA:
For funsies, on my own I attempted to slow down the tempo and lower the pitch a bit, and the result is actually pretty nice. I did have this up on my old YouTube channel, but like I'm trying to avoid anything bootleg so I can't upload it there again, but here it is here on my blog. :3
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