The Royal Order Of Vasa

 Well, what a morning!  Having only gotten online as of 50 minutes ago, what a wonderful surprise to see photos of the ABBA members arriving at the Royal Palace in Stockholm with their family and loved ones.  I believe Agnetha arrived with either Christian, her and Bjorn's son, as I saw some report, or her manager, Bjorn arrived with possibly one of his and Agnetha's granddaughters as well as his girlfriend Christina, Frida arrived with her partner Henry, and Benny arrived with his son, Ludvig and I believe Ludvig's wife Milana.  Then the ceremony was livestreamed on SVT (I missed it but have caught up!), and oh my goodness, what a treat to see all four members of ABBA, literally my favorite people in the world, together again once more.  

What an honor to be able to witness ABBA reuniting, both muically and just the four members together in public standing next to each other, so many times over the last 8 years.  First we had the opening of Mamma Mia the Party in 2016, Bjorn and Benny's 50th Anniversary celebration in 2016, ABBA reuniting for the recording of I Still Have Faith In You and Don't Shut Me Down in 2017, then for the subsequent recordings of Voyage from 2018-2021 and the motion-captures for the ABBA Voyage show, 2022's premiere of ABBA Voyage, and now this, where our beloved members of ABBA received the Royal Order of Vasa for outstanding efforts in Swedish and International Music Life.

Congratulations Bjorn, Benny, Agnetha, and Frida.  This award is so well deserved.

Frida Beyond ABBA - A MUST have for ABBA fans

 So I've been on a bit of an ABBA book reading kick lately, and bought myself a few books over the course of this year.  Unfortunately the two that I had bought before, both pieces by Carl Magnus Palm, were not my favorite books in the world.  I've read plenty of ABBA books from the library over the years, but never really in full detail (I was a kid who mostly enjoyed looking at the pretty pictures Hahaha), and my not overly pleasant experience reading CMP's books had me wondering if all ABBA books were like this - overly sensationalized, focusing more on the drama than the people and the music themselves, and mostly highlighting the negatives.  Now I'm not saying that ABBA and its members' story is all perfect with no drama whatsoever, but to only focus on the details that are key to sell a book seems wrong.

Up until recently, there hadn't really been any books that take a big deep dive into the ABBA members' individual stories and lives.  Of course, with Agnetha being the PreTTy BlONdE oNe, there are certainly plenty of books all about her, but none that I had seen that were very respectful and didn't sexualize her.  That is until I read Agnetha Faltskog - The Girl With The Golden Hair by Daniel Ward.  I think I failed to give the book a proper review when I got it back in 2023, but I actually really enjoyed it.  The author spent a lot of time compiling quotes from Agnetha over the decades from various interviews, and you really get a feel for her personality, what she was like, how she's really not this quiet, pretty, blonde girl that you perceive during interviews, but rather she had quite the temper and was very outspoken and opinionated, and we love that for her.   And his intention was to actually tell the story of Agnetha Faltskog, omitting the "AgNeThA iS SeXY" narrative because most people only ever see her as a sex icon and he was trying to prove that she is actually a person.  Of course I question the validity of some sources, especially the story about STIG BANGING ON AGNETHA'S HOTEL ROOM DOOR AFTER THE TRAUMATIZING BOSTON FLIGHT AND HER GETTING SICK, and the only source for that incident is Carl Magnus Palm's totally 100% truthful Bright Lights, Dark Shadows book, and the claim allegedly comes from Bosse Norling, ABBA's tour manager, but Bosse Norling was not interviewed for the book, so... where does it actually come from?  Tabloids?  Sensationalized stories that aren't 100% accurate?  Which does also lead me to question the validity of other quotes because they too could come from interviews that aren't 100% true and are sensationalized.  But aside from that, I found the book to be absolutely delightful and enjoyable.

In February 2022, author Remko van Drongelen released a book all about Frida's story, spanning her entire career from childhood, becoming a singer at age 13, all the different competitions she entered to try and get somewhere with her career, the ups and downs of it all - a feat that hadn't actually been touched on until that point. When the book first came out, I really wanted to get my hands on it, but the book is pricey and I didn't really have that kind of money to justify spending on a $100+ book.  But, now that I have my hands on the book, I just have to say, this book was worth every penny.

In many ways, there are overlaps with Bright Lights, Dark Shadows, which I had literally just finished reading, but Frida Beyond ABBA goes into so much more detail.  I had mentioned that one think I didn't like about Bright Lights, Dark Shadows was the fact that the author has to remind us constantly about Frida's struggle with depression, and it basically only focuses on that fact and makes you think that Frida had no positivity in her life, and she is always going to be Depressed Frida.  Frida Beyond ABBA is the opposite.  Yes Frida's depression comes up a lot in the book, but it never makes you feel that she is just a depressed person, that the depression enveloped her entire personality and she was only Depressed Frida.  We actually follow her depression in real time, see what triggered it and how it got better.  We learn all about Frida's motivation in life, why she wanted to start singing.  We learn about her family history as well, all about her mother Synni and her father Alfred Haase, but most importantly, the book kept things respectful.  

 Bright Lights, Dark Shadows had been rather explicit, talking all about how Synni and Alfred Haase first made love, and like, I don't know about you but I don't think that's details that we should or need to know, especially as what does it matter how and where they were when they did?  Did the author only include it because Sex is a SENSATIONAL TOPIC and Sex sells??????  Frida Beyond ABBA wasn't like that in any way at all.  It does explain how children out of wedlock had been a common occurrence in Frida Lyngstad's family history, but like, that's all.  And it's fine.  I'm not judging of course, I just don't think we need to know all the little details on how each person was intimate together, and where and when.  That's too personal and feels disrespectful to include in a biography.  This book (as did Bright Lights, Dark Shadows) also confirms that Frida was not a child of the Lebensborn program, a rumor that goes around every once in a while.  (Like it's even stated as a "fact" on the wikipedia page for Lebensborn, even though it was never proven to be true.)

 Speaking of respectful, this book included a paragraph about personal details and whether to included them or not in this book.  The line "A determining factor in this was also whether Frida had spoken publicly about these periods in her life or not, and whether a certain detail as a fact or just somoene's opinion, in which case it would often only be included as a quote, if relevant at all."  AND THIS QUOTE IS SO IMPORTANT TO ME!  And that quote alone proved to me that this author was trying his best to share a respectful, non-sensationalized story, and I agree that the end result was just that.

I should also mention, this book also did not vilify Stig Anderson in anyway.  Even in the events that Stig allegedly was mean to Frida, specifically in the making of her Something's Going On album, you learn that his telling Frida that none of her songs had hit potential came from a place of caring, as he was worried that this new musical style she was taking on wouldn't sell or have success.  Ultimately he was proven wrong, as I Know There's Something Going On went on to become a very big hit, but never once in this book do you see Stig as EVIL, a theme that shows up constantly in all the Carl Magnus Palm books that I have read. (CMP's books really had me thinking that it is the general consensus that Stig Anderson is BAD, but this book proves to me that maybe CMP is the problem....)

Now the one thing that I am confused by is the book's statement that after ABBA, pre-Voyage of course, Frida was the only one to be in support of ABBA recording anything again but the rest of the ABBA members, including Agnetha, would constantly make statements that no, ABBA is over.  No more ABBA.  I get I haven't read all that many paper interviews, but that's not the tune that I've ever gotten from Agnetha..?  Like she of course would reiterate that the guys are busy writing a musical and "ABBA is sleeping," but as far as I know she's always had a "never say never" philosophy.  A good example of it is this interview on the Mike aan Zee show in 1985.

Now, I should mention, this book glosses over all of ABBA's career, and doesn't go into much detail about ABBA at all.  I would say this book is definitely not for those who don't know ABBA's full story, but at the same time it makes a wonderful companion book to those who do.  It's just full of so much rich detail, tons of rare and new information that I had never heard of before.  I learned about songs that Frida contributed backing vocals to, I learned all about the early dance-band years, and I feel like I really got to know Anni-Frid Lyngstad as a person. 

Now while I do of course still question the validity of some quotes and their sources, there is no doubt that the author did so much work and research on this book, and even gives a PDF to the reader when you buy the book that includes all the sources, and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate this.  This book was nothing other than respectful, and there is no doubt that this book was created with love

I just really liked this book, and I would honestly give it a 10/10, and definitely a must have for all ABBA fans (if you can afford it of course.)  I think Remko van Drongelen is now one of my favorite authors. :)

Song Analysis - Voulez-Vous

 In early 1979, as Bjorn and Benny were struggling to come up with songs they found sufficient enough for a new album, the two of them decided to take a songwriting trip to the Bahamas.  The result: Voulez-Vous.  Apparently Bjorn and Benny were so eager to have this new track they came up with recorded that they went to a nearby recording studio in Miami, Florida to have it properly recorded.  I think I read that they may have re-recorded the track anyway once they returned to Sweden, but I'm not 100% certain on that.  Regardless, Voulez-Vous remains the only ABBA song to have ever been recorded, even just partially, outside of Sweden.

Similar to the vain of ABBA's Summer Night City, Voulez-Vous is a bit of a tribute to the disco/nightclub life that ABBA apparently were very into.  The song seems to be set in a place of that sort, crowded with lots of people out and about, a bar nearby.  I believe the song is basically about the narrator of the song spotting someone else eyeing them from across the room with eyes that are glowing in the dark (makes me think of Tiger from 1976 actually haha), and the narrator is like "Here we go again, we know the start, we know the end."  Basically, I guess the nightclub life is very easy for people to like, meet up once, hook up once, and that's it.  And clearly the narrator is clearly very experienced in this lifestyle and is like "Okay, I know what you want.  Take it now or leave it.  Now is all we get.  Nothing promised, no regrets."  She also can pretty much read the guys mind, know what he wants to do and she knows how to act in response.  

I guess you can say that it's a very flirty, more mature, adult-oriented song.  Many people have said that Voulez-Vous, the album, is ABBA's most adult album, like they graduated from singing about simple love songs, almost "teenage love" sort of songs, to more mature themes, and while Voulez-Vous certainly has a lot of prevalent adult themes, I disagree that the songs are more mature than previous ABBA songs.  Perhaps before they had songs that were relatable to almost everyone no matter the age, while a lot of songs on Voulez-Vous are more predominantly targeted at adults.  

Agnetha and Frida sing in unison throughout the entire song, very classic ABBA with lots of layered and stacked vocals in the chorus.  There's also ABBA's classic "Aha" throughout the chorus, making this the song with the most "Aha"s ever.   The song is also yet another ABBA song to have a hook/phrase in a different language (examples are Hasta Manana (Spanish), Mamma Mia (Italian), and Agnetha and Frida sing some lines in the Hawaiian language in Happy Hawaii.)  If it wasn't already clear, Voulez-Vous means "Do you want" in French.  

This song is also a very disco, nightclub inspired track musically, like it is totally the type of song that would play in those places.

ABBA only performed this song in it's complete 5:10 glory on two TV shows in Spain.  All other performances, as in the Music Video and live during the 1979/80 tour, are of the single edit that is 4:22 long. 

All in all, I like the song, and I mean I like all ABBA songs, but if I'm being honest, this song has never been in my top, top favorites.  Not to say I don't listen to it, I do.  But it is a good song.

2 years of ABBA Voyage

 2 years ago was the premiere of ABBA Voyage, when much to our surprise and astonishment, the four ABBA members reunited, in public, as the entity ABBA, for the first time in nearly 40 years, and probably the last time. (Although ABBA are being awarded the Royal Order of Vasa sometime this month, although I don't know how/when/if the ceremony will be and if ABBA will attend, so we will see....)  

  I remember watching a live stream of the red carpet and watching ABBA step out, and what a moment it was!  Definitely one of the many highlights of 2022.  And of course ABBA stepped out on the stage again after the first premiere of the concert was over, and it was an extremely emotional moment.

  And of course we can't not talk about the ABBA Voyage show itself!  I still have yet to see it for myself, but all the promotion, all the rare glimpses at shots from the show in promotional material, the bootleg photos/videos, all of them just make me all the more excited to finally get to see the show for myself and I can't wait to someday be able to experience that.

  So happy 2 years, ABBA Voyage!  Here's to many many more, be it in London, Las Vegas, Australia, or all three!

  (I drew this picture last year but apparently neglected to share it here.  In fact I have a lot of ABBA-related drawings that I neglected to share, but last year was a very tough year for me... so yeah....)

Song Analysis - Chiquitita

 In December of 1978, ABBA began recording the song Chiquitita.  Although the final version of the song contains lead vocals by Agnetha alone, the song in demo form was titled "In The Arms Of Rosalita" and featured either joint lead vocals by Agnetha and Frida or one verse sung by Agnetha and one verse sung by Frida, etc.  The song also had "Chiquitita Angelina", ""3 Wise Guys," and "Kålsupare" as working titles.

Chiquitita is a Latin-inspired track about comforting a friend through a heartbreak.  The narrator calls the friend Chiquitita, which (if you know Fluent Spanish like Bjorn does hehe) means "Little Girl" in Spanish, but we don't actually know the girl's name.  

The song begins with a solo verse by Agnetha alone, with Frida joining in on the second verse, singing in harmony.  Then they sing the chorus together, followed by the third verse which is also Agnetha with Frida in harmony.  

Chiquitita is such a beautiful song, very comforting and sweet.  In particular, I like the lines "Your best friend, I’m the one you must rely on.  You were always sure of yourself.  Now I see you’ve broken a feather. I hope we can patch it up together."  

I mentioned in my post regarding Fernando that the initial Swedish version of Fernando and Chiquitita are basically the same song.  In the Swedish version of Fernando, the narrator is basically comforting Fernando after a breakup, and hyping him up, reminding him of how good he is and to "play, play the melody and sing the song about happiness," which also shows up in Chiquitita: "Let me hear you sing once more like you did before.  Sing a new song, Chiquitita.  Try once more like you did before.  Sing a new song Chiquitita."  And then the English version of Fernando essentially follows the same vocal harmony structure-ish as Chiquitita.  Fernando has Verse 1: Frida solo, Verse 2: Frida with Agnetha in harmony, Chorus, Verse 3: Frida with Agnetha in Harmony, Chorus, and Chiquitita is Verse 1: Agnetha solo, Verse 2, Agnetha with Frida in Harmony, Chorus, Verse 3: Agnetha with Frida in Harmony, Chorus.  And interestingly, both songs ended up being Latin-inspired songs.

On the topic of the similarities between the two songs, I meant to include this in my review of Bright Lights, Dark Shadows by Carl Magnus Palm but forgot hahaha, so I'll bring it up now.  For some reason, in CMP's book, he makes a big deal about how the subject matter and lyrics of the Swedish version of Fernando were lazy and too simple, as Stig was kinda retiring from the lyric writing side of things.  And he basically doesn't like the Swedish lyrics because you know, Stig = Bad and Stig's Lyrics = Lazy, YET Chiqutitia lyric wise is basically the same song.  Same concept, similar wording, but because Bjorn mainly wrote the lyrics, and Bjorn = Good and Bjorn's Lyrics = WOW AMAZING SONGWRITING, he has no complaints about Chiqutita?????  One could argue that the lyrics in Chiqutita are also quite simple, but that's not a bad thing either.  

Going off topic a little more, but I have been reading Frida Beyond ABBA by Remko Van Drongelen, and I find it so interesting how this book and Bright Lights, Dark Shadows overlap a lot and tell the same stories, yet Stig Anderson is NEVER painted in a negative light.   Frida Beyond ABBA is nothing but respectful, factual, and so far has been nothing but fantastic.  (When I finish reading it I will review it don't worry haha.)

Anyways, back to Chiquitita, unlike Fernando, the song has a beautiful instrumental outro to conclude the song, which in a way screams "hopefulness."  Like the music itself is filled with hopeful sounds and positivity.  Also throughout the song, we have some lovely backing vocals, which in the second verse are, "how it hurts to see you cry and how it hurts to see you sad," in the second chorus, "You and I, we know how all the heartaches come and go and you'll be dancing once again and all the pain you take will end.....  Even though you cry the sun in shining in the sky so let me hear you sing some more the way you used to do before."

ABBA released the song as a single in January of 1979, and performed it for the first time at Unicef's Year of The Child gala in 1979, and ABBA donated and continue to donate all proceeds from the song to Unicef.  ABBA would also go on to perform the song on various TV shows, though not many, and on their 1979/80 tour, and we have a shortened visual and audio footage of ABBA performing the song live at Wembley from the ABBA in Concert TV special, as well as the full version of that same performance on ABBA's 1986 LIVE album, as well as on ABBA's 2014 Live At Wembley album.  And of course plenty of bootleg audio and visual footage as well.  And in ALL of them, ABBA perform the song beautifully.  

ABBA also recorded the song in Spanish, which according to Google Translate so it's not gonna be perfect are as follows:

Verse 1: "Little one, tell me why your pain today chains you. In your eyes there is a shadow of great sorrow. I wouldn't want to see you like this even if you want to hide it. If you are so sad why do you want to silence him."  

Verse 2:  "Little one, you tell me on my shoulder, here crying.  Count on me now to keep walking.  I knew you so sure and now your broken wing. Let me fix it.  I want to see her cured."

Chorus:  "Little one, you know very well that sorrows come and go and disappear.  You will dance again and you will be happy like flowers that bloom.  Little one, there is no need to cry.  The stars shine for you up there. I want to see you smile to share your joy, Chiquitita. Again I want to share your little joy."

Basically the song is the exact same as the Englihs one, however interestingly, the third verse is a repeat of the first verse rather than being a completely new third verse or a direct translation of the English one, which is: "So the walls came tumblin’ down and your love’s a blown out candle.  All is gone and it seems too hard to handle.  Chiquitita tell me the truth, there is no way you can deny it. I see that you’re oh so sad, so quiet."  I'm guessing someone in the lyric-translating department got lazy haha.

ABBA also performed the Spanish version of Chiqutita twice on TV.

Chiqutitita also shows up in ABBA's Voyage show, performed by the ABBA-tars in front of a beautiful Eclipse.

 As usual, I love this song, and as with, in my opinion, all the vocals on the Voulez-Vous album and songs from that era, Agnetha and Frida's vocals were just at their peak and are just absolutely stunning.

Also I just need to say, unlike what the garbage ITV documentary tried to claim, ABBA's music video for Chiqutitia, filmed in front of a giant snowman, was actually filmed outside, not on a soundstage. Okay? Okay.

Song Analysis - If It Wasn't For The Nights

 If It Wasn't For The Nights is yet another disco-inspired track for ABBA's forthcoming album at the time, and is yet another happy sounding song with kinda sad lyrics.  Recorded in November 1978, the song is about someone who either has just broken up.  Interestingly enough, while not many ABBA songs are inspired by real life events, Bjorn, who wrote the lyrics, has said that this song was written around the time that he was going through a bit of a rough bit mentally, which in turn was reflected in the theme of the lyrics.  As we know, Bjorn and Agnetha weren't having the most pleasant year in 1978 in terms of their marriage, and I believe they had separated around the time of recording this track.  However, just to keep in mind, while that truly was effecting Bjorn's emotional state, that DOESN'T mean that the song is a true story of Agnetha and Bjorn's breakup.  In fact, the song could just be about depression and loneliness in general, and the lyrical content is not directly tied to the events of their divorce.

Now that that's out of the way, the song is about someone who spends most of the days working I'm assuming a 9-5 office job, which ABBA reference a lot in their songs.  The narrator of the song mentions how during the day, they keep their mind occupied with their work and appointments and the like, keeping themselves distracted, because otherwise, their mind immediately goes to the their ex, and then all the emotions and thoughts about them come flooding back.  Despite these distractions, their work performance still isn't at it's best.  They don't care what words come out of their mouth, they lost their temper a lot, and it's bad, oh so bad.  

At this point, the narrator has basically just given up on being okay and trying to act better.  Because if it wasn't for the nights, aka when they're all alone at home after a long day of work left to their own thoughts and devices, they would be okay.  If they didn't have to come home each day after work, and have all that time alone, maybe they'd have the courage left to fight through this depression, but at this point, it doesn't seem worth it.

The first line of the second verse, "No one to turn to, you know how it is," I think is extremely sad but also real.  A lot of people don't have a support system or anyone to turn to or talk to at times of crisis, and unfortunately the same goes for our narrator.  Also the line "oh baby, I feel so bad, I know I’m never gonna make it" is extremely depressing and sad as well.  You can really feel the pain and struggle of deep depression in this song, despite the fact that the music backing all of this is so happy and feel-good and dance-able.  Although, I feel like this was a stylistic choice.  Many people with depression tend to hide it and act like on the outside, everything is okay, everything is fine, but it's all a facade.  And like the music is almost like that happy facade, pretending like everything is okay and fine and dandy.

Unfortunately, the song doesn't even have a positive resolution in the end either. It's just sharing the narrators thoughts as they are, with no hope for things to get better.  And as sad as that is, it's also extremely real and relatable to anyone else struggling with depression like this.  And it's okay to not be okay.  If anything, this song allows for people with depression to be heard, and to give an understanding to those who otherwise wouldn't know what it's like.  And for that reason, this song is beautiful.

Agnetha and Frida take the lead vocals together in this song, however they do each get an individual line which I think is a really nice touch.  In the first verse, Agnetha sings the line "Oh, so bad," on her own, and Frida sings that same line alone in the second verse.  I really like hearing the stark contrast between their voices and ways of singing the same line.  Like when they're singing in unison, their voices blend perfectly, yet when they're singing individually, Agnetha sounds crystal clear and smooth, and Frida's voice has this rough and sharp quality to it and it's amazing.  Their backing vocals and harmonies are amazing, too, and their vocals are just at their peek in my opinion.  And instrumentation, too, is perfect, and while the disco elements to the song do make this song sound ever so slightly dated, it's also ABBA's own personal interpretation to disco and it doesn't have all the disco elements that were present in disco songs of the time, making it disco-inspired but not full-fledged in your face disco, if that makes any sense hahahhaha.  And the ABBA-interpretation is very, very timeless as well.

ABBA performed the song twice on TV, once in Japan with an early mix of the song, and then another early mix of the song on the Mike Yarwood show at the end of 1978.  ABBA would also go on to perform the song as the 2nd song on the setlist on their 1979/80 tour.  We have some visual footage of ABBA, live in Japan, and also audio from ABBA's last night at Wembley Arena from their 2014 live album.

Song Analysis - Angeleyes

 Here we have yet another ABBA song with happy music but actually kinda sinister lyrics. With recording commencing in November, 1978, Angeleyes tells the story of someone having been reminded and then reminiscing about a past relationship.  However, it's not necessarily good memories or reminders.

The first verse sets the scene perfectly, explaining where the main character, what happened, what inspired her to remember his "angel eyes."  Last night, she was out taking a stroll, but then she saw him!  And he was with a girl, not just any girl, but a young girl.  And the way he looked at this young girl was the same exact way he had looked at the narrator back when they were in a relationship.  And the narrator thinks that maybe she needs to walk up to the young girl and warn her and this guy is not good at all, and this is all a game to her.  

The chorus goes on to explain that he has these angel eyes, and the moment you look at him, you just get hypnotized and are made to think that you're in love with him.  He takes your heart, but you then have to pay the price.  One look in his angeleyes and you're in paradise, but it won't take too long before you realize it's all a disguise.  Just don't look too deep into his angeleyes.  Don't get sucked in.  It's not worth it.

The thing I find interesting is that the chorus doesn't really explain what it is that he does that is so terrible.  Was it that he was just not a good boyfriend, like maybe he cheated on her, and she's upset by that?  Is he a groomer and/or a predator, specifically as it's noted that he was interacting with a young girl?  Is he a creep?  Is he even worse, an absolutely disgusting vile creature that needs to be destroyed?  All we know is that he is bad and is awful and everyone needs to avoid him.

Honestly, the second verse, "Sometime's when I'm lonely, I sit and think about him.  And it hurts to remember all the good times when I thought I could never live without. And I wonder does it have to be the same?  Every time when I see him, will it bring back all the pain?  How can I forget that name?" does make it seem like it wasn't all that bad and the guy was just a cheater, a manipulator, or an overall terrible boyfriend, and that's it, but also, it makes me think maybe he was an emotional abuser, and like, when the times were good, they were good, but also when they were bad, they were really, really, really bad.  And of course, having been in this relationship and now being all alone, she does get hit with that nostalgia of missing being with him when things were "good", and maybe almost thinks there's good in him and he's not all bad and he won't do the same to his next "victim", but I think that's all her internally debating with herself and trying to ignore the negatives to try and make things less hard for her.  It probably took her a long time to realize how much of a terrible relationship she was stuck in and it was difficult for her to flee and escape, but eventually she did, and she made it out.

And even though she's free now, it doesn't stop him from he's just back to going this same old same old creepy and horrible behavior, on a quest to hurt more young girls.

And honestly, I don't think we'll even know who this song specifically is about and why.  When Bjorn and Benny wrote this song, Bjorn being the one to write the lyrics, they didn't really explain further on this guy's deal, and honestly I don't think they need to.  Really, this song I think perfectly explains the feelings of people having just lost any relationship, whether it's a horrible scenario or just a simple bad breakup.  As unfortunately and terrible these type of scenarios are,they unfortunately are real, and maybe this song helps call attention to the seriousness of these situations.  While we may not know the specifics of the song, it's obviously not a positive, happy song about a long lost "good" relationship."

Regardless, Agnetha and Frida both sing the lead vocals on this song, with that perfect blend of their voices, and they sound perfect.  We've got that classic ABBA sound, lots of "ahahaha"s - a very common ABBA theme, beautiful harmonies, especially at the end of the song in the last couple of choruses.  And of course, happy music, sad/depressing lyrics.  Also, in the last section of the song, with the lines "Keep thinking.  Keep thinking about his angeleyes," repeating over and over again over some very fast paced keyboard playing, in my opinion reminiscent of Flight of the Bumblee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, is very anxiety inducing, hahaha, like maybe the narrator is having an existential crisis of some sort.

Unfortunately ABBA never performed this song, even though it was released as a double A-side single in August, 1979.  But also I think it's a bit of a complicated song to perform, so idk.  It's still an awesome song, and and of course, I love this song as I do all ABBA songs, just the lyrics have me questioning the meaning a lot haha.  

Also, I remember this song got popular on the social medias, aka Tik Tok and Instagram Reels, where people would upload clips reminiscing about lost loved ones, or just loved ones in general, to the line "Sometimes when I'm lonely...." and it just made me so mad because the song is NOT a positive song, and that line is NOT a positive line about positively reminiscing about people you love, and like when you know the full context of the song, the videos just seem so cringe.  Like maybe don't take just segments of songs and take them out of context?

Song Analysis - Dream World

 I've mentioned that I really enjoy the tracks from the 1978/1979 era, the Voulez-Vous era.  I feel like ABBA were at the peek in terms of vocal arrangements and harmonies, they had a formula that really worked and all of their songs from this era, specifically Lovelight, Kisses Of Fire, Just A Notion, Angeleyes, and Dream World all contain this pristine quality that I just love so much.

ABBA began recording Dream World, previously titled Dream Land, on September 16th, 1978.   The song features both Agnetha and Frida on join lead vocals, with their perfect blend of voices, though Agnetha does get her own solo spot in the post-chorus. In typical ABBA fashion, this song is also sort of sad lyrics, set to a very upbeat and fun track that sounds almost carnival-esque.  

The song is essentially saying, "We're not perfect together, we're completely different from each other, we don't have to put up appearances like if we were stars in a movie, so why are we even bothering with this facade?"  which is honestly really really sad.  And then the chorus is basically saying that how they were living had essentially been entirely fantasy, a dream world.  I especially like the line, "Boy meets girl, doesn't mean they're in a dream world," because just because you met someone that you think is compatible with you doesn't mean it's actually going to work out.  But then, the song actually takes a more lighter and hopeful feel with the line, "Here I am, there you are, we've gotta make it together.   And we've made it so far, so it can only get better."  This line could be seen as sarcasm, and that the narrator in the song doesn't actually believe this statements, but then post-chorus makes me think that it is an actual thought of optimism.  "When you reach out and you say to me, "How I love you, girl."  When I hold you, baby can't you see? It's a real dream world."  

It's like they're saying it is all just a fantasy, but at the same time, it's their own real fantasy, and they're going to push through.  And I like that.  Though the second verse kind of gives us a little insight as to what this couple in the song are going through and why they're not compatible.  "You had your hopes and your high expectations.  Somehow it doesn't seem right.  I'm getting fed up with your accusations.  I'm not your angel in white."  It's like basically, the narrator's partner has too high expectations, and sees the narrator as angelic and perfection, and as a result she feels like she's being made to live up to these expectations when she's not even like that, it's just a false perception that he has placed on her.  

Now personally, I find the verses and the chorus to be slightly disjointed.  Not musically, but rather lyric wise.  Like the song fluctuates between being "we should break up" to "no there's actually hope for us.  We'll make it through!" and maybe that could be one of the reasons why this song remained in the vault for many many years?

While the song was originally recorded as a song to be included on ABBA's forthcoming album that they were having a lot of trouble conjuring up this time around, clearly Bjorn and Benny weren't all that happy about it, and instead of throwing away the melody, they reused the post-chorus section for a song titled "I Can Do It" that later became Does Your Mother Know.  The synth bass line??? that is heard underneath Agnetha's vocals can be heard in the intro of this early version of Does Your Mother Know performed during ABBA's Switzerland TV special, and it's even heard when ABBA would perform the song live in concert during the guitar break.  And the melody was reused for the "Take it easy, try to cool it girl. Take it nice and slow.  Does your mother know?" section of the verse in Does Your Mother Know.

Anyways, I still really love Dream World so much.  I especially love the "ta ta-ta-ta"s throughout the verses, sang presumably by Agnetha, Frida, Benny, and Bjorn.  

The song was first heard in July 1986, when Michael B. Tretow included the song in a Radio Programme called Sommar.   This original version of the song did not have a fade-in intro to the song, but when the song was mixed for release on the 1994 Boxset "Thank You For The Music," a fade-in was added to the song.  However ultimately when the song was included on the Voulez-Vous Deluxe Edition CD, they released the original version without the fade-in, which I much prefer because I really really like the sudden start of the song without the fade-in.

Also if you all remember, I use to use this song as the outtro to all my YouTube videos with the song set to a clip of ABBA ice skating in 1979.  Don't ask me why I did that, I guess I just really enjoyed that clip and this song haha.

Why I'm not mad at ABBA's Eurovision "Appearance"

So yesterday was the Grand Finals of 2024's Eurovision Song Contest, which was held in Malmo, Sweden coincidentally the same year that ABBA celebrates their 50th anniversary since they won the Eurovision Song Contest.  So of course it seemed very plausible that ABBA would do something to celebrate.  There were so many rumors that the ABBA members themselves would appear on stage, that they would sing Waterloo, you know, all four 70+ year old members of ABBA, and people were setting their expectations a little too high.

Instead, the ABBA-tars materialized on stage, and for those who have already been to ABBA Voyage, the segment was no surprise as it was literally taken straight from the ABBA Voyage Dialogue as the ABBA digital ABBA members reminisce over their Eurovision win, with the exception of two new lines recorded by Bjorn and Benny, which are, "Yes we can!  Hello Malmo, hello Eurovision!"  The already pre-recorded lines from ABBA Voyage are:

Frida: "Thank you for still having faith in us!  Really it's an amazing privilege to be together again."

Agnetha: "But do you remember where it all started?"

Benny: "I remember picking up my winnings after a very special bet I made on a very special competition."

Agnetha: "I remember Bjorn standing on the coach because his costume was so tight that he couldn't sit down."

Bjorn: "Thank you for sharing that.  And then I remember the UK Jury and what they thought about us.  They gave us zero points!

Benny: "But let's take a look at some old footage, just to jog our memory."

Bjorn: "Aw do we have to?  I don't like watching myself.  Bad self-confidence I suppose."

Frida: "Bjorn, it's not about self-confidence.  It's about having a sense of humor."

Agnetha; "So here we are!"

All four: "The Eurovision Song Contest, 1974!"

And this is where the ABBA Voyage show would have a projection on the screens that come down from the ceiling of various ABBA performances of Waterloo, a bit in the style of my All Performances videos dare I say hahahaha.  However, after a compilation of various ABBA videos and the first verse and chorus of Waterloo, past Eurovision Song Contest Winners, Charlotte Pirelli, Carola, and Conchita Wurst, who all looked absolutely stunning btw, came out and performed the rest of the song.  A very lovely tribute to our beloved ABBA.  (I won't be watching it again because I personally cannot stand listening to other people sing ABBA, but of course they did a fabulous job, I just can't listen to it.  Hehe.)

Anyways, the whole concept of ABBA Voyage, getting the opportunity to perform for forever and ever as their younger selves, is exactly how ABBA want to be remembered.  Even though I disagree with them, ABBA feel like it would be wrong to ruin their image and come out as old people and try to sing like they used to, especially when the music that they already recorded is exactly what they wanted to release.  If you want to listen to or watch ABBA perform, you can already do that will all the studio tracks that they crafted as perfect as they could, and all the TV performances and concert footage that exists.  So it makes perfect sense that if they would reunite specifically for a show that doesn't "tarnish" their existing image.  

I think because they chose to reunite for the ABBA Voyage show, and consequently two new songs, and then a whole new album, people were getting to used to the idea of ABBA reuniting, like it's something they'll do again and again, and expected them to do it again for Eurovision. But if you think about it, there have been so many anniversaries and events where you'd think ABBA would have done something to celebrate.  25 years since winning the ESC, 40 years, 50 years... but ABBA are the same and always have been the same.  So why would they change? 

However this year, the ABBA members actually had something to give.  It may not be new, at least to the people who have already been to Voyage (you lucky ducks you), but here we have ABBA having already reminisced about winning the Eurovision Song Contest.  If they were only going to say the same thing that they already said, in typical ABBA fashion, why record a new thing when they can just reuse what they already did?

I personally am quite happy with the really high quality footage of the ABBA-tars talking on the stage.  As I haven't been blessed to see ABBA Voyage the show live yet, it was such a treat to see them like this, and I really really enjoyed seeing the ABBA members joke and talk and laugh on stage with each other.  The Avatars themselves also look stunning. 

So all in all, it made me happy and I'm satisfied with what they gave us. 

Also, shoutout to the ESC official YouTube channel for not making the clip available in my country.  I know America is not involved with the Eurovision Song Contest, but that doesn't mean that devoted and dedicated ABBA fans shouldn't be able to see the footage from the show.  It totally doesn't feel alienating at all. :) :) :) >:(

Also to the people who were so disappointed that ABBA didn't show up and don't understand what the ABBA Voyage show is, THESE ARE NOT AI!  STOP CALLING EVERYTHING AI!!!!!!  Ugh.

11 years ago today

 It was 11 years ago today that Agnetha's 2013 album A was released worldwide.  I've mentioned this before, but this album is so dear to me.  I remember the hype of it all, the first single releases, hearing her voice in an all new recording.  I had only discovered ABBA in 2010, so this was my first new ABBA-related release to be a part of.  

To this day, this album still remains one of my top favorite.  I listened to it so much then and I still do now.  I once saw someone describe Agnetha's album as boring, and while I disagree that it's boring, I would say it is "delightfully boring."  Like, most of the tracks are slow and sweet and could be sung by anyone, yet Agnetha's voice just adds that extra something to make it so special.  

She did so much effort and promotion for this album, even performing live, publicly on stage for Children In Need at the end of the year.  And I feel so special to have been there to (virtually) witness it all.  

As always, I do like all the songs on this album, but my top favorites will always be The One Who Loves You Now, Back On Your Radio, and I Keep Them On The Floor Beside My Bed, the latter being an original Agnetha composition, and it's always a treat when she writes music and shares it with us.  

And of course, to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of A, last year she released a "remixed" version of the album, A+.  I like that album a lot too, and so many of the tracks that I initially wasn't too crazy about have become among my top favorites.  Specifically "When You Loved Someone (A+)" has grown on me a ton.

So happy birthday, A.  Thanks for being such a special album. :')

Song Analysis - Crying Over You

September 1978 saw the recording of yet another ABBA demo that never came to fruition.  Although the song didn't get completed, a 1:20 snippet was included in ABBA Undeleted at the 17:50 mark.  The song features lead vocals by Bjorn, and no other vocals, and it's very repetitive, repeating the same verse twice in a row, however that's how Bjorn and Benny would record their demos, just repeating the only lyrics they had written down over and over again or just singing out nonsense phrases so they could get a feel for the song before completing the lyrics.

The lyrics are super simple, "I’m waitin’ for you baby I’m sitting all alone.  I feel so cold without you, it chills me to the bone. I never thought you’d leave me but now I know it’s true.  oh Lord I’m blue I’m cryin’ over you." repeated twice in a row, followed by the chorus, "Cryin’ over you.  I’m cryin’ over you.  Cryin’ over little memories of things we used to do.  Oh Lord I’m blue I’m cryin’ over you."   

The backing track isn't all that complete either, but honestly it's such an exciting little number, with fun keyboard playing from Benny all throughout the song.   

I like how this song is a very typical ABBA song formula, just missing the components of Agnetha and Frida's vocals and harmonies, assuming they were going to be the lead vocalists in the song.  Though I can totally picture them singing this song, maybe in a more comfortable key, though I think Bjorn is attempting to sing in their key.  I also love the use of the word "blue" which is a common adjective and feeling in ABBA's songs.  

I've always liked this song, I mean I like ever ABBA song hahaha, but I have a tendency to really really like the songs from ABBA Undeleted, especially as I always want what I can't have hahaha.  And I know ABBA won't release the songs they deem not good enough, but hey, maybe someday they'll have sympathy on the fans who'd literally eat up anything they release no matter the quality, and release all their demos in full???  A girl can dream, right? xD

Song Analysis - Hamlet III

Appearing at around the 12:23 mark in ABBA Undeleted is a very fun unreleased track titled Hamlet III. Recorded around August 1978, the track, which had the working titles of "Mountain Top" and "Dr.Claus Von Hamlet Nos. 1, 2 and 3" starts as a fun instrumental with fun guitar and keyboard playing, and is a really fun melody that clearly meant a lot to Bjorn and Benny, as they seemed to desperately want to find a way to use the melody in an ABBA song.  Then, at 13:30, the song switches from the fun, fast paced energetic track to a beautiful track sang by Agnetha and Frida in unison on top of lovely piano playing and at a much slower pace.  

 The lyrics are centered around when the seasons change to autumn, the air get colder, the leaves start to fall to the ground, the weather is gray and rainy, and it gives the narrator a bittersweet reminder of a previous autumn, when the narrator was in a relationship and things were happy before ending in heartbreak.  Based off the line, "So sad and kind of bitter sweet, and the memories filled with tears, and I feel my heart will break.  Guess it all was my mistake," makes me thing that the relationship had been good at the time that previous autumn, but it all went sour pretty quickly afterward.  Either the narrator had decided to break things off even though things were good, and that was their mistake, or the entire relationship was just bad and the narrator deems the entire relationship as a mistake.  

Despite that, the narrator remembers all the little details, how the winds were blowing through the trees, and how the rain fell on their partner's face, what the rain drops felt like.  How they laughed, and what a good time it was.  The last line of the short ~1:10 snippet is, "I never loved you more than on those happy autumn days."  

Seasons is a topic that shows up frequently throughout ABBA's songs, the first instance being Hasta Manana from 1974, and the obviously Summer Night City, but the topic of seasons began to increase more and more from Hamlet onwards, appearing in quite a few tracks from the Visitors album.  Regardless, this song, Hamlet, as some of the most vivid imagery in terms of describing the seasonal conditions.  Bjorn, who was writing most of the lyrics solo at this point, really manage to paint a vivid picture of what the narrator of the song sees and feels so perfectly, and I can not get over this track.  Even though it is so short, it is quite lovely, and Agnetha and Frida also manage to capture that bittersweet and somber feelings of recalling these memories of a happier time.  

Unfortunately, Hamlet never got finished, but Bjorn and Benny still wanted to find a use for it.  In March 1980, during rehearsals for ABBA's Japanese tour, at the 18:20 mark in the 1980 ABBA in Japan segment, Benny can be heard playing the melody on his keyboard.   Later, in June, the boys tried to reuse bits and pieces of the melody in yet another unreleased demo from 1980, Burning My Bridges.  

By 1981, the song acquired the title Lottis Schottis, and Benny even played the track on his accordion during the filming of the Dick Cavett Meets ABBA special from 1981, but it was not included in the broadcast.

Anyways, ultimately the song found its place on Benny's Klinga Mina Klockor album from 1987.  

Though interestingly, there is this video of Benny and Bjorn even, playing the song on a TV show in 1985. :D

I like all the different variations of the song, Benny's official one from 1987 is really great, and his whole 1987 album is good too, but ultimately my top favorite of all of them is the 1978 one with Agnetha and Frida.  They just complete the song. :)

Swedish Birdsong - sounds of 90 well-known birds

So Benny Andersson is apparently a very big fan of birds, which comes to no surprise as a lot of ABBA songs mention and reference birds, a very common theme in their songs.  The earliest ABBA song to my knowledge to reference birds is Dance (While The Music Still Goes On) from ABBA's Waterloo album, but even prior to that, in Benny's pre-ABBA days, one of his earliest compositions "Sound of Eve" has bird sounds throughout the song.  

In 1990, on Benny's own Mono Music label, together with Lars Svensson and Dan Zettsrtrom, Benny released a CD compiling 90 different birds songs from Sweden's own birds, titled Fågelsång I Sverige, or Swedish Birdsong.

I've mentioned in the past that I'm a bit of a bird fan myself, one might even call me BirdFan456 hahaha jk but I have always had quite a fondness for birds.  Originally it was ducks, but birds have been a part of my family's history as well - my Great-Grandfather had in total two budgies, and my father had a blue-fronted amazon parrot.  Now I love all birds (even the hawks who moved into my yard and were eating all the little birdies and rodents.... It doesn't mean I like hawks though.)  I have had three budgies, and they are my absolute favorite, and I also love spending a lot of time bird watching, specifically the ones in my backyard.  There are so many wonderful creatures, so many different birds of different sizes, and it's just amazing.  Bird are amazing.

So, of course when I found out about Benny's bird CD, and the fact that it's not just a CD but also is available as a box set with a book on the different birds featured in the CD as well as a cassette, I had to get it.  So I found the boxset available, new on Discogs, and it arrived fairly quickly all the way from Sweden.

Now did I really need to buy this CD considering all the tracks are readily available on YouTube and Amazon Music?  Probably not, but at the same time, I get to have something tangible that combines two of my biggest and most meaningful interests in my life - birds and ABBA.

So now I have a nice, new bird book to add my collection of bird related things!  And in case you're curious about that nice fancy shmancy photo book in the back right called Becky's Book Of Birds....

I did self-publish a photobook of my own featuring some of my own photography of various birds (and other furry friends) from over the years.  Because I chose to make it hardcover, the price is kinda pricey, but it's on amazon if you are interested.

Bright Lights, Dark Shadows - The Real Story of ABBA???? :O :O :O

When I was a kid, first getting into my ABBA obsession, I would spend literal hours browsing the internet finding all that I could about these four Swedes that had taken over my entire life.  I would compile lists of books I wanted, compilation albums I wanted, and would take those lists to the library and request them to inter-library-loan them, only to be told that No, they couldn't get them.   My library was able to get some, but not all, but that didn't stop me.  If I couldn't get my hands on the actual, physical book, then I would browse Amazon.com and read the snippets they had available, as well as listen to 30 second snippets of songs on Amazon.  (Yes I could have listened to songs on YouTube, but listen, I had very strict parents and among the things they didn't like was me going on YouTube and watching every single ABBA video that existed.  Eventually not even that could stop me, but in the beginning I had to respect their no unfiltered access to YouTube rule.)  Anyway, among the books that I was reading snippets of was Carl Magnus Palm's Bright Lights, Dark Shadows - The Real Story Of ABBA.  I remember the couple of page sample I read was on the page about Bjorn's beginnings, and how as a kid he once tried to sell his younger sister, and while I could never read beyond that page, I always remembered that little tidbit.

I've currently been on an ABBA book reading spree, trying to get my hands on all the books that I wanted to read as a kid, and one of my most recent purchases was this 2014 revised edition of this totally accurate and true story of ABBA written by Carl Magnus Palm.  And it's a really well-written, well researched book, but as I was reading it, I kinda wasn't really liking it.  I mean, there's plenty I did enjoy, specifically this one quote from Svenne Hedlund about the first time he met Agnetha in 1969, and how he had never heard that many bad words come out of the mouth of a cute blonde girl hahahahaha.  

But what bothers me is the lack of sources.  Yes he has a list of sources at the end of the books, and I recognize some quotes from various interviews, but like, there are quotes in the book but it's never said where these specific quotes.  It's always Frida said this, Agnetha said this, Bjorn recalled, Stig snapped, but no information on how someone like me could find these quotes.  Like imagine if it said, "Frida recalled in a 1977 interview," or "Benny stated in a 1994 interview," etc.  

Which also brings me to the sources as well.  Listed in the sources at the end of the book are a lot of various magazines, and among them are tabloid magazines from various countries, which has me thinking, how valid are these sources?  If they truly come from tabloids, did the ABBA members or other people involved actually say these things?  

Growing up, when I would accompany my Mom to the grocery store, I would often see so many tabloid magazines with raging headlines like, "The Queen [of England] Is Dying!" (the amount of times the Queen of England was said to be dying decades before she actually passed away are very concerning btw) or "William Will Be The Next King!" or "Selena Gomez Seen Recovering From Kidney Transplant" despite the fact that by the time she announced that she had a kidney transplant and the public was made aware of the situation, she was already recovered, etc, etc.  Or like yesterday at Walmart, I saw a headline about how Melania Trump is Feuding With Husband Donald Trump!  And I'm sure if I were to actually open these magazines, I would find loads of quotes and statements that just aren't true and were very likely never said by the people mentioned in the tabloids.  So, did the ABBA members actually say the things that were said and how can it be proven that they were actually said?  Just because it's from an interview in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s doesn't mean it's true.  Idk.

Uhm, now I have always been confused about the this one account of ABBA's 1979 Boston Flight Fiasco, a story that is actually really close to my heart because, while it was extremely traumatic for the ABBA members, specifically Agnetha, it marks the one and only time ABBA ever stepped food in my home state.  I have been to that airport, and every time I pass by that airport on the highway, I think, "Omg ABBA were here in 1979!"  But anyway, Carl Magnus Palm talks about the time that Agnetha was traumatized from the flight, and after playing the Boston show that evening, had to cancel the Washington DC show and hid away in her room as she was physically sick and then Stig came pounding on her door, and this information seems to come from ABBA's Tour Manager Bosse Norling, but interestingly, Bosse Norling is not listed among the people who was interviewed for the book, so where did this quote come from, and why does it sound so sensationalized?  I don't know, is it possible that it is not accurate?  Like I have tried and tried for years to try and find a source for those little details after seeing that scene badly recreated in that garbage TV documentary, When All Is Said And Done, and I still have yet to find any source for it other that Carl Magnus Palm's book.  So yeah.... Also, if the whole "Agnetha locking everyone out of her room, refusing to let anyone in, not even Stig who was angrily trying to get in, and then only letting a doctor come in who then told everyone that Agnetha was sick with the flu and was vomiting and having indigestion" comes from Bosse Norling, doesn't that go contrary to Bosse Norling telling a journalist from the weekly magazine "Se", "THE MOST BEAUTIFUL people in the world don't sweat, says ABBA's tour leader Bosse Norling. You're not allowed to take pictures of them like that.  ABBA do sweat! Of course they do, after two tough hours on stage. But their image - fresh, clean and good - mustn't be disturbed."    Just something to think about.

Also I would think this book would have included information on how after ABBA cancelled their Washington DC show, ABBA fan Amy Carter, aka the daughter of the president at the time, was disappointed so Benny, Bjorn, and Frida got to visit the White House to meet Amy Carter.  I'd think that's a pretty big deal, but there's no mention of that either.  It's like actual positive and pretty impressive things in ABBA's life just isn't sensational enough, so why bother mentioning it in the first place?

Another thing I am confused by is the mention of John McCain, who was apparently a big ABBA fan, using ABBA's Take A Chance On Me as part of his political campaign in 2008.  Carl Magnus Palm quotes Benny as saying something along the lines of not wanting John McCain to use their song because anyone associated with George Bush is bad, and I know CMP has the benefit of accessing Swedish articles and news reports, but I have also been looking all over to try and find a source of Benny saying that and can't find it.  All I can find on the topic is this interview from John McCain, saying: "It's more difficult to play 'let's take a chance on me' than I thought," the four-term Arizona senator told reporters aboard his campaign plane.  "It gets expensive in a big hurry and if you're not careful you can alienate some Swedes," he joked. "If word gets out to Stockholm that we're using Abba music, then there'll be a worsening in U.S.-Swedish relations."  And then this article claimed ABBA sent a cease and desist, but again, can't find a source for that.  So like, idk.  

I've mentioned before when reading prior Carl Magnus Palm books that he seems to have something against Stig Anderson.  And while that is still true for this book, like every quote from Stig has to be a "Stig snapped," or "snapped Stig angrily" and the like, it actually handled the whole ABBA vs. Stig lawsuit fairly respectfully and the book did positively talk about Stig's efforts a lot, with less of a "Stig did okay here but remember, he is bad and did bad things!" mentality that I was picking up on in Carl Magnus Palm's ABBA at 50 book.  

If this book claims to be the 100% truly accurate story of ABBA, why is it that when Carl Magnus Palm discusses a song and then says, "Bjorn says this song is not inspired by real life" does he then act like what Bjorn said is not true?  Like specifically on the song One Man, One Woman, CMP says the song felt too raw and real to be nothing but a fictional song despite the fact that Bjorn denies it.  Also CMP claims that Benny's singing voice was bad and too nasally which is why he never sang lead again on an ABBA song, but my understanding was that Benny didn't like his singing voice all that much?  Also Carl Magnus Palm will basically insert his opinion on whether an ABBA song, namely ABBA's early songs from the Ring Ring and Waterloo eras, is bad and dull, but unless the ABBA members say they think the song was bad, then you can't say the song is bad in this truthful accurate story of ABBA.  He also says that the songs with Bjorn and Benny's vocals just didn't age well because their voices are bad when compared to Agnetha and Frida, and I can't disagree more.  Like, you're really trying to say that amazing songs like "Another Town, Another Train" and "Rock 'N' Roll Band" are bad?  I know I come from the type of obsessed fan that believes that every ABBA song is good, as you can tell by my recent posts on ABBA songs throughout this year, but to say that a song didn't age well because you the author doesn't think it aged well doesn't mean it didn't age well.  Like, I can say a song is good and amazing or a song is bad and terrible, but that doesn't make it fact.  A song is a song, and at the time of release, I bet the ABBA members all thought the songs they had just recorded were good.

Also, I mentioned in my review on the ABBA documentary, ABBA: Against The Odds how that was the only thing I've seen to actually point out how disrespectful it is to only see Agnetha as a sexy butt, and this book absolutely talks about how Agnetha's butt was glorified, but it doesn't really talk about how disgusting it is to treat a woman like that.  In fact, Carl Magnus Palm often refers to Agnetha as the SeXy one, Frida as the depressed one, Bjorn as the low-confidence one, and Benny is just Benny hahaha, and basically uses these character traits to basically represent them throughout the entire book.  Like, Agnetha will always be the sexy one, Frida will always be the depressed one, and Bjorn will always be the one with low self-confidence.  They can just never break free of those molds.  And I'm not doubting that Frida allegedly has depression and Bjorn allegedly has low self-confidence, I'm just saying these things are not what defines them. 

Overall though, despite my concerns and questions on the validity of Carl Magnus Palm's sources, I did enjoy reading the book.  I felt like I got to know the ABBA members a bit as people and not just as the way they presented themselves publicly to promote their music. I got a feel for the members individually, and I especially enjoyed the part of the book about the ABBA members early childhoods and beginnings, the early days of their pre-ABBA careers, etc.  Though the one thing that cracks me up is how wildly inaccurate the last chapter of the book ended up being, with quotes from Benny talking about how an ABBA reunion is basically never going to happen, and basically saying how ABBA reuniting is completely off the table, and lo and behold, ABBA did reunite, not just for recording the two new songs in 2017 and then the whole rest of the Voyage album, followed by the premiere of ABBA Voyage the show in 2022, but also in 2016 when the four of them were at the Mamma Mia! the party premiere and all stood together for like three minutes.  

So yeah, those are my thoughts.  And again, just to reiterate, there is no doubt that a lot of time and research was put into this book, and I sincerely applaud the effort that Carl Magnus Palm put into this book.  I just wasn't all that impressed.  The book just felt too sensationalized to me.

So with that, I'd give this book a 6.5/10.  Just my opinion of course, this doesn't mean with 100% truthful, real accuracy that this book is bad. ;)

Song Analysis - Just A Notion

I have been so so excited to write about this post, hahahahaha.  

I know I mentioned in the last post how Bjorn and Benny were becoming a lot less vocally prominent in tracks from the Voulez-Vous album, and while that is certainly true, that's not to say they weren't there recording any vocals.  I think it's probably that when they were mixing the songs, they just slowly and slowly faded Bjorn and Benny's vocals to be so much lower and quieter in the mix that you can't hear them.  However that is no the case with Just A Notion!  ABBA began recording this song in August, 1978, and surprisingly it features very prominent harmonies and backing vocals from Bjorn in the verses, namely the "Ahaha"s that are throughout the whole song.  The song featured Agnetha and Frida together in the chorus, singing together in perfect harmony with that wonderful, blended, almost metallic-sounding, and the backing track is just happy and exciting.

Just A Notion is one of ABBA's just pure, happy songs.  It's not happy music with sad lyrics, it's just a song about someone who has this feeling, this small little notion, that maybe this person who they like, likes them back.  It almost sounds like what happens when you get a major crush on a person, and suddenly they're all your thinking about, and suddenly you're coming up with all these fantasies about what's going to happen, what your wedding will be like, what your future life will be like, how many kids you'll have, etc, even though it's all just a crush and said person that you're crushing on hasn't even said or done anything to indicate that they're interested in you, haha.  But it's all innocent and fun, and of course you can't just walk up to the crush and be like "omg I like you," you have to wait for them to  take initiative.  But of course you can't help but wonder and come up with reasons for why that hasn't happened yet.  

Agnetha and Frida sing, "Just a notion, that's all.  Just a funny feeling deep inside that you're out there waiting.  You're not sure I'm alone, and you wonder if I'm occupied," basically assuming that the reason why that the person hasn't come up to them is because maybe they think the main character of the song is occupied or with someone else.  Then in chorus, there's that fantasizing about what's going to happen and what it'll be like when they actually get together, "Just a notion, that you'll be walking up to me in a while.  And you'll smile and say hello.  And we'll be dancing through the night, knowing everything from there on must be right!"  And in the second verse, there's the line, "Just a feeling that you're watching me, every move I'm making.  Am I reading your mind?  'Cause it's almost like you're touching me."  

It's like the narrator of the song is projecting their own feelings and the person they're crushing on, and just making silly little assumptions, and honestly, it's just fun and innocent, and happy.  And that's just one of the many reasons why I like this song. 

However, Bjorn and Benny were never really satisfied with the it, and as much as they liked the song, Bjorn and Benny just weren't happy with the mix, and ultimately left the song as unreleased.  And so it remained, until 1994, when Michael B. Tretow was assembling the ABBA Undeleted medley, he included a ~2:20 second snippet of the song, starting from the second chorus until the end of the song, appearing 4:55 in the ABBA Undeleted medley.  That was the first time fans ever heard the song, and when I first got into ABBA and was listening to literally every single song I could find on YouTube, I fell in love with Just A Notion.  I loved the music, the sound, the vocals, everything, and I couldn't believe Bjorn and Benny deemed the song unworthy of being finished because to me, it was everything.  I love all the songs on ABBA Undeleted, but this one, along with Giving A Little More, stood out to me as just fantastic and amazing songs, and I would listen to them over and over again.

Clearly I'm not the only ABBA fan who loved this song so much.  In 1999, before I was even born hahah, the ABBA tribute-band, Arrival, were given permission to record the song in full or their debut album, First Flight.  Their version is basically a recreation of the original 1978 version, and it's decent.  I can't listen to it, hahaha, but for what it is, it's not bad.  And they ended up being the first official release of the song in full.  It has a piano crescendo intro in the style of Dancing Queen in the beginning, and a saxophone instrumental break in where the second chorus would be, and it also repeats the first verse at the end of the song, and it's basically a fun little tribute to ABBA.  But I'm only listening to it for the sake of the review and analysis as I cannot bear to listen to anyone other than ABBA singing ABBA songs more than once.  Not trying to put down the singers of the tribute band, I just can't listen to it.  

Anyways, fast forward to 2021, and Bjorn and Benny had the idea to revive Just A Notion, and find a way to release it.  Ultimately, the only way to make it workable for them was to rerecord the entire backing track, and that's what they did.  I believe they kept Lasse Wellander's original guitar from the 1978 mix, and that aside from the vocals are the only things from the original 1978 recording.  Everything else was recorded anew, and it's amazing.  When I first heard this new version of the song, I was at first a little disappointed because I preferred the 1978 instruments more, and this 2021 version has more of a ragtime feel and less exciting, however I don't feel that way anymore.  I really enjoy it, I love all of Benny's piano bits throughout the entire song, I love the extended outro, and I love the extra vocals that Agnetha and Frida recorded in 2021 as well.  (More on that in a bit.)

The one thing that does bother me though is the fact that they mixed Agnetha and Frida's vocals differently.  Before, they were singing at like the same volume, with Agnetha and Frida's voices sounded perfectly level and you get that wonderful blended sound that I described earlier.  However, for the 2021 mix, they made Agnetha's vocals more prominent, and Frida's vocals lower in volume, and the result is it sounds more like it's Agnetha's lead with Frida just harmoinzing rather than the two of them singing together.  They still sound beautiful together, and what a treat it is to hear this song in full finally after all these years of being locked away as an unmixed, unfinished track, but it would have sounded so amazing if they kept the blending of their voices.

Now while the entirety of the song's vocals are from the 1978 version, Agnetha and Frida did record a line for the extended outro.  That line being, "I, I think it's more than a notion.  Even more than your dream is about to come true!" and I love how you can tell that Agnetha and Frida are older, their voices aren't as crisp and light as they used to sound, yet they still sound really, really good singing in that higher pitch to try and sound like their younger selves, with all these layers and layers of harmonies, and I bet if someone who wasn't as familiar with ABBA's voices were to hear this song, they wouldn't even be able to detect that these are modern vocals.

So all in all, I love this song with my entire heart and soul, and I am so so so glad that ABBA chose to release it finally on 2021's Voyage album.  It was just such a treat, hearing it for the first time, and although the instruments sound a lot more modern compared to other songs recorded in 1978, I sometimes like to make a little playlist of my favorite Voulez-Vous era songs, like Dream World, Lovelight, Kisses Of Fire, Angeleyes, and Just A Notion, and it fits right in.