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. 

Song Analysis - The King Has Lost His Crown

 Frida is an insanely incredible and talented vocalist, but if there's something she is really, really good at, it's her sarcastic and snarky vocals as can be heard in The King Has Lost His Crown.  Recorded in August, 1978, the song is about a guy who has just lost his girlfriend, and suddenly, his entire life has been thrown upside down.  

 In a way, the lyrics seem to convey sympathy for this guy, the "king" even though he's not an actual king, but the way things are phrased and how Frida sings it, you can tell she's sort of making fun of him and belittle his situation a bit.  At least that's how I've always interpreted it.  Specifically the lines, "how does it feel? I guess it hurts your pride," and "Disaster and disgrace! The king has lost his crown!" kinda of give of mocking vibes, as if he's being so over dramatic over the breakup and Frida and Agnetha are laughing at him.  

The guy is basically acting like a king who has lost his crown, and now he doesn't act like himself, when all that happened is that he was broken up with.  Honestly based off the first line of the song, "I believe your new girl turned you down, and they say, she's pushing you around," makes me thing that this is the type of guy who feels like he can't anything without having a girl in his life.  He can't function without having a significant other but also "being the man" in situation and "being the one in control," and as a result, he doesn't seem to have a very good track record of keeping a girlfriend, so he gets new girl after new girl after new girl.  But then this time, his newest girl pushes back, she doesn't let him have the control, she's the one who puts her foot down an actively doesn't let him feel like he's in control, and that just totally ruins him.  Someone who doesn't put up with his garbage personality?? :O :O :O :O

And yeah, that's my interpretation of the song.  I wasn't there when Bjorn and Benny wrote the song, with the lyrics mostly written by Bjorn, so I can't know 100% what it was about, but also it probably wasn't based off any true facts either.  Remember, unless an ABBA song is explicitly mentioned to be inspired by real life, it isn't the true story. :)  

While Frida sings the lead throughout the song with her amazing sarcastic vocals, Agnetha joins her in the second half of the verses and choruses.  Much like a lot of the songs from the Voulez-Vous album, I don't hear much of Bjorn and Benny in the backing vocals, but I'm sure they're buried in their somewhere.  The backing track with Benny's powerful synths also give off that almost vengeful feel to the song.  And I just love it.  (I loved this song so much that when I was still making ABBA animations on Lego Digital Designer back in my early days of YouTube, I had to do an animation of this song.)

Sadly, ABBA did not perform this song ever except for an early mix of it in the ABBA in Switzerland TV special, but again, their performance of it is really, really good, one of my favorite of all their performances. 

Also fun fact, this is the only other ABBA song to mention a title of monarchy in the song title, the other being Dancing Queen.