Appearing at the 8:56 second mark in ABBA Undeleted is a short 1 minute and 26 snippet of a track titled Burning My Bridges. Recorded June 3, 1980, the track is about a frustrated partner tired of the way their relationship is playing out, and instead of continuing to put up with it, the narrator of the song decides they're officially done with it and cutting ties.
From the very little bit of information that we get from the song, you get the feel that the narrator's partner has been extremely nasty, hooting and hollering all the time, which makes the narrator stressed and upset. So they decide to what's right for them, which is burning all the bad bridges from before, prioritizing themself, and giving themself peace.
Although the song is short, I actually find it to be very inspiring. I feel like this song, although it isn't about being in a healthy relationship, is a really good and healthy song. Prioritizing your needs and your mental health is a very important
thing, and if a relationship just isn't working out no matter how hard
you try, then ending it may just be the best thing.
Bjorn sings the leads on this song, although the track is just a demo, so it wouldn't surprise me if the intention was to have Agnetha or Frida or both take the lead. But I actually like how Bjorn sounds singing it. However as it is just a demo, he sounds rather bored and lazy while recording, which in a way conveys how sick and tired the main character of the song is.
Musically, it definitely doesn't sound like a song that was fit for the Super Trouper album. It has a very country, southern feel to it. I'm curious how the song would have sounded with more of the synthesizer pop sound that a lot of Super Trouper tracks have.
Also, I mentioned this before in my post about Hamlet III, but a portion of the melody from Hamlet was reused for Burning My Bridges, specifically the line "Burning my bridges, moving at last. Girl I’m leaving and I’m burying the past" is the same melody as the line "Autumn’s chilly winds were blowing through the trees the rain fell softly on your face," as in Hamlet. Unfortunately, no matter how much Bjorn and Benny tried to use this melody in an ABBA song, it never ended up happening and instead the song remained an instrumental track that Benny would eventually release as "Lottis Schottis."
Of course, I like this song, I like every single ABBA song, but I really wish they would have released this song in full. Honestly, why not just release all the Undeleted tracks in full?? Please???
So I made Barbie-sized cat dresses for my barbies that vaguely resemble Agnetha and Frida. As usual, a more detailed post is on my sewing blog, and I actually filmed a random video while I was making this that's on my YouTube channel. :3
ABBA's forthcoming Super Trouper album would be mostly filled with songs that discussed serious and mature topics, such as an existential crises in Me And I, the end of a marriage in the Winner Takes It All, being under the control of a dictator as seen in The Piper, etc, but then you have a couple purely fun songs to break it up. One of those purely fun songs is On And On And On. Originally titled, Esses vad det svänger när man spelar jazz, and then 'Til The Night Is Gone, On and On and On is a song about not taking life seriously.
The song begins by introducing us to the setting. We're in the midst of the party, a pretty big one obviously considering there's a state minister of sorts at the part as well. Plus while we don't know much about the narrator, she's obviously a star as mentioned in the second verse. The minister starts complaining about the state of the world, how people don't respect human rights anymore, and our narrator, is like, "Who are you to say all these things?" He lowers his voice and is like "Wel, you see I'm a minster, a big shot in the state," and our narrator finds it amusing and is like "Omg that's so cool! So brother, can you tell me what is right and what is wrong?" and he simply replies, "Keep on rocking baby, 'til the night is gone."
His response kinda makes me thing everyone here at the party is a little bit tipsy, haha, because just one moment ago he's like "omg the world is such a scary place!! Evil times are coming!! :O :O :O" but then he's just like "Yeah, just keep on rocking, 'til the night is gone." Essentially saying, there's nothing we can do about it, so just keep on living.
The chorus is super simple, literally just the same like "On and on and on, keep on rocking baby, 'Til the night is gone. One and on and on, 'til the night is gone," repeated twice.
In the second verse, there's a guy at the bar at this party who starts eyeing up the narrator, so she decides to just go on over, see what he wants. And he asks her this super amazing question, "who am I, and who are you, and who are we??" an he asks her if she has "time for us," and she's like "well, I'm not exactly waiting for the bus." He asks if he can go along with her wherever she's going, and she's like "Keep on rocking baby 'til the night is gone." I personally have always interpreted that as her not exactly giving him the response he wants, essentially telling him to buzz off, but I realize it could also mean that she's like "Well, we gotta keep on rocking 'till the night as gone," as in keep on living life to the fullest until you can't anymore, but as well literally keepon rocking 'till the night is gone, like the type of rocking that the song Rock Me is about....
Anyways, originally the song had an added bridge which was, "Standing up is scary if you think you're gonna fall. Like a humpty-dumpty, 'fraid of falling off the wall. I say if you ever wanna know what's going on, gotta keep on rockin', baby, 'til the night is gone," and this full version of the song was included in the official music video that is basically just a slideshow of images from ABBA's 1979 tour, and originally the only ABBA music video to not feature ABBA in it at all. (The second one is the music video for Little Things.) However the officially released version that was included on the album removed the bridge and replaced it with an instrumental bridge.
Both Agnetha and Frida sing the lead vocals together on this song in a very monotonous way, kind of reminisce of how monotonous and boring life can be, and they capture that pretty well in the song. There's not much in terms of stacks of harmonies in this track, but this song does feature some really lovely Beach Boys-style backing vocals performed mostly by Benny throughout the chorus. And as simple as they are, they really add so much to the song and completes it.
Musically, the song is very simple as well with a very 80s synth soundscape. I think Bjorn once refereed to this song as one of ABBA's few rock'n'roll songs, but like, I don't personally hear that haha. I like the song, it's very satirical almost, and while I wouldn't quite say it's an ABBA dance track, it's definitely very upbeat and fun and for once doesn't feature too depressing lyrics.
ABBA only performed this song twice, once on the show Show Express (we also have rehearsal footage from that performance) and once live on the Dick Cavett Meets ABBA TV special. Their performance on Show Express is honestly one of my favorite ABBA performances ever, specifically because although this performance was post-Agnetha and Bjorn's split, you can see them having fun and teasing each other during the song's bridge. And of course we have Frida and Benny's iconic literal head bang haha.
On April 9th, 1980, ABBA began recording another song for their newest album, Super Trouper. With the working title "Daddy Don’t Get Drunk On Christmas Day," the song was inspired by Bjorn and Benny's desire to write a musical set during the winter holidays. Eventually the song would become Happy New Year, a melancholy track with lead vocals by Agnetha, about how depressing the world is. But, at least there's the new year to look forward to, and maybe just maybe, with the start of the new year, things can start looking up for the better!
As the title suggests, the song is set on New Year's Day after a night full of celebration, partying, champagne, toasts to the new year - a momentary pause in the dullness of the current situation, but now as the new year begins, although there is a hope and a dream for better things to happen, it all still seems very far into the future.
In the chorus, despite the fact that Agnetha and Frida are wishing us all a happy new year and sharing vision of a world where every neighbor is a friend, there is still quite a depressing overtone, especially with the line, "may we all have our hopes, our will to try, if we don’t we might as well lay down and die, you and I," essentially telling us that if we don't hold onto the hope that everything will be okay, then there's no point in living anymore.
In the second verse, Agnetha sings about how foolish it is to think that even when things are tough and life isn't going anywhere, everything is going to be okay, essentially telling us that just being satisfied with how things are now isn't going to make any difference, and like I kinda get that. Life can't change for the better if we're all just living in it and doing anything to make a difference. So although this song on a whole is rather depressing, it is suggesting that things can get better. And even if all our dreams are dead, nothing more than confetti on the floor, who knows what could happen ten years from now.
I've seen it mentioned how a lot of people, I think Bjorn and Benny included, don't like how the song essentially traps itself in the past with the line "who can say what we’ll find, what lies waiting down the line, in the end of eighty-nine," and I've personally never been bothered by the fact that the song is dated, because it shows how even back then, people were still hoping for a better world. Who can say whether the world is better off now than it was then, but as the song says, what are we without hope? Also, I think it also adds how Bjorn and Benny had no idea the song would still be relevant today and would be played every year on New Year's in a lot of households, nearly 40 years since it was written! So in a way, the song is a reminder of how even though they didn't expect ABBA to still be popular, the band still is amongst the young and old!
The pacing of the song is quite slow and sad, capturing the melancholy feel of the song, with the slight hint of hopefulness in the chrous. I think this song has some really beautiful vocals from the ladies, specifically in the second half of the 2nd and 3rd choruses, specifically when Agnetha sings "dragging on feet of clay, never knowing he’s astray," and "who can say what we’ll find, what lies waiting down the line," where Frida harmonizes with Agnetha and extends the last word, showing off her stunning vocal abilities. Agnetha and Frida also capture the emotions of the song in the chorus perfectly.
For the release of the Super Trouper album in Spanish speaking territories, ABBA rerecordeded the song in Spanish. Although Bjorn and Benny aren't very prominent at all in the English version of the song, their lack of vocals in the Spanish one is definitely noticeable, making the song seem a bit empty. That's not to say Agnetha and Frida don't sound amazing as usual, it's just I wish Bjorn and Benny would have recorded their vocals in Spanish.
The Spanish lyrics are generally the same as the English one. Here they are roughly translated via Google Translate:
Verse 1: No more champagne
the sparkler went out. only you, only me,
the celebration has already passed. It is the end of the party
and there is a gray dawn. Where is that yesterday
that we must propose?
Chrous: Happiness, happiness, when toasting we wish you from now on
peace, love where friendship reigns. Happiness, happiness
when praying for hope to change
without letting discouragement dominate
and triumph
Verse 2: And when I see that world that will come,
new at last it will come from ashes. Mistaken people who pretend to be very well, you see them dragging feet of clay and walking
without knowing where to go
Chorus
Verse 3: I think I understand that dreams are unfaithful, when dying, they are nothing more than candy and paper. It is the time past, and in the years to come,
who can predict what the future holds,future
that we have yet to live?
Chorus
Although ABBA did film a music video for both the Spanish and English version of the song and released it as a single, they only performed it on one TV show that was broadcast on New Year's Eve right at midnight. And here they all are synchronized together:
Of course I love this song as it's an ABBA song and I love all of them, but every year I love doing a New Year's themed speedpaint set to this song and upload it to my YouTube channel on December 31st, so like this song is very fun for me hehe.
Also, floating around on YouTube every once in a while before getting copyright stricken is a video of outtakes and bloopers from filming the music videos, and it is so delightful seeing the ABBA members expressions go from all serious to suddenly laughing. The clip keeps on disappearing for YouTube, but when it does show up it is always a delight to watch!
