Song Analysis: Our Last Summer

 Hello.  It has been a minute.  Do I likely have undaignosed ADHD?  Probably...  Erm, anyway, let's talk about Our Last Summer.  In early June of 1980, ABBA began working on the sweet but kinda melancholy track about a past summer romance.  Inspired by Bjorn's own French summer romance when he was a teenager, the song tells of a short-lived romance while away in France - a theme that has come up already once before in Monsieur Monsieur.  It wouldn't surprise me if Bjorn's same summer romance was the inspiration for that song as well.  

Frida takes the lead vocals on this song, perfectly capturing the sweet memories tinged with a bit of sadness in her performance.  

Both the first and second verses give us a glimpse into what this young couple were doing while in Paris -visiting various tourist spots like the Elysee Palace, the Eiffel Tower,  the Notre Dame, and the Seine, as well as trying out various foods like croissants and drinks from every cafe they visited.  You can get a sense that these two characters in the sound were very young, carefree, and happy not having to worry much at all about the future.  Although there were a few discussions of fear of dying, and also flying - which I've always wondered if that was a nod to Agnetha and her fear, but perhaps it's a common fear to be afraid of flying.  But overall, the summer romance was good, happy, and very peaceful.

But of course it wouldn't be an ABBA song if there was no happy ending!  The third verse is as follows:

And now you’re working in a bank, the family man, a football fan,
and your name is Harry.

How dull it seems yet,

you’re the hero of my dreams. 

Basically telling us how despite their sweet summer romance, eventually they had go off in their own separate directions.  He moved on, became a banker and has a family of his own, but she's still here having to reminisce on memories from a happier time.  It's like for her, one of the greatest things to ever happen to her was that summer romance, but for him, it was just a summer romance, you know?  As soon as they left each other, he was truly gone.  He moved on without her, but she's still caught up in him.  

I've seen a lot of people confused by the line "And your name is Harry," like, duh, wouldn't his name always have been Harry? But I see it as maybe Harry is such a simple name, like you wouldn't expect someone to be so obsessed with a guy named Harry hahahahahah, it's such an ordinary name, yet to her, Harry takes on a whole new meaning.  The name Harry will always remind her of happier times and places.

While Frida is the lead vocalist on this song, I truly think she was the perfect choice for the song, Agnetha comes in during the choruses, with amazing harmonies throughout.  One of my favorite parts of the song is when she sings the lines in "walking hand in hand" and "memories that remain" in the last two choruses. And of course the way Frida sings the lines "I stilll seeeee it alllll" and "weeeeee were living for the day, worries far away" in the last chorus honestly sends shivers down my spine each time I listen to it.  Even though that last part is mostly hidden away in the fade-out of the song, I still love it so much.  I don't know how present Bjorn and Benny were when it came to vocals for this song, I can hardly hear them, but it wouldn't surprise me if they're buried in there.

We can't talk about this song and not talk about the hidden harmonies in the instrumental interlude.  Underneath the electric guitar played by the one and only Lasse Wellander are some absolutely angelic vocals from Agnetha and Frida that are sang to the melody of what would become the song Anthem from the musical Chess.  That just goes to show how long Bjorn and Benny had been holding on to that melody.  Although these vocals are buried so deeply in the final mix of the song, you can find early mixes of the song up on YouTube that highlight these vocals perfectly.

 

So that's Our Last Summer, a song about longing for previous times and memories - be it romantic or just in general happier times - something that I think a lot of us can relate to. 

Song Analysis - The Winner Takes It All

 In June of 1980, Bjorn and Benny began working on a demo for what would end up being of ABBA's most deep and heart wrenching songs, a song deeply inspired by their personal life, something they hadn't really gone into before.  The name of the demo was already on theme, titled "The Story Of My Life", and then "The Story Of My Life II" and "The Story Of My Life III."  Just a few short days later, Bjorn had come up with the lyrics.  It was the quickest lyric he'd ever written.  After taking a few drinks of whisky, the words just came pouring out, and within a couple of hours, the song was done, and the Winner Takes It All was born.

Considering Agnetha and Bjorn had just done through a divorce, it was no surprise that the topic of divorce was on his mind, however, contrary to popular misinformation, the song is actually not a retelling of how Agnetha and Bjorn's marriage broke down.  In fact, it's actually not our business how and what happened!

To quote Agnetha, "there's no such thing as a happy divorce," however that's not to say Agnetha and Bjorn's decision to divorce wasn't a joint one, and even with the break down of their marriage, they remained cordial, continued to work together, and even found that working together after their divorce twas easier.  In their divorce, there was no winner or loser in the situation, whereas in The Winner Takes It All, the whole song is about a winner and a loser.

The song beings with the line, "I don't wanna talk about things we've gone through.  Though it's hurting me, now it's history," followed by, "I've played all my cards, and that's what you've done too.  Nothing more to say, no more ace to play."  The metaphor of a card game, or just a game, is used through out the song, and in games like that, there is always going to be a victor and a loser.  Basically, both partners had done all they could for the marriage, but now it doesn't matter because it's over.  

The second verse goes on to explain how the narrator thought she was doing everything right, trying to make herself comfortable in the marriage, trying to make herself feel safe with her partner, trying to build a home together, and doing all these things because those are the "rules" of marriage.  But ultimately, even though she tried to do everything right, it still didn't work.  And eventually, she realizes that simply "playing by the rules" and trying to keep the marriage going as long as possible even when it's long gone.

The third verse has me quite interested in the meaning. The verse begins with, "But tell me does she kiss like I used to kiss you. Does it feel the same when she calls your name?" has me wondering if one of the reasons their marriage broke down is because there was some infidelity involved, and he cheated on her with another woman and then as soon as they decided to divorce, he just moved in with her.  Or the narrator is just commenting on how fast he just moved on and forgot her, whereas she's still caught up in their breakup.  

Regardless, the narrator of the song sees him as the winner, because he's happy and he's not hung up or worn down by the emotions of their broken marriage, but she's the loser because still hurting from it.  And she can't say anything about how much she misses him because it's all over.  The relationship is dead.  They've shaken hands, signed the divorce documents, they're officially over.  And he's happy, but she's ruined.

One thing that I always see pointed out is how EVIL BJORN WAS FOR MAKING HIS EX SING A SONG ABOUT THEIR DIVORCE, but again, this song is not about THEIR divorce, and as we know, they would often decide which lady they thought would sing the song best, and ultimately the decision was for Agnetha to be the one to sing the lead.  (Also I think originally Bjorn may have thought about singing the lead vocals on this song as well, and we actually have a snippet of Bjorn's demo vocals floating around online every once in a while.)

Agnetha's always been so good at story telling in the songs, and capturing the emotions of whatever character Bjorn (and Benny too) had come up with, and she managed to capture the pain and hurt of the woman in this song so well, it's hard to imagine that this fictional but painful story of divorce is not her own personal story.  The pain in her voice is almost tangible, and there is no doubt that this is one of her best vocal performances ever.   Especially the way she sings the final two "the winner takes it alllll"s at the end of the song.

And then of course we have the choir vocals from Frida, Benny, and Bjorn (and Agnetha's in there as well), with simple "aaah-aaah-aaah-aaahs" in the verses and even more so in the choruses, and then in full force in the outro.  

The minimal instruments in the song, with mostly the piano at the forefront, adds to the emotions of the song as well.  Just everything, from the vocals to the arrangement is just perfect in this song, and no one could have done it better.  There is no better version of this song than ABBA's. 

ABBA have a lot of masterpieces, and although I consider all of ABBA's songs as masterpieces, this one is definitely close to the top of the list.

Now of course ABBA filmed a music video for this song, and not only is Agnetha really good at capturing the raw emotions of their songs, she's also really good at acting as well.  Perhaps this was what inspired her to take on an acting role in 1982.  She put on a really good sad face in the music video, which of course leads people to really think Agnetha was miserable while filming the video.  however recently ish, ABBA released on instagram some BTS of the music video, where you can see Agnetha burst into a fit of giggles while filming the music video, which just proves that it's all an acting performance, and a really convincing one at that!  ABBA also performed this song on two TV shows in 1980, and the song also appears in ABBA Voyage as the final song of the show.

Song Analysis: Burning My Bridges

 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???

Song Analysis - On And On And On

 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 keep on 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.

Song Analysis - Happy New Year

 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!

Song Analysis - The Piper

 In early February, 1980, Bjorn and Benny began working on a demo initially titled Ten Tin Soliders.  It wasn't long before the song was changed to Sherwood, and then Äntligen krig, and then finally, The Piper, which they officially began recording in April.  

Musically, the Piper is unlike any prior ABBA songs.  It has an extremely medieval feel, with flutes and drums, but with the modern touch of Benny's keyboard and synths.  The song features both Agnetha and Frida on joint vocals, singing in unison much like some of their earlier songs where their voices are almost indistinguishable.  Although a COMPLETELY different style of song, it kinda reminds me how in Honey Honey, it almost doesn't sound like two separate voices, just one single voice.

Bjorn has said this song is inspired by the book The Stand by Stephen King.  I don't know what that book is about, but I'm guessing it has something to do with some sort of leader or dictator of sorts, seducing the people to follow his lead.  The song is almost cult-like, with dark and creepy lyrics.

The song begins by telling how people come from all over, the hills, the valleys, the plains, traveling through snow and rain, just to hear the Piper play his music.  And whenever he plays, basically everyone just mindlessly follows.  In the chorus, it compares the blind and mindless following of the Pipers' words to following his music, having been summoned by the tune that the piper plays.  And so the people, his congregation, all dance beneath the moon for him.  They basically do whatever it is they tell him to do.

The third verse, "He gave them a dream he seduced everybody in the land, the fire in his eyes and the fear was a weapon in his hand.  So they let him play, play their minds away," kinda reminds me of people who use their power to instill fear in the people, and makes me think of a lot of Doomsday fearmongers who were trying to convince everyone the world was gonna end in 2012 because everyone is a sinner, etc.  

Honestly, this song is so creepy, and awful, and it's amazing how Bjorn managed to capture that in a song.  Where a lot of ABBA's music tends to sound very feel-good and happy (even when the lyrics themselves are the complete opposite), this song is just entirely dark and moody and scary.  Also the way Agnetha and Frida chant the Latin phrase "Sub luna saltamus" after each chorus, which means "dance under the moon" is also sooooo creepy.

Although Andante, Andante is of completely different context, similar to the Piper, it uses music as a euphemism.  In Andante, Andante, music is used to describe intimacy, whereas the Piper uses it to describe mind-control almost, using music to guide and control you.  Interestingly, the concept of letting music guide you also shows up a year later on the song I Let The Music Speak.  There's no correlation between the song, but very interesting nonetheless.

This song is creepy and dark, but it is honestly such a well-crafted song.  Often times I like to just sit and write with an ABBA album playing from start-to-finish loudly in my headphones, and this song  just sounds so good.  Although there aren't as many harmonies as prior ABBA songs, I think it fits the song perfectly and the created such a beautiful soundscape for this song.  A very, very good song.

Song Analysis - Andante, Andante

 On February 4th, 1980, ABBA began recording a demo track titled Hold Me Close, another new track from Bjorn and Benny's songwriting trip to the Bahamas.  The song eventually would become Andante, Andante, which ABBA didn't start recording until after they got back from the Japan leg of their World Tour.  On April 9th, recording commenced.  

Already from the initial demo title Hold Me Close, we can tell that the song was always meant to be the tender and romantic song that it is.  Andante, Andante is a very sensual track, possibly more so than any ABBA song prior.  Yet, the song has this sweetness to it that it doesn't seem "dirty" in any way, shape or form.  As someone who has always been rather uncomfortable with songs that are about this very close union between people, special time if you will, this song doesn't bother me.  I've always found it to be quite beautiful and only mildly uncomfortable for me personally haha. 

Without using many sensual words aside from touch, the uses music and song as a euphemism for said special time, and the word Andante as usually used to describe a song played at a moderately slow tempo.  The metaphor works really well, and I find it to be really cool how the song does not use very explicit language at all, yet the theme and setting of the song is very much there.

Frida takes the lead vocals on this song, singing each verse alone, with the other three members only joining in during the chorus.  I love how all their vocals come in with full force, unleashing the power of ABBA harmonies.  I know I said in my last post that in my personal opinion, ABBA seem to have entered their lazy era with the Super Trouper album harmony-wise, but there are of course exceptions, this track being one of them.  Perhaps you could say there aren't as many stacked harmonies on this track, but I think it works really well on this track.  

The way Agnetha and Frida sing the line "play me time and time again," just sounds sooo good.  While their voices aren't blending together in their usual ABBA-metallic-vocal-sound and their voices are almost more individual, like you can explicitly hear who is singing which harmony, it still sounds fantastic.

Bjorn and Benny even join in on some backing vocals throughout the chorus (with the ladies, but like the guys can be heard prominently), which are, "I am you music, yes I am your song.  I'm your music and I am your song.  Play me again 'cause you're making me strong.  You make me sing and you make me Andante, Andante."

Frida's vocals are so rich on this track, so perfect and powerful, one of my favorite Frida vocals ever is after the musical interlude??? when Frida sings the line "Oh please don't let me dooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooown" and omg she just sounds so good on this song.  This line in particular just sounds so effortless and powerful at the same time.  Frida's is just amazing.

Musically speaking as well, the instruments are all perfect for this song, with the beautiful intro I believe played on guitar by Lasse Wellander, accompanied by Benny's soft piano and synthesizer throughout the song.  I once isolated just Benny's piano from this song and it is just so beautiful I kinda wish it was even more prominent in the song.  In an alternate mix of the song that was included on the ABBA the Singles 40-disc box set in 2014, you can hear some really lovely accordion in there as well.

Andante, Andante was first released on the Super Trouper album, but in Spanish-speaking territories, a Spanish version of the track that was recorded in October of that year was included instead.  With this track being recorded several months since the original version was recorded, Frida sings it slightly different.  It would say her vocals were softer in the English one, and in the Spanish one more harsh.  Also Bjorn and Benny did not re-record their backing vocals in Spanish, so as beautiful as this version of the song is, there's a bit of that empty sound from the lack of the boys actually recording their vocals.  Like one of the many reasons why ABBA's sound is so good is from the blend of the boys' voices mixed in with the ladies, and without it it's just so empty haha.  Frida's vocals on that last line of the song when she sings "andante andante hay tanto que perder" are still superb.  Like she always sounds amazing singing that line.

Regardless, the Spanish lyrics are generally the same.  Here they are roughly translated with Google Translate so they may not be perfect haha.

Verse 1: Slowly, please.  gently like a breeze.  give me love, no rush. come to me, andante andante, feel like you were born like this.  

Verse 2: Your caresses, avidity.  velvet at night, warmth.  you please me, you know well. andante andante, without pris, you too  ((what does this mean Google Translate????)))

Chorus: I am your life, your song. I know I am all yours without condition. I am your song, your pleasure.  Andante andante, slowly in your love, andante andante, there is so much to lose.

Verse 3:  when you look, there is for you sensations that shake all in me.  silent, love me, andante andante, I will live a dream.

ABBA never performed this song live publicly, but when ABBA were rehearsing their performance for their Dick Cavett Meets ABBA TV Special in early 1981, it seems they were planning to include Andante, Andante, and even have the backing vocals written out by Bjorn, but much to our disappointment, either they never performed it at all or decided during rehearsals that the song wouldn't fit.  So they removed it and replaced it with a different Frida-led song, Me and I.  As much as I'm disappointed that they never sang it live and I know Frida would have done a fantastic job, all of them would have, I can't say I'm made that they replaced it with Me and I because omg Frida's live performance of that song is so good and one of my favorite Frida live vocals.  :)

So while ABBA never performed this song after this, fast forward 36 years later, in 2016, Frida was presented with the opportunity to rerecord the track as a duet with Cuban-American Jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval.  Frida sang the Spanish version of the song, and although she doesn't do that long note at the end of the song, she sang this song so perfectly.  Even though her voice had clearly aged, you can tell it's the same vocalist and she still sounded so powerful.  Of course without Agnetha and the boys' adding that fuller ABBA sound, it doesn't compare to the original English version of the song, but that's not to put down Frida's 2016 version as it still sounds so good on its own independent track.  Also, while Frida recorded her vocals in 2016, the song didn't come out until 2018 in case there was any confusion.

Now, I rarely if ever acknowledge the versions of ABBA songs that were butchered sang in the Mamma Mia films, but I remember when the soundtrack for the 2nd film came out and I was slightly interested in the fact that they included some "lesser known" ABBA songs on the tracklist, and briefly listened to like a minute of each track and it was torture, but anyways, I mentioned how this song when sang by ABBA and Frida doesn't sound dirty at all and is instead quite beautiful.  I think a lot of that has to do with Frida's vocal performance in particular, and I remember listening to Lily James' rendition of the song and thinking, "why does the song sounds so dirty???" like idk I know it's a very sensual song, but she made it sound too sensual dirtier than the song originally sounded, you know?  So yeah.  

Anyways, I love Andante, Andante and it's definitely among my top favorite ABBA songs. :')

Song Analysis - Elaine

November 15th 1979 marked the final date of the Europe portion of ABBA's world tour, before embarking on the next leg in Japan in March.  But of course ABBA didn't use that entire time to rest.  Rather, beginning in January, Agnetha and Frida began recording ABBA's Spanish album, and Bjorn and Benny used that opportunity to take a songwriting trip to the Barbados.

One of the first songs to come out of this trip was a track originally titled Elaine Elaine Elaine, but ultimately it would get shortened to just one Elaine.  Recorded in February, 1980, this track is honestly such a stark contrast from all of the songs from the Super Trouper session, and perhaps that's one of the reasons why it never ended up making it on the album and instead remained a B-side.

The song itself is quite odd as well.  A lot of ABBA songs tell a story that is pretty easy to figure out. You have just enough context that you can fill in the blanks and easily come up with an interpretation that matches up with the song.  Elaine, however, is confusing.  The song is about a woman named Elaine, who seems to feel stuck or trapped by something that she knows is ultimately coming for her.  No matter what, this thing, whatever it is, will happen no matter how hard she tries to fight it off.  She screams, she swears, she tries to breakaway, but it all means nothing.  A mysterious "they" is going to get to her anyway.  

The final line "they have your mind they’ll take your soul" kinda makes me thing of like mind control in some way, or many even addiction to something.  Maybe this song is a warning to how addicted everyone is going to be to mobile phones in the future..?  Lol jk.  Or maybe this song is about an Alien invasion and the aliens are coming.  Perhaps the song is about someone trying to break free of some type of rut that everyone else is stuck in, but they're all resistant to change and try to drag her down with them.  Maybe Elaine is a prophet of some sort or a time traveler, and she tries to warn the people that this thing is happening, but ultimately no one listens to her.

Honestly, especially with the first verse being, "You hate, you scream, you swear, and still you never reach ’em.  You curse, you try to scare, but you can never teach ’em," kinda remind me of the Greek myth of Cassandra, which ABBA did end up writing a song about later in 1982.  Cassandra tried to warn the people of Troy about all types of dangers, but she was dismissed and ignored and mistreated.  Kind of giving the same vibes of ABBA's Elaine. 

Ultimately I guess we'll never know who or what the song is about, especially as Bjorn and Benny have pretty much said nothing about it, but also that's the beauty of music.  Especially where none of ABBA's songs unless otherwise stated are personal retellings of anything and are at most inspired by real life, they truly are up for anyone to interpret.  

Both Agnetha and Frida sing in unison on this track, but not in harmony except maybe on the line "and the street is narrow."  There also aren't as many layers of harmony and backing vocals in this song either.  Dare I say, this is the start of ABBA's "lazy" era.  That's not to say they didn't add any more harmony to songs, as there are so many stunning harmonies in Super Trouper and Put On Your White Sombrero, it's just when you compare songs from the whole Super Trouper album to songs from the Voulez-Vous album, there is quite a stark contrast in the amount of harmonies and backing vocals present.  However, in a way, it's like ABBA were reverting to their music style from before the Arrival album.  I guess you could say from Arrival to Voulez-Vous, ABBA were taking their craft extra seriously.  They took their time perfecting their craft, whereas on prior albums they were more rushed for time or were just starting out.  This is kinda why I personally think that ABBA's Voulez-Vous album was honestly their peak vocal-wise.  (and of course this is not to say I dislike the tracks from Super Trouper or The Visitors or even Voyage.  I love them all.  I'm just pointing out differences.)

The music for Elaine is quite groovy as well, with most of the instruments being played on Benny's synthesizer.  It's fun, but the music certainly contrasts the dark undertones of the lyrics!

(Also in case anyone is wondering why my posts have been lacking as of late - as you all know, I am a creative person and I use my hands a lot for art - drawing, sewing,writing, carrying around my crazy heavy zoom lens that I use for photographing animals, etc, and my wrist is currently suffering from all of that combined with the fact that I am really bad at letting my hands rest.... and typing aggravates my wrist........  So yeah. :)  Here's hoping I can force myself to stop aggravating it because this is no fun lol.)

Song Analysis - The Way Old Friends Do

ABBA have always written songs about a good number of different themes.  Some are happy, some are sad, some just plain old depressing, and then sometimes we get just plain, good old feel-good songs.  The Way Old Friends Do is a song about what friendship means.  Much like I'm Still Alive, the song is about experiencing through hard times, but most importantly, getting through it.  

The Way Old Friends Do was written as a new number to be performed during ABBA's 1979/80 tour, and was performed every night during the encore.  Agnetha, Frida, Bjorn, and Benny would stand together at the front of the stage and sing this song accompanied by Benny's accordion, and considering the song is about friendship and old friends, I think that was a perfect way to show that all four ABBA members were all still good friends even if they had fights and "words of violence."  Especially as at this time, Bjorn and Agnetha were going through their divorce and so many people were concerned that their split would mean the end of ABBA, but here ABBA were, reassuring their fans that they were al going to be okay.  

The song is extremely short, with just the verse and chorus repeated twice.  Although usually that can be indicator that the song was rushed or incomplete as can be heard in many of ABBA's Undeleted tracks, I think it worked perfectly in this song.

The first line of the song, "You and I can share the silence. finding comfort together, the way old friends do," Frida sings alone, then Agnetha sings the next line, "and after fights and words of violence, we make up with each other, the way old friends do."  Then Bjorn and Benny join Agnetha and Frida in the chorus, singing, "Times of joy and times of sorrow, we will always see it through.  Oh I don’t care what comes tomorrow.  We can face it together, the way old friends do."  Then they repeat the entire song again, this time with all four singing and in the chorus, they're joined by their backing vocalists, adding a beautiful sense of unity and harmony.  

Of the three new songs that were introduced to the audience as part of the tour, I'm Still Alive, Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!, and The Way Old Friends Do, only the latter most song was included on ABBA's forthcoming album, Super Trouper.  However, they didn't record it all over again in the studio.  Realizing that the song had a specific atmosphere and sound that couldn't be reproduced in the studio, ABBA chose to include a live recording of the song, most likely recorded sometime during their six nights at Wembley Arena in November, 1979.  I'm curious which night they took the recording from, especially considering this live version has quite a different quality to it when compared to other official recordings we have from Wembley.  When you compare it to the the recording of ABBA performing the song that was first included in the TV documentary Words and Music and the version of the track recorded on the last night of ABBA's Wembley stay included on ABBA's Live At Wembley album, there's a specific clarity to the version ultimately included on Super Trouper that the other versions just do not have.  Plus, I noticed that the backing vocalists are significantly decreased in volume and almost sound like it''s ABBA themselves overdubbed and not their actual backing vocalists from the tour...  

his is merely speculation on my part, so I don't know for sure, but if they did overdub their live vocals, it's not like it's not an ABBA thing to do, as ABBA pretty much overdubbed all the live vocals included in ABBA the Movie because they just didn't like how they sounded live or the sound quality of those live recordings. Regardless, the recording of The Way Old Friends Do as featured on Super Trouper is one of my absolute favorite recordings.  I love hearing all four members singing together, and hearing them sing together about their close bond and friendship is extremely heartwarming.

Interestingly, the whole concept of "joy and sorrow" and knowing that they'll be able to get through everything as old friends was revisited a good 39 years later when Bjorn wrote the lyrics to I Still Have Faith In You.  With lines such us "The joy and the sorrow, we have a story, and it survived.  And we need one another, like fighters in a ring .  We’re in this together, passion and courage is everything," there is no doubt that this song is also about the ABBA members long standing friendship with each other.  Despite everything that happened with the band, the divorces, the bands' split, they always had and will have each other, the way old friends do.   

Although the last time ABBA performed this song as a group was on the final date of the 1979/80 tour, Agnetha and Frida did perform this song together at Bjorn and Benny's 50th anniversary party in 2016, and what a lovely performance it was.  Despite the fact that they hadn't performed together in so long, this impromptu performance was so beautiful and is probably what reminded ABBA that the could still sing together, which ultimately resulted in the recordings of I Still Have Faith In You and Don't Shut Me Down, which ultimately lead to the release of a whole new album in 2021.   If that's not the definition of true, old friends, I don't know what is. :')

Song Analysis - I'm Still Alive

 As part of ABBA's 1979/80 tour, ABBA would present the audience with a couple new tracks that had been written specifically to be included in the tour.  Those songs were The Way Old Friends Do as part of the encore, and I'm Still Alive.  However, unlike The Way Old Friends Do, I'm Still Alive was written by Agnetha, making it her second ever written contribution to ABBA's discography.  Similar to her first contribution Disillusion in 1973, the music was composed by Agnetha and the lyrics were written by Bjorn.  

After performing Intermezzo No.1, Benny would introduce I'm Still Alive as written by Agnetha "the little blonde girl", and Agnetha would go on to perform the song at the piano along with the rest of ABBA's band and the backing vocalists.  However, seeing as the other ABBA members don't sing the song with her, I've wondered if this song really is an ABBA song or not?  Similar to Tomas Ledin's performance of Not Bad At All during the same tour, is Agnetha just performing one of her own songs during the tour but the song itself is hers and not an actual ABBA song?  I personally classify it as an ABBA song, hence why I'm writing about it today. 

I'm Still Alive is a very classic Agnetha Faltskog song.  A slower ballad with themes of heartbreak and loneliness.  The song is about someone going through a pretty bad breakup, with lots of crying and being alone, and one point even thinking they were dying, yet, despite all of that, they affirm that they're still here, they're still alive, and not only that, they have emerged a stronger person.  Life will go on, even at it's slow pace, and eventually the painful memories will fade away.  In a way, this song is like the total opposite of Disillusion.  In that song, Agnetha sings about how all she is after this painful breakup is disillusioned, and that's all she is, but in I'm Still Alive, she feels like a winner because now she's stronger than ever and will not let the events of her heartbreak keep her down. And now, the next time something like this happens, she'll know how to deal with it and knows that no matter what, she will be okay.

One thing I find to be fascinating is the mention of winner and loser, a theme that would show up one year later in ABBA's The Winner Takes It All, a song that was inspired by but not the actual story of Agnetha and Bjorn's breakup, and then also the title I'm Still Alive, as that line would also show up in the bridge of  Super Trouper (So I’ll be there when you arrive.  The sight of you will prove to me I’m still alive and when you take me in your arms and hold me tight, I know it’s gonna mean so much tonight ) a song that Bjorn wrote inspired by his then-girlfriend Lena while on tour.

Neither Agnetha nor ABBA ever recorded this song officially in the studio, and it wasn't until 2014 that we were blessed with an official release of this song on ABBA's Live At Wembley Arena album.  Up until then, all we had were bootleg audios from various concerts, and some visual bootleg footage as well, but nothing in high quality. And what a treat it was to hear it in pristine, high quality.  Even in the bootleg audios, you can hear that Agnetha delivered a beautiful and emotional performance, capturing the essence of the song in vocals perfectly.  

However, in 1981, Agnetha and her friend Ingela "Pling" Forsman were chosen to submit a song in that year's Melodifestivalen, and they wrote the song Men natten är vår which was performed by Kicki Moberg.  On the B-side of the single, Kicki performed a Swedish version of I'm Still Alive, titled Här Är Mitt Liv.

The Swedish lyrics are: 

Man tappar tron ibland, om vad man vill och kan
När alla vägar delar sej och ingen leder fram
Men det finns ändå drömmar kvar att kämpa för
En del ska försvinna, men mycket finns att finna

Och här at mitt liv, jag lever och finns till
Nu är det upp till mej, att forma det som jag vill
Ja här är mitt liv, en gåva som jag har fått
Jag ska stå för ord och handling
Tro på framtid och förvandling
Här är mitt liv

Du vet att det är svårt, att altid vara stark
Att kunna gå sin egen väg och stå på säker mark
När alla ljusa rum som fanns i glädjens hus
Det mörka och slutna och tillhör det förflutna

Men här at mitt liv, jag lever och finns till
Nu är det upp till mej, att forma det som jag vill
Ja här är mitt liv, en gåva som jag har fått
Jag ska stå för ord och handling
Tro på framtid och förvandling
Här är mitt liv

Ja här at mitt liv, jag lever och finns till
Nu är det upp till mej, att forma det som jag vill
Ja här är mitt liv, en gåva som jag har fått
Jag ska stå för ord och handling
Tro på framtid och förvandling
Här är mitt liv

Här...

which translates into English:

You sometimes lose faith in what you want and can do
When all roads divide and no one leads
But there are still dreams left to fight for
Some will disappear, but there is much to be found

And here at my life, I live and exist
Now it's up to me to shape it as I want
Yes, this is my life, a gift that I have been given
I will stand for word and deed
Faith in the future and transformation
Here is my life

You know it's hard to always be strong
To be able to go your own way and stand on safe ground
When all the bright rooms that were in the house of joy
The dark and closed and belongs to the past

But here at my life, I live and exist
Now it's up to me to shape it as I want
Yes, this is my life, a gift that I have been given
I will stand for word and deed
Faith in the future and transformation
Here is my life

Yes here is my life, I live and exist
Now it's up to me to shape it as I want
Yes, this is my life, a gift that I have been given
I will stand for word and deed
Faith in the future and transformation
Here is my life

Here...

So that's a brief little look and history into I'm Still Alive.  Kicki Moberg performed the song really well and honestly extremely similar to Agnetha's live performance, and definitely gives us a good feel for what I'm Still Alive could have sounded like if it had ever been recorded in the studio.  And of course, Agnetha performed the song beautifully as well.   

For funsies, I once I decided to take the live vocals of Agnetha sinigng I'm Still Alive and put them over the studio backing track of Har At Mitt Liv and I think it turned out decent lol.

Song Analysis - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)

 In the late parts of August and Early September, ABBA began working on what would become their newest single, Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight).  As we all know, ABBA liked to include something new and never heard before during their tours.  During ABBA's 1974-75 tour, they would perform new and/or unreleased tracks like Hey, Hey Helen, I've Been Waiting For You, Intermezzo No. 1, and So Long.  For the 1977 tour, there was the whole Girl With The Golden Hair segment with new songs that had never heard before as well as the not-overly serious track I Am An A.  And for the 1979 tour, ABBA would debut Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!, I'm Still Alive, and The Way Old Friends Do.  (And as we all know, this way of thinking of having to include something new for a concert/tour is the whole basis for ABBA's I Still Have Faith In You and Don't Shut Me Down, released in 2021.)

Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! is quite a unique track in a sense that it's sort of it's own unique music style.  It carries forward some of the disco elements from some of the tracks on Voulez-Vous, as in it has some strings and is quite a dance-able track, and it features more "mature" lyrics, but at the same time, it doesn't sound at all like the Voulez-Vous tracks.  Even though on more modern versions of the Voulez-Vous album, like the 2001 CD remasters, Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! is included as a bonus track (same with Summer Night City), it really doesn't sound like any of the tracks on that album and stands out as its own unique song.  

Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) on the surface, at least to me, seems like just a song about someone pining for the attention that comes with having a man to "take the shadows away", but it also seems to be about someone who is quite lonely and desperate.  Similar to If It Wasn't For The Nights which is about someone who finds life so lonely and not really worth living due to the loneliness of the evening times, Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! is essentially those exact feeling of being alone in your flat, mindlessly watching TV to try and get through the loneliness and depression, and just feeling like there is truly no one out there.  So like, lyrics-wise, it's basically If It Wasn't For The Nights part 2.  

And in typical ABBA style, all of these depressed, gloomy, lonely lyrics are set to an extremely dance-able and upbeat track.  Because that's what ABBA do, haha.  They make depression and loneliness sound  FUN!  Haha jk.

Seeing as ABBA had already filmed the music video for this song on September 5th, 1979, they somehow managed to record this song in just under a week, yet their vocals don't sound rushed at all.  We've got those layers upon layers of vocal harmonies throughout the chorus, and even in the instrumental break, you've got some almost heavenly choral vocals from Agnetha and Frida hidden in the mix that when isolated sound so beautiful.  While Bjorn and Benny typically would record some background harmonies and backing vocals, by this point in ABBA's career their vocal additions had significantly decreased, and if they are in this song, I cannot hear them.  Agnetha's vocal performance is superb as well, and she not only hit that high note so effortlessly in the studio, she also managed to do it three times in one performance every night live in concert!  And there are plenty of bootleg and official audios from throughout the 1979 tour to prove that she sounded amazing.  

During the song's live performance, Frida would use the instrumental break to showcase her own dances, something that she very much liked to do, and it's honestly so fun to see Frida just having fun, dancing her heart out.

For ABBA's Spanish album, the song was recorded in Spanish, titled Dame! Dame! Dame! and well, I'm not going to say they didn't put their all into the Spanish album, but dare I say this version of the song definitely seems a lot more rushed and low-effort.  For example, in the chorus, Agnetha and Frida didn't record as many layers of harmony, and the track is left feeling kinda empty, and also Agnetha's vocals sound a lot more harsh and rough.  Which is fine, just in comparison to the English version, it's quite the contrast.

Anyways, the lyrics are roughly translated through Google Translate as follows:

Verse 1: The watch, it's already struck midnight and again I found that only the TV accompanies me.  blowing of that wind outside, live the desolation. My heart oppresses me with anguish.  

Pre-Chorus: There is nothing but loneliness, no one, not even for mercy

Chorus:  Give me, give me, give me love tonight.  Somebody help me to erase the shadows.  Give me, give me, give me love tonight.  Until dawn, see the day brighten

Verse 2: There are so many with great luck and fortune, everything they can get. So different from what I have to live, I find myself bored tonight, and the great darkness, it is my always obliged friendship.   

Pre-Chorus: There is nothing but loneliness no one, not even for mercy.

Chorus

Pre-Chorus:  There is nothing but loneliness No one, no mercy

Chorus

ABBA did lip-sync to Dame! Dame! Dame! once on Spanish TV in 1980, making that its only performance, and after the 1979/80 tour, ABBA performed the song one final time as part of the Dick Cavett Meets ABBA TV special in 1981. I just have to say it is so funny to me to see them all standing so still on stage when singing this very upbeat song, especially when you compare how they were all over the stage during their 1979/80 tour lol.  However they fully made up for it when the ABBA-tars perform the song in the ABBA Voyage show as the performance is fully choreographed and Frida even gets her instrumental dance break lol.

Anyways, the song is good, I love it a ton as I do with like all of ABBA's songs, and it turned out to be a fairly popular song as well, reaching number one in at least seven countries!

Song Analysis - Under My Sun

Sometime during preparations for ABBA's 1979 tour, ABBA and their entire tour crew were rehearsing this new song that Bjorn and Benny had prepared titled Under My Sun, a new version of Rubber Ball Man that had been recorded on August 8th.  As far as I know, ABBA had never recorded this song in the studio, and yet we do have a sole recording of this song - a bootleg recording from their rehearsals in August of 1979.  

The recording is not of professional quality, yet they sound really, really good.  Although during the recording they're all goofing around a bit, as can be heard during the second verse when Agnetha and Frida are laughing, and when they sing "higher, higher" at the end of the song, they both sound extremely good.  Something that, dare I say, ABBA's live recordings lack is that metallic sound of their voices blending together, yet when Agnetha and Frida sing the line "There is no way I will let this moment pass me by, listen to me now, set yourself free now," in the last chorus they managed to capture that sound and it's so crystal clear and perfect.  

The song is a completely different vibe than Rubber Ball Man.  Although the bootleg recording of Under My Sun seems to be a bit sped up and as a result Agnetha and Frida sound rather "chipmunk-y", Under My Sun seems to be more fleshed out song.  At least in this rehearsal audio, they have a lot more instruments, and the sound seems a lot more fun.  Plus Agnetha and Frida's goofing around definitely adds to the vibes.  The song also seems to fit quite well with the soundscape of the 1979 tour, specifically the live versions of If It Wasn't For The Nights and As Good As New, which I mean is obvious considering they're using the exact same instruments and everything as they're literally rehearsing for that tour.

As the song was never officially released or recorded, we don't have the lyrics, but I believe they are as follows: 

Verse 1:  
I lead my love alone
I don't hide it
Sometimes I am an open steamy fire
That the water can't swell

Verse 2:
Now everything is cold
You can't hide it
Now let your body slowly take you higher
Let your dreams be fulfilled

Chorus:
You are the one
You're the new star
Under my sun
Second to none
You're the true star
Under my sun

There is no way I will let this moment pass me by
Listen to me now
Set yourself free now
You are the one
You're the one star
Under my sun

Verse 3:
I lead my life alone
I don't hide it
Because I am an open steamy fire
That the water can't swell

Verse 4:

You're in the danger zone
You can't hide it
Now, let your body slowly take you higher
Let your dreams be fulfilled

Chorus:
You are the one
You're the new star
Under my sun
Second to none
You're the true star
Under my sun

There is no way I will let this moment pass me by
Listen to me now
Set yourself free now

(You are the one, you're the new star, you are the one, you're the one star)
You are the one
You're the true star
Under my sun
Second to none
You're the true star
Under my sun

There is no way I will let this moment pass me by
Listen to me now
Set yourself free now
You are the one
You're the one star
Under my sun
You are the one
You're the one star
Under my sun

Higher

Higher higher

Based on the fact the all the verses are exactly the same, I get the feeling this version of the song wasn't finished either.   And I'm honestly not entirely sure what the song is about either.  The lyrics are a bit disjointed and not complete, the verses don't match with the chorus, which is completely fine by the way, but you can just tell that it's incomplete.

I am so curious what was the reason for revising Rubber
Ball Man into Under My Sun, and were they intending to finish and then perform the song during the 1979 tour as a new song, or was it just them messing about while rehearsing?  I guess we'll never really know.  

Interestingly enough, clearly Bjorn and Benny liked portions of the melody and had been eagerly trying to turn it into something usable.  It wasn't until 1982 that they were able to reuse a part of the song and turn it into something they saw releasable.  The melody of lines such as "Sometimes I am an open steamy fire that the water can't swell," and "Now let your body slowly take you higher, let your dreams be fulfilled," would be used in Under Attack when Agnetha sings, "It's just like taking candy from a baby, and I think I must be..." and "I hardly dare to think of what would happen, where I'd be if I fell."  (I find it interesting how parts of Under My Sun became Under Attack, like, both songs have the word "under" in it lol)

Although Under My Sun was not released officially, the song exists on YouTube if you look it up, and some versions even have some chatter and discussion before the full run through of the song, which can give some insight into the reason why Under My Sun is there in the first place.  Here's the translation of what they're saying from the YouTuber Aggy Productions USA:

Benny: Would it be radical to take it away now? 

(almost inaudible) Bjorn: Huh? 

Benny: Would it be radical to remove it? 

Bjorn: Which One? 

Benny: " Under My Sun " 

Bjorn: Yes, but it's not that one now is it? 

Benny: Yes. 

Bjorn: But it says " SOS " on my... 

Agnetha: No... 

Bjorn: That's right, it doesn't.... 

Bjorn: Removing it? It would be a good and radical move.... 

Anni-Frid: How come? 

Benny: But let us at least record it as it is..... 

Anni-Frid: Do you mean it wouldn't be in? 

Benny: This program sounds a bit to long doesn't it? 

Agnetha: Yeah... 

Benny: And it feels a bit unsteady.... 

Agnetha: Why can't we skip it then? 

Benny: But lets record as we have learned.... 

Bjorn: We can play it for a while... 

Agnetha: Why is that!?! HaHa... 

Bjorn: It's easy to remove.... 

Agnetha" We don't want to! 

(One or both of the girls are talking but it's inaudible)

Agnetha :"....Leave my love alone...rubberball man....under my sun..." 

 

*Whistling* Benny: Ok?! " La Paloma Blanca ...." haha. 

Bjorn: Could I get some guitars here... Bjorn: Ok, 1,2....Tune them up.... 

Unknown: Ok....

Just from this conversation alone I think it's obvious that Under My Sun was intended to be a part of the 1979 tour as a new song, either before or after SOS, but at least the guys were just not quite sure about it and ultimately they removed the track. I also find it interesting that while Agnetha and Frida were getting ready to sing the song, one of them sang "rubber ball man" instead of Under My Sun, which shows that the song had only been recently changed from Rubber Ball Man to Under My Sun.  Also can I just say how much I with ABBA would release more ABBA chatter like this but like officially?  I love hearing them in their element, just working things out and discussing things and it's always such a treat when we get to hear it!

For funsies, on my own I attempted to slow down the tempo and lower the pitch a bit, and the result is actually pretty nice.  I did have this up on my old YouTube channel, but like I'm trying to avoid anything bootleg so I can't upload it there again, but here it is here on my blog. :3

Song Analysis - Rubber Ball Man

 Appearing at the 16:20 mark in ABBA Undeleted is the unreleased recording, Rubber Ball Man.  The song was recorded on August 8th, 1979, after the release of Voulez-Vous the album in April, so I wonder if the song was originally intended to be just a single like Gimme Gimme Gimme! would end up being, or it was written for possible inclusion on a future album, which as we know would end up being Super Trouper. 

However, obviously the song never ended up being good enough and subsequently got scrapped, but not completely as shortly afterwards during rehearsals for the 1979 tour ABBA were recorded messing around with a new version of the same melody, this time called Under My Sun, but more on that in a future post

I actually really enjoy Rubber Ball Man. The song itself is sort of like an ode to fans and what it feels like to be a fan of an artist.  The opening line, "The poster on the wall of a dear friend, I wish there was a way that I could show you how your songs set me free," I think perfectly sums up what it's like to be a fan of an artist, and honestly reminds me a ton of my own experience being an ABBA fan. I have ABBA plastered all over my bedroom walls, but unlike a few certain special fans, I have never really been able to express to the ABBA members themselves how much their songs have meant to me.  Of course I will always remember how fortunate I was to be allowed to send in letters and fanmail to the ABBA members through Gorel Hanser, so in a way they know how much ABBA has meant to me, but I still probably won't ever get the opportunity to tell the ABBA members in real life.  And like, I'm sure they hear this story all the time of how much their music has meant to us fans and getting the opportunity to tell my story won't make much of a difference in their life, but it would be nice.  And like, the next like in the first verse, "the hero of them all you're a legend.  I guess I'll never get a chance to know you, still you're close as can be," really resonates with me hahaha, because yeah, I don't think I'll ever get the chance to like know them irl but like I don't want to know them I'd just want to meet them, but regardless, I'm still the dedicated fan that I am.

And the chorus of the song is basically about the crowd going wild watching the Rubber Ball Man perform on stage, doing whatever he does, clapping his hands and letting his feat dance, jumping up and down and the audience jumping along as well, some of them screaming.  It's amazing how the words themselves are so simple yet perfectly describe that feeling of being at a concert to see an artist that you love.  I personally have only ever been to two concerts my entire life, and the this definitely reminds me of my second concert when I went to see Sabrina Carpenter live.  I wasn't a "jumping up and down, nobody's standing still, some of us screaming" type of fan, but I was surrounded by them, haha, and like it's nice.  I definitely learned that experience that I prefer to just sit and take in a concert rather than jump along and sing along, but that's just me and I'd never try to take away from everyone else's enjoyment. 

 The music itself is quite groovy and funky and really doesn't sound like any of the other songs from this era of ABBA songs, which is quite interesting to me.  Also, Agnetha and Frida sing the song in unison together, though I personally hear Frida more prominently, specifically on the line, "look at your fans how we love you Rubber Ball Man."  As this song is just a demo, there aren't any like added harmonies or backing vocals either, so the song is very plain in that way.  However, I love it, and while it certainly doesn't fit the vain of other ABBA songs from this era, I find it to be really lovely and I'm kinda sad they never completed it. 

Song Analysis - Sång till Görel

June 21st, 1979 marked Vice President of Polar Music, Gorel Johnsen, aka the one and only Gorel Hanser,'s 30th birthday!  And to celebrate the occasion, on June 7th, 1979, ABBA together with Stig wrote a song in honor of Gorel's birthday.  Not many people got special songs written for them by ABBA, in fact the only two people, as far as we know, to receive that honor were Gorel and Stig, which goes to show how important the two of them were to ABBA.

Now I don't really have much to say in terms of analysis of the song, as the song is pretty self-explanatory.  This song is also really unique in the singing arrangements as well.  The song begins with an intro sang by Agnetha and Frida, which is translated as follows:

Verse 1: From Skultorp Görel sailed to Sweden and Polar.  She came, she was seen, she conquered, and that's why she stays.  Now she sits as director, and Stikkan's great comfort There she will sit until she dies and hear Stikkan's Voice.

Then in the first chorus we have all four ABBA members singing with Stig interjecting,

Chorus: ABBA:Where is Görel, say, where is Görel, hey  Stig: I manage nothing without you  ABBA: Where is Görel, say, where is Görel, hey, Stig: Can someone answer me?

Then the second verse is sang by Stig, with Agnetha and Frida adding some backing vocals.  Verse 2: She manages the hardest, we have a star.  And you call up and she answer that 'This is Sweden's voice'.  Agnetha, Frida, all of us, Björn and Benny, too, they cause her stress with small cries.  (Agnetha and Frida; Görel!  Görel!) Yes, who doesn't!

Followed by the next chorus that is sang by everyone together rather than having Stig interject.  

The third verse is sang by Bjorn and Benny but they're rather quiet hahaa.  Verse 3: In summer night's happenings, in Autumn's rain and haze, she talks, always smiling with her licensees.  They call from Brasil, from Japan and Iraq, and she always has the same style and they have the same business.

Followed by another chorus, and then the fourth and final verse, sang by Agnetha and Frida, verse 4: Yes, Görel is thorough, and she checks on what happens.  She keeps her little hand in it and much, much more.  And now is it still the one who should have a little hand.  When her Anders afterwards calls, sometimes we catch it.

Then there is one last chorus and the song ends. 

Interestingly, this song, along with I Have A Dream and Little Things, is one of the few songs to feature a non-ABBA vocalist on a song.  This song also is one of the few songs to feature (at least) one verse sang by Agnetha and Frida together and another verse sang by Bjorn and Benny together.  The only other song that I can think of that features that sort of verse structure is He Is Your Brother from 1972.  This song and I Am An A from 1977 are also the only songs to mention the ABBA members' names in it.  And this song marked the last Bjorn, Benny, and Stig musical composition together.  

Sång till Görel was released on a limited edition 12-inch blue vinyl single at Gorel's 30th birthday party, and that remains it's only official release, and as a result, is also one of the rarest items for ABBA fans to collect.  But it is available online, and it is still such a treat to listen to.  You can really feel the love that the ABBA members and Stig had and still have for Gorel. :')