Song Analysis - Why Did It Have To Be Me

On most of ABBA's albums until now, Bjorn would have a few couple of songs where he sang lead vocals. But over time, eventually his performances would decrease, and ABBA would go on to mostly feature vocals from the ladies.  That's not saying that Bjorn, and Benny, don't sing on ABBA songs, as Bjorn and Benny would always sing backing vocals and harmonies, but Bjorn only has one lead vocal on Arrival, that being Why Did It Have To Be Me, whereas prior to that, he has two lead vocals on self-titled (Man In The Middle and Rock Me, though after the fact Crazy World would be included in remastered versions of the album), has two lead vocals on Waterloo (Sitting in the Palmtree and Watch out) as well as some joint vocals songs such as Dance (While the music still goes on) and King Kong Song, and then so many lead/joint vocals with Benny songs on Ring Ring. Then Bjorn does not get any lead vocals on The Album (he has a spoken verse in Move On and he and Benny do sing on Hole In Your Soul, but no lead vocals), Super Trouper, or Voyage (though he and Benny do feature a little bit in I Still Have Faith In You and Keep An Eye On Dan.)

I have always liked Bjorn's vocals on songs.  I think it adds a fun twist to ABBA's most popular hits.  People who only know ABBA's greatest hits (with the exception of Does Your Mother Know) don't usually expect ABBA to have any other vocalists, and then surprise surprise, there are actually a decent selection of Bjorn-led songs.

Why Did It Have To Be Me is quite a fun track, with a bit of a back and forth between Bjorn and Agnetha & Frida together.  The songs is about a guy complaining about how he had an affair or like a one-night stand with this woman, and for her, it's no big deal, she does this sort of thing all the time, casually hooking up with people when she so desires, the problem is, this guy who she "picked", who Bjorn plays in the song, is finding it very difficult because he has fallen in love with her!  But she is the way she is, and she doesn't care that he's caught feelings for her.  Her terms were established from the start, that there will be no attachment, just a one time thing, and yet he still fell for her and is telling her, "Why did it have to be me?????"  He can't get her out of his head, he's forming to much of an attachment, but she's like "believe me, it's better to forget me.

I mentioned previously how this song is a later, revised version of Happy Hawaii.  They reused the melody for the verses from Happy Hawaii to become the verses in Why Did It Have To Be Me, but the chorus is completely different.  (I just realized, they gave that exact same treatment to Just Like That from 1982, though that time they reused just the chorus and changed the verses when they gave the song to Gemini in 1984, but I digress.)

I really like this song.  The energy in the song, the vocals, the story progression in the lyrics!  It's really fun, and I like how Angetha and Frida sing with Bjorn in the vocals and then sing the chorus mostly alone.  The instrumental break after the chorus is energetic and exciting, too.  There's also a lot of lovely "ooooohs" in the background of the verses, sang by Agnetha and Frida.  And the way the two of them sing "But baby, believe me, it's better to forget me," is honestly one of my favorite vocals from the two of them.  Bobby's Brother on YouTube described Agnetha and Frida's vocals, specfically on the track Kisses of Fire (which I am soooo excited to get around to talking about btw - the song is literally one of my two favorite songs ever), as metallic, and that is exactly how I would describe their vocals in this part of the song.  It always gives me chills down my spine, especially when their voices blend together and make that perfect blend of sound.  It's superb, and they did such a great job on this song. 

While Agnetha does sing in the studio version of the track, and performed it twice, interestingly enough, when ABBA would go on to perform the song live in their 1977 and 1979 tour, with just Frida performing it with Bjorn.  And this songs becomes quite the song, with so much fun and toying with each other on stage, and Frida absolutely rocking it!  She has so much fun in this song, playfully playing with the microphone stand, teasing Bjorn, and also singing some of her best vocals ever.  She took this song and really made it her own, adding her Frida shine to it.  I love her performances of this song she makes it such a memorable number, but I've always been so curious as to why Agnetha chose to bow out of this song.  I'm curious if we'll ever find out the answer.

Anyways, sadly we only have one official video of Frida rocking the stage with Bjorn during any of their live performances, that being from the 1977 tour and the whole performance was thankfully included in ABBA the Movie, but we have plenty of bootleg audio from the 1977 and 1979 tour, plenty of bootleg video footage from the 1979 tour, and even an official release of ABBA's last night at Wembley, including this song!   But we also have two TV performances, one of them even live from the ABBA-Dabba-Doo TV Special. 

I have compiled all the official releases on compilation.  Sadly I could not include any of the bootleg 1979 footage, but definitely go look them up if they're still on YouTube as they are amazing!

Song Analysis - My Love, My Life

 My Love, My Life is another one of ABBA's breakup songs, a song about a relationship coming to an end. Though this song has a very mature feel to it.  The narrator of the song is clearly heartbroken by the realization that their relationship has gone completely stale, but she deals with it in a very mature way.  Specifically this part of the chorus, "but I know I don’t possess you, so go away, God bless you.  You are still my love and my life, still my one and only."  No matter what happens, she will always love and appreciate what they had, and if it is truly time to break up and end this releationship, then they will on amicable terms.  Doesn't mean they're happy about it, as Agnetha once said (regarding her own breakup not the song My Love, My Life), "there is no such thing as a happy divorce," but at least they're civil and peaceful.

I love how ABBA have a lot of different songs about different types of breakups and divorces, and honestly this type of breakup songs I prefer.

Agnetha sings the lead vocals on this song and has the most prominent voice in the song.  She sings so beautifully and strongly, especially in the last chorus with the extended, "You are still my love aaaaaand my life."  Especially as this song has a lot of choral and almost heavenly sound to it, it always reminds me of Agnetha's "To Love," from her 1983 album Wrap Your Arms Around Me.  

However in the chorus Frida comes in with some absolutely beautiful harmonies as well, specifically on the lines "But I know I don’t possess you, so go away, God bless you."  Though Frida's blended in so well, it's really hard to hear her, however I have an observation: I have an original Arrival vinyl record from the 1970s, and when I play that record on the record player, I can hear the harmonies SO MUCH CLEARER, yet when I connect my phone and play my digital versions of the songs from the 2001 remastered CDs, or even the CD itself through the same speakers, they are not easy to hear.  I love the 2001 remastered versions, they all sound great and the sound is so clear, but there's something to the original pressings of the record that sound SO MUCH CLEARER and BETTER.  (I even compared my ABBA Gold 30th anniversary record to the same tracks on my copy of 1976's Arrival and there is no comparison, I'm sorry the original versions sound better.)

Bjorn's also in the song as well, singing "See it all so clearly, answer me sincerely."  This whole song is just so beautiful and so well done, and is honestly a top favorite of mine.  

Sadly ABBA only performed this song twice, but I bet it would have been a hit live.  It's just such a good and beautiful song, dare I say ABBA's most beautiful track...?

Song Analysis - Tiger

  Okay, so if I'm being very honest, I don't quite know what this song is about. Is it about an actual apex predator? Is it about some creep or even a serial killer who likes to hunt people in the city? Is it metaphor for something else entirely? I don't know. But I do know one thing- this song is fun!

The song is basically someone giving a warning about the dangers of the city, to always beware otherwise the tiger will get you! "The city is a jungle, you better take care. Never walk alone after midnight. If you don’t believe it you better beware of me", "The city is a nightmare, a horrible dream. Some of us will dream it forever. Look around the corner and try not to scream, it’s me!", "The city is a prison you never escape, you’re forever trapped in the alleys. Look into the shadows and you’ll see the shape of me."

Part of me wonders if this song is a warning against drugs and how unsafe they can be? During the 70s and 80s, ABBA were regarded as a very clean band, as unlike a lot of their peers at the time, they didn't openly do drugs or talk about them, they didn't have any major scandals, and they were two happily married couples for most of the band's active years. While they weren't in any way trying to push the image of being "clean", the media gave them that title, and I wonder if they felt the need to write a song about the dangers of addiction and drug use, while also being rather subtle. I don't know, it's just a thought. Again, I wasn't there when Bjorn and Benny wrote the song, so I can only speculate.

The music itself is quite rocky, with lots of heavy guitars and drums, probably the most rocky track on the Arrival album. Agnetha and Frida are absolutely rocking in the vocals, singing again in that joint, third voice, and they sound amazing. There are some fun backing vocals as well during the chorus, lots of "aaaaaaaah"s and "oooo-aaahs," as well as Bjorn and Benny coming in the 2nd chorus and onwards with some fun harmonies. There's also the post-chorus??? that goes, "Yellow eyes are glowing like the neon lights. Yellow eyes, the spotlights of the city nights." I also really like the last line for some reason, "And if I meet you, what if I eat you? I am the tiger. I am behind you, I always find you. I am the tiger, tiger, tiger," especially as Agnetha and Frida sing "Tiger, tiger, tiger," with an even higher "Tiger!!!" in the background. Their vocals are just superb on this track!

Tiger would go on to become the opening track to ABBA's 1977 tour, and what a song to choose!  It's quite a darker song compared to the rest of the songs on the setlist, (though the themes of the Girl With The Golden Hair mini-musical are also kinda dark...), and I think it proved that ABBA were not just some cutesy band that only preformed pop hits like Dancing Queen and the like.  They would start off each concert with the sound of helicopters playing loudly and then blending into a new extended intro to Tiger, as each member would run out onstage donning gold capes.  We have quite a few bootleg audios capturing the energy of the concerts, but part of their performance of Tiger, specifically that first concert in Australia in the heavy rain was captured in ABBA the Movie.  And that energy is amazing!!

Prior to the 1977 tour they also performed the song twice before, once for a music video in filmed for the ABBA-Dabba-Doo TV special, than in Poland, and then finally in 1978 in Japan.

 

Anyways I like this song.  It's fun, quite energized, and an amazing song to perform all around.  Also, can we talk about how cool ABBA looked in the ABBA-Dabba-Doo performance????

Song Analysis - Dum Dum Diddle

 So a lot of people don't like this song.  They consider it amongst ABBA's worst songs.  They say it's cheesy, silly, and is so weird.  A woman is jealous of a man's violin?  That's so absurd! If I remember correctly, even Bjorn dislikes it.  I think he once said that it was among the last song lyrics completed for the Arrival album and he was rushed on time and the result is this rather simple, and silly lyric.  

But I dispute all of that.  Personally, I think this song is a masterpiece.  Okay maybe not a masterpiece, but sonically, it has that pure ABBA sound, that beautiful blend of vocals from Agnetha and Frida singing lead, some amazing harmonies from all four blending together in the chorus and even during the second verse, and some amazing synthesizer from Benny.  This song is another example of happy, jubilant sound but actually some really sad and rather depressing lyrics.  

The song on the surface is about a woman who really wants the attention of his guy, but he's too busy playing his fiddle all the time to even notice her.  He's only ever happy when he's with his fiddle, and she kinda wishes she was his fiddle. But I think the song is a lot deeper than that.

There's a line in the first verse, "but it’s bad.  You’re so sad, and you’re only smiling when you play your violin."  It can happen to a lot of people when depression hits and you become so hyper focused on the one thing that brings you joy to the point of solely focusing on that and cutting out everyone around you.  Perhaps this guy is a close friend of the narrator, and something has happened and his mental health isn't doing so well, so he's distracting himself with the one thing that makes him happy.  He's been practicing so much, playing night and day, and he's gotten really, really good at it.  But he's so distracted with this, he doesn't notice the narrator and her really strong interest in him.  

I know the second verse, "But I think you don’t know that I exist, I’m the quiet kind, wo-oh. From the day when I first listened to you you’ve been on my mind, wo-oh" kinda refutes this theory, but like maybe she's someone who kinda knows him, but not super well, and she's developed some really strong feelings for him but maybe he only sees her as a friend or even just an acquaintance, and when she's around him she's always quiet and shy and he has no way of knowing she's interested in him.  Plus with whatever has been going on that has made him so sad, he's cut everyone out and would never really notice her. 

And because she cares about him, and really likes him too, she wishes she could be the person to bring him joy rather than his violin.  It's not that she wants to be his violin, she wants to replace the violin.  She thinks she can make him smile again and be happy again instead of being so distracted and only focusing on his violin.  But if only he would just notice that she's there, thinking and caring about him.

I know this is only my interpretation of the song, and that doesn't mean that's what 100% truly accurate an factual and that I know exactly what Bjorn and Benny were thinking of when they came up with the song, but for me it really opens up the world of the song and makes it even greater than it seems.  And for that reason I think it's underrated.

A bit of a digression, but my type of young adult novels and romance-ish genre that I enjoy reading are ones when you have emotionally-scarred man who's not like evil or hurting anyone, but he's going through some stuff and has never really been able to open up or be comfortable around anyone, but then there's this one girl who's determined to get to him and is trying to convince him that she can be there for him, she'll make things better, and she spends a lot of time trying to get him to see that she's there, and there's maybe a little bit of friends-to-lovers aspects as well.  Honestly this is what my own personal book that I have been writing for the last decade or so but don't have the guts to share anywhere is kind of about, at least one of the many characters in my series is going through in one of the many subplots and arcs.  And for that reason as well, with my personal interpretation of the song, Dum Dum Diddle really resonates with me.

Back to the song, the music itself is so jubilant.  It sounds so happy.  And Agnetha and Frida sound superb in the song.  Their vocals are just perfect, the harmonies are some of their best.  And when performing this song live, which they did once in 1976 for the ABBA-Dabba-Doo TV special, and during the 1977 tour, they sound just as amazing.  Especially as Benny plays this song with an accordion rather than synthesizer. 

So yeah, I really, really love this song.  I think it is so underrated and everyone should really take a chance on it (heheheh I had to) and see that it can be more than a song about a woman jealous of a violin.

Song Analysis - Monsieur, Monsieur

 In July 1976, ABBA began working on a track titled Monsieur, Monsieur.  The song is very simple track about finding romance in France, a concept that would later, sort of get revisited four years later in ABBA's Our Last Summer,  specifically with the line, "Strolled through Paris in the night, you and me.  Oh, and we walked along the Seine." However, the song would ultimately get turned into a different song, that being the beautiful My Love, My Life which is similar in concept about leaving a relationship, but a completely different context.

Still, this song is quite beautiful on its own as well. The song starts out with the main character walking through Paris, with this man who she met and fell in love with while visiting France, however as she's only here for a vacation, she unfortunately has to leave.  Similar to Dance (While The Music Goes On), she sings about how "This is our last night in France, Monsieur, Monsieur, so tonight is our last dance," and that tomorrow at the station, is the end of her vacation, so she has to bid her new man an adieu.  Though she struggles with the thought of leaving him as she thinks she's in love.

Agnetha sings the lead on this demo, with honestly some of the most heavenly and sweet vocals I have ever heard from her.  It's just a demo, so there is just a simple piano track with minimal instruments over it, and Agnetha's vocals with no other backing vocals or harmonies.   

While this track has never been officially release anywhere, and definitely not in high quality, a snippet of the track was included in a radio documentary that Swedish radio did on each ABBA member in December 1976, specifically in the one about Agnetha titled "A for Agnetha." There's a lot of talking over the track from Agnetha and the radio presenter, and unfortunately because I don't speak Swedish and only understand a very minimal amount from when I did Duolingo, I can't understand what they're saying but I'm guessing it's a little bit about the history of the song and how it became My Love, My Life...?

Still, if you listen closely you can hear the demo track and make out the lyrics.  A very kind soul on YouTube did reconstruct the song by filtering out the talking so you only hear the track, but that video has sadly been removed from YouTube so I don't have any way of sharing it.  But here are the lyrics mostly transcribed if you're interested.  It's not perfect or complete as it is hard to hear but I did the best I could.

Verse 1:

We wandered aimlessly
Strolled through Paris in the night, you and me
Oh, and we walked along the Seine
Now I have ????
I was so sad when I had to say

Chorus:

This is my last night in France
Monsieur, monsieur
So tonight is our last dance
Monsieur, monsieur
And tomorrow at the station
End of my vacation
When we say our adieu

This is my last night in France
Monsieur, monsieur
And it`s been a short romance
Monsieur, monsieur
But it`s something to remember
A gray day in December
Now I think I love you monsieur
Yes I think I love you

Verse 2: 

We walked down to the ...???
And I tried to put tomorrow away
Oh, my .....?????
But in my heart I knew
Nothing has changed, nothing I could do

 

Anyways, you can listen to the full A For Agnetha radio documentary below, though I have it linked to the section with Monsieur, Monsieur,  If you wanna try transcribing it yourself, please be my guest!