Hi there!
It’s been some months since I posted a blog … I was one of many hundreds of south-east Queenslanders that were affected by the January floods, and simple things like collecting mail from my local PO Box were among many everyday chores that got postponed!
Anyway, I recently enjoyed taking part in an online fan forum where the question was posed: what is your favourite ABBA song from each of the eight studio albums, and why? It’s been a long time since I’ve revisited my thoughts on this! After saturating myself with the inner workings of ABBA songs for my book, I found it necessary to distance myself from ABBA for a while. I decided to be totally spontaneous regarding my answers, and here they are!
RING RING: Another Town, Another Train. This is the closest Benny & Bjorn got to emulating a Seekers male-vocal-lead ballad. BTW I’ve always thought the Seekers’ Colours Of My Life (1967, remixed by engineer unknown in the early 70s) has an ABBA feel to it – I can imagine Agnetha singing this one.
WATERLOO: Dance (While The Music Still Goes On). Agnetha’s second verse … that leadvocal … so emotional! Images of poignant movie farewells with misty eyes and yearning gestures. I could play those eight bars in a loop a thousand times over. It’s over all too soon. I sometimes fantasise about this song being held over for the ABBA album, with the girls leading the chorus instead of the boys … I would have loved this song even more.
ABBA: SOS. The minor key is my soul mate; bring it on!
ARRIVAL: Knowing Me, Knowing You.A statuesque classic, and a song with a sting in its tail. The girls’ striking a capella delivery of the title hook, the twin guitars in the refrain … poignant magic.
THE ALBUM: The Name Of The Game. I was bowled over when I first heard this. It’s my gold standard for what an ABBA song can be. Sultry, sophisticated, complex, funky riffs, and the girls have equal leadvocal billing. Their individual bridge passages ensure mood swings a-plenty, and I love the piccolo trumpet synth in the chorus.
VOULEZ-VOUS: The King Has Lost His Crown. This is an understated treasure. After Frida’s gentle verse lead, the girls erupt spectacularly into an unforgiving chorus in which the fiery retribution (minor) and pathetic humiliation (major) they direct to the philanderer in the lyric are masterfully differentiated.
SUPER TROUPER: Super Trouper. The Winner Takes It All is so often “the one”, so I felt it worth pointing out a few home truths about the title track. How many artists can write and record a song of this quality in three days? Listen to it from this perspective. All those intricate vocal layers! Love the structure, the melody, the harmonies, the coda, the fact that it’s acoustically driven in contrast to the rest of the album (The Winner Takes It All excepted). B & B recycled (to great effect) the four-chord progression from the Winner Takes It All intro for Super Trouper’s refrain, and Frida’s verse leadvocal is one timbre we haven’t heard before (on an ABBA album at least). Not so silky smooth as Andante, Andante or as edgy and urgent as Our Last Summer. As Kate Bush recently sang, somewhere in between. 
THE VISITORS: When All Is Said And Done. I’m sad though that the original video mix wasn’t used for the album. Frida’s leadvocal is more fluid and free in the closing statement on that, and I was disappointed that B & B felt they had to make the last two vocal statements identical.
Special mention: Should I Laugh Or Cry. I don’t understand Benny’s belief that the chorus doesn’t match the verse in the latter. It’s one of the most profound and personal ABBA songs of all, right up there with The Winner Takes It All. Wish it had been included on The Visitors album proper.
1982: The Day Before You Came. I agree with Michael Tretow – to me it is the saddest ABBA song of all. Even if they didn’t think 1982 was ‘the end’, it remains the most elegant farewell gesture, superb in its understatement.
Special mention: Just Like That (final sax mix). Unlike Benny, I think the verse and chorus dovetail beautifully and suit the pop treatment. I actually prefer the ABBA version to its more theatrical successor on the Swedish CHESS album. Apart from an interesting bit of improvisation from Raphael Ravenscroft in the opening refrain, it’s a song I can play over and over. I live for the day we’ll see it as a bonus track.
Until next time!
Cheers,
Chris
