Well, as you can see there's not much here yet. This is the site where I plan to hopefully, if all goes well, post ABBA lyrics and analyse, interpret and comment on ABBA songs. Having been an ABBA fan for over 10 years, I have analysed each song thoroughly a thousand times over and over in my head. For some songs, there isn't much to say about the lyrics at all. But for others, I could write pages and pages about it.
I bought my first ABBA album when I was 16 in January 2000, after having been an FM radio junkie for several years before that, and was quickly relieved to realise they were a band of real quality, and I quickly became a fan. First and foremost, ABBA are masters of pop music sound. But as time has gone by, I have struggled more and more with their public image. I have to admit, I didn't care for the Mamma Mia show or the movie, and didn't like what they did to the songs. I'm not interested at all in the type of clothes ABBA wore, or their personalities, which I find to be most boring, and a distraction. I am interested in the music, and only the music.
Whoever says that ABBA only wrote silly immature unemotional pop songs is simply totally, completely wrong. Anyone who has listened carefully to the heart-wrenchingly upfront emotional masterpiece of The Winner Takes It All, or the eloquent wording of I Let The Music Speak, or the unyieldingly strong and flawlessly hopeful tone of When All Is Said And Done, or the angelic verses of I Have A Dream, will tell you that this is far from the truth. That said, ABBA did also do some delightfully silly bouncy pop songs with famously catchy melodies and beats that really make them stand out from all the rest.
ABBA have sold upwards of 370 million records, and yet have only just recently been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. At least 20 of their songs topped the charts in some country worldwide, yet only one of them managed to sneak into Rolling Stone's Top 500 song list of all time. For a lot of people, I think, ABBA are something rather unpleasant to think about that they wish wasn't there. Their public image is largely to blame. But there's a lot of misunderstanding too. Despite all this, their albums continue to top the charts worldwide, with their greatest hits album topping charts as recently as 2009. Happy New Year continues to chart on the singles charts at the beginning of each year even today.
I like a lot of other artists - including Blondie, Madonna, Cher, The Corrs, and Roxette. However, with the exception of the latter, ABBA is the only artist for whom I can listen to an album nonstop from start to end without skpping a track, and being able to appreciate every song. That's a rarity that you get music good enough where you can do that these days. ABBA had a unique style of recording that may be unfamiliar to most - where most of the time they did not bother including a song on an album unless it had potential to be released as a single. Put On Your White Sombrero, a stunning track recorded in 1980, was actually left off the album it was planned for and not released until 1994.
Ironically though, it is their last album entitled The Visitors (hence the title of this blog) - an album where the band members confessed to be running out of energy, which actually contained the most mature lyrical gems. The title track deals with political dissent in the Soviet Union. Another track deals gracefully with a relationship breakup with lyrics such as "No taste for humble pie" or "Standing calmly at the crossroads no desire to run". Another track analyses the beauty and plainness in letting the music speak "so strange yet we're so well acquainted", while another track deals with a mother's mixed emotions when parting with her child for the first time.
I do hope I can use this blog to analyse, interpret and discuss many songs. Like I said, it's only in the early stages yet and I don't know what will come of it. I will probably post 2 more articles shortly. Lets hope I can get into creative gear and start writing some good stuff!
No comments:
Post a Comment