Moopy's Top 50 ABBA Songs - FULL RESULTS ON PAGE 14

Pingu said:
YES OK FINE. :D
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I was just looking through the myriad of releases there were on budget labels in the late 80s then, instead of the reissued earlier releases.

There are a few more it didn't feature on, but that just shows how difficult it was to get everything prior to Gold. PolyGram getting everything together for it was long overdue. Although of course for a significant part of the preceding decade there was very little interest in them.
 
12. When All Is Said And Done
Single from The Visitors
Released: 1981
Score: 9

Should this have been the choice of single in the UK instead of Head Over Heels? Would it have turned things around for the group or even extended their chart career ever-so-slightly? We'll never know, but it does seem remarkable to me that they didn't take their lead from the few record territories (including America and Australia) that did release this as a single from The Visitors as listening to the album it seems like such an obvious choice. Written as Benny and Frida's "divorce song" it packs a real emotional punch, and features arguably one of Frida's finest vocal performances, with her throwing all of her feelings into the delivery.

Once again, perhaps without even realising it, the group really seemed to be writing for the "characters" that had been built around the two girls at this stage. While The Winner Takes It All sees Agnetha play the part of the devastated, broken woman, When All Is Said And Done has a more philosophical tone with Frida portraying more of a stiff upper lip attitude. As it happens, the lyrics for this would probably have been more appropriate for the circumstances surrounding Bjorn and Agnetha's divorce, with The Winner Takes It All being more suited to the infidelity involved in Benny and Frida's. Nevertheless, Frida clearly related to the lyrics as it is one of her favourite ABBA songs, and of their entire catalogue it really feels like one that history should have appreciated that little bit more.

Highest scores: @Ill Advised (11), @VoR (11), @Penelope (11)
Lowest scores: @Hak (6), @ZenGiraffe (6), @Tisch (6)

 
For me the best written ABBA song ever, and that's no faint praise.

Frida's best vocal too, regardless of the circumstances I'm so glad she got it. I love Agnetha, but it just feels CORRECT that she gets the messy melodramatic blubfest in The Winner Takes It All, while Frida gets the wiser, sadder but ultimately more nuanced story about a relationship involving grown ups.
 
I mean god, the harmonies, the urgent guitar of excitement and promise, the pitch-perfect wistfulness - what a journey! And yet one that still clearly has so much further to go, but at separate ways. I could cry (and have done) at "it's so strange when you're down and lying on the floor, how you rise, shake your head, get up and ask for more". No wonder boomers think everything's shit today when they got thank u, next and Ashes To Ashes together all in one.
 
Penelope said:
OMG at those 5s for Super Trouper - @Suomi?!?!
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I really struggle with songs that have an accapella intro, and it’s just the wrong side of twee for me. The final nail is Marie Serneholt and Sara Lumholdt, who kind of ruined it for me back in 1999 when I couldn’t believe how the Mamma Mia cover be so right but the Super Trouper cover could be so wrong.
 
11. Dancing Queen
Single from Arrival
Released: 1976
Score: 9

Here it is, ABBA's biggest-selling and arguably most popular song of all time, outside our top ten. How did this happen on a pop music forum to one of the best and most beloved pop songs in the history of music? Well clearly, huge popularity also results in divisiveness, and it's true that out of all of ABBA's songs, this is the one that has filtered down the food chain to weddings, bad karaoke and hen nights. Unlike a lot of their other songs, particularly ones that came later on, it doesn't have the layered, emotional, clever lyrics to act as a juxtaposition to the unambiguously joyous musical backing, so in some eyes it can come off as a bit basic. However, it reached this level of omnipresence for a reason, and the sheer level to which it has been overplayed makes it difficult sometimes to take a step back and appreciate its brilliance.

As pop songs go, it is so expertly structured, crashing in in the middle of the chorus, and then every line from the start of the verse right up to the climax again. Every single portion along the way is a hook. How many pop songs do you know where drunk revellers at a wedding reception can perfectly single along to the string line and the piano glissandos that form that backbone of the song? There's the huge vocal range, there are the layered harmonies, there's the fact that musically it isn't just one big explosion of joy but actually has that trademark ABBA melancholy running through it as well. There are so many aspects of this that I could single out to argue why this song's legendary status is justified that won't come close to fitting into two paragraphs. However, democracy is democracy and its Moopy fate has been sealed. At least the Brendas and Sharons of the world will always be there to keep Dancing Queen alive.

Highest scores: @Tisch (11), @Devil (11), @BoysForSeles (11)
Lowest scores: @dmlaw (1), @ZenGiraffe (4), @dUb (5)

 
Penelope said:
@ZenGiraffe I really need to learn a lot more about your music taste. Who are your favourite artists? What are your favourite songs?
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My favourite song is probably Lady Gaga - Dance in the Dark. She's also my favourite artist, and one of the few that I listen to the albums of (other than the jazz obvs)

The only other artists off the top of my head that I choose to listen to entire albums by are Charli XCX and Enya. Everyone else I just pick at the singles.

I don't care about lyrics, which is probably the root of my music controversy, and since so much of Abba's appeal seems to be the lyrics then so much is lost on me. Their music also just generally sounds OLD and DECREPIT.
 
ZenGiraffe said:
I don't care about lyrics, which is probably the root of my music controversy, and since so much of Abba's appeal seems to be the lyrics then so much is lost on me. Their music also just generally sounds OLD and DECREPIT.
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AGHAST! They have great lyrics, sure, but they also have some of the GREATEST MELODIES KNOWN TO MANKIND!
 
Anyway I'm going to get some fresh air and let this controversy rumble on for a while. :D

I'll do another instalment a bit later on. Playlist updated in the first post!
 
I've read plenty of dull Abba rates, so rather than focusing on what the scores are (or my opinion of them), I'm just trying to enjoy how they have mixed things up.
 
Pingu said:
Without which, I very much doubt Dance In The Dark would exist, that's for damn sure!
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I will never deny that certain artists are important and have laid very important foundations for great things to come and I'm grateful for their contribution to music history.

Doesn't mean I'm going to listen to the nursery rhymes that are the Beatles in 2022 though.
 
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