Any day is better with AbbA

I think it was when I saw Muriel’s Wedding that I realized there is an underlying sadness to Abba’s music, an incredible sound that Generation X takes for granted and music snobs dismiss as "disco". So many of us probably have personal memories of Dancing Queen and the first time we heard it, but if you’ve seen the incredibly funny and sad Muriel’s Wedding (a movie worthy of its own blog entry), it’s forever changed the way you listen to Abba.

Dancing Queen itself has tinges of despair and desperation. Yes, it’s a feel-good song at Karaoke and retro dance clubs (just look at how many people hit the floor when the song plays), but there’s an urgency to it, a self-conviction that everything (EVERYTHING!) will be all right at night when it’s time to go out on the town in search of love and attention. Even so, there’s no escaping that first familiar note and the way it sweeps in over you…pure pop magic decades later.

Money, Money, Money offers up a very cynical approach to romance, far from the sweetness of the love songs you’ll find in 70s hits. The vulgar honesty of the track is saved by infectious beats and that distinctive Abba harmony. It’s so appropriate that the Broadway musical (and movie) take their name from the happiest of Abba hits, Mamma Mia. This song is pure joy and hard to resist. Fernando (a song I haven’t heard in years until recently), is so sweet and beautiful it almost hurts, hardly the stuff of elevator music. And Waterloo just makes me break out into huge smiles, maybe because it reminds me of goofy moments from my childhood. It’s as happy and carefree as Mamma Mia. The Name of the Game marries lovely harmony with heartbreaking plea and vulnerability, while Take a Chance on Me is all about the plug and is full of confidence and you-won’t-be-sorries.

Thanks to the Broadway musical and the reissues of older Abba albums, there’s never been a better time to give Abba another listen. And if you’ve heard all the hits and think you know every Abba song, why not check out Arrival (Abba’s fourth album) and a recent addition to the Library)? I thought I’d heard every Abba tune, but there are several tracks on here you may not recognize that certainly deserve a listen. Tiger shows the darker, aggressive side of Abba while Why Did It Have to Be Me? is a cute, disco-meets-country type affair which you might not want to end up liking, but do anyway.