I don't really know what has come over me the last few days. A couple of days ago, the wife and I watched ABBA until three in the morning. Here it is 2:37 in the morning, and again, we were watching ABBA. A couple of days ago, it was a long video produced by ZDF from Germany. I understand enough Yiddish to sort of understand German, but fortunately for the two of us, ABBA sang in English. However the many interviews in that tape (you'll have to go to that video a couple of days back to see this) were overlaid in German, and my wife was utterly disgusted by the fact that she couldn't understand the language.
In the tape we watched this evening, the career of ABBA was traced from its earliest beginnings in Swedish folk music, where Benny and Björn (the two "B's" in ABBA) got their start as musicians. And with the exception of a few tunes in the beginning, tunes which were in Swedish, the entire tape was in English. So, it was entirely understandable for both of us. For me, there was an added plus. The analysis of the rise of ABBA included an explanation of the left-wing political background of the Swedish music of the 1960's, something which resonates in its politics today. It was clear from the tape that ABBA went against the left-wing grain of Swedish music; they talked of love, of loss, of pain and of life, instead of ideology. So, it should have been no surprise that ABBA, with time, flew to the top of the charts in Europe, even if the frosty Swedes were too snobbish to recognize the elemental things in life that matter. Unfortunately for them (the Swedes, that is), especially for Swedish women, they are still too snobbish to recognize the important things in life that matter. But I digress.
Nevertheless, the story of ABBA, no matter how much you admire their perfectionism, their excellent lyrics, the fine harmonization of Ana-Freda and Agnetha, and all the other qualities these four musicians brought to pop music - their story remains a sad tale of how two couples fell in love - and how they fell out of love. Watch the tape that we did, if you have time.
In the tape we watched this evening, the career of ABBA was traced from its earliest beginnings in Swedish folk music, where Benny and Björn (the two "B's" in ABBA) got their start as musicians. And with the exception of a few tunes in the beginning, tunes which were in Swedish, the entire tape was in English. So, it was entirely understandable for both of us. For me, there was an added plus. The analysis of the rise of ABBA included an explanation of the left-wing political background of the Swedish music of the 1960's, something which resonates in its politics today. It was clear from the tape that ABBA went against the left-wing grain of Swedish music; they talked of love, of loss, of pain and of life, instead of ideology. So, it should have been no surprise that ABBA, with time, flew to the top of the charts in Europe, even if the frosty Swedes were too snobbish to recognize the elemental things in life that matter. Unfortunately for them (the Swedes, that is), especially for Swedish women, they are still too snobbish to recognize the important things in life that matter. But I digress.
Nevertheless, the story of ABBA, no matter how much you admire their perfectionism, their excellent lyrics, the fine harmonization of Ana-Freda and Agnetha, and all the other qualities these four musicians brought to pop music - their story remains a sad tale of how two couples fell in love - and how they fell out of love. Watch the tape that we did, if you have time.
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