Artist: Abba
Title: The Best of
Format: 5LP Box Set
Label: Reader's Digest
Catalogue Number: GABA-A-2-053
Year of Release: 1982
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Here are my thoughts, pretty much as they happened:
A1 Summer Night City
An unusual opening number for LP2. Surprisingly sultry and serious. Vocals less thin than previous songs. Something about the city being a "giant dynamo" that confused me. Which city? Maybe somewhere in Sweden where they generate all their own power or something.
A2 Hey Hey Helen
I'm noticing that every Abba tune has essentially the same vocal stylings, and there are no big leaps between octaves, it's more like the singer takes a run at it by covering a lot of notes inbetween on the way. Hey Hey Helen is a gloating song, taunting some poor girl (Helen, one assumes) over her break up, and how rubbish her life is now, "Now you live on your own/Can't you make it alone?", and, "What's the matter with you?/Don't you know what to do?". There's some odd angelic backing on the 2nd verse and the slap-bass middle-eight, but it's otherwise another one of Abba's rock (by) numbers.
A3 That's Me
Back to disco-with-strings. "I'm clearly not the kind of girl you'd marry, that's me". Probably redressing the balance of female caricatures, after the last song. More eagle references, which are never a good thing (see LP1).
A4 Knowing Me Knowing You
Started noticing that instruments are often used in the opening that never (or rarely) reappear in the main body of the song. It this case, a 12-string acoustic guitar. Nice over-lapping lyrics in the chorus, and some whispering. A guitar solo that goes on for ages, simply repeating the opening melody. Doesn't sound very sad. Lyric melody running about the scale again, mostly down the way in this one.
A5 Nina Pretty Ballerina
Train sample indicates commuting. audience sample indicates rapturous reception of Friday-night-only ballet shenanigans. The girl has a boring face, wouldn't stand out, and is considered a bore at work. But on a Friday! The staccato piano nicely echoes a tip-toeing ballerinas, but in other parts sounds like a cockney knees-up. And it's not like she's a superhero who has to hide her identity, if she didn't want to be considered a bore, why doesn't she just tell people what she does?
Actually, thinking about it, probably because people would go, "Oh! a ballerina you say? Fascinating! If you were out Friday you probably missed Strictly Come Dancing didn't you? Let me tell you all about it..." and she'd cry herself to sleep at night cursing her colleagues and her day job. Are great ballerinas really that hard up that they need a day job? Why doesn't she just dance every night? It's not like she'd have a big food budget or anything, probably being quite small. Friday, Saturday, and maybe a matinee on Sunday for the oldies.
Two more thoughts:
1) Is this a precursor to Dancing Queen?
2) I'm quite enjoying this
A6 Lovers (Live A Little Longer)
Confusing, too much too fast. Apparently, you can live twice if you're in love. Also sounds like a Bond theme, when the credits are rolling... and rolling... and rolling.
A7 Move On
Another breakup song perchance? Surprisingly not. Odd instrument that only appears at the start - some kind of tin whistle. William Shantner-esque male spoken word opening, "Search the heavens" etc. Some kind of haiku thing going on? Or logical argument? Like an x, in y, life is z, move on.
Like a dog poo, on your new shoe, life's unfair too, move on.
Like a fag-end, in the gutter, life is shorter, move on. (I sang along. That last one's a half-rhyme by the way. I don't think Abba really use them much.)
B1 Tiger
Genius, thy name is tiger.
B2 Take A Chance On Me
Love the opening vocals, and the two-note synth riff. Bit boring in the main section though. Gist of the song seems to be that if you're out late, and all the lookers have been pulled, you could do worse, but don't treat her rough. Some nice spoken word bits again.
B3 He Is Your Brother
Where simple rhymes worked well before, they conspire to form a boring plodder of a song here.
B4 Watch Out
Nice harmonising. Reminded me of the Crazy World of Arthur Brown.
B5 Does Your Mother Know
Surely a question? First appearance of the bad sax from LP1. Nice synth bass in the intro, disappears never to be seen again (again). Basically, she's a bit young for him.
B6 Bang A Boomerang.
Has a rhythm section that sounds like Bob Seger's. Is not to do with sexual relations with Australians, or Australian hunting gear. I think it might be the sound of her heart, but if my heart went 'erang' at any point, I'd probably want a check-up.
This song is notable as being the first to raise by a fifth. This phenomenon can be most commonly observed at the annual Eurovision Song Contest. Essentially, the chorus of a song is sung once more, only this time, slightly higher. Fireworks may be used for emphasis. Bonus points are awarded.
B7 I'm A Marionette
A filmic, bluesy intro. Morricone? Very odd, very literal. Xylophone. Rufus Wainwright.
