Sweden/Norway
Written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus
Produced by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus
Highest Position: 2
Label: Epic
Formats available: 7" in company sleeve, 7" in gatefold picture sleeve
During the dark days of British pop that were 1975 an 1976, ABBA's classy run of immaculately produced Europop was usually a beacon of rare light among the jaded dross. And, as the decade picked up with the punk and disco revolutions, they remained relevant by adapting to the new dancefloor-based sounds (well, they couldn't exactly embrace punk). Unfortunately, this is one of their worst singles, proof that they could phone it in. It's a rather sappy effort that strains too hard to be heart-warming. There's a reasonably pretty keyboard line, but the arrangement is let down by the blandly-strummed acoustic guitar and the fact that there's not much of a song here. In fact, there's no chorus at all.
Also, we have a children's choir joining in towards the end, but, whereas Pink Floyd used their choir creatively, it feels like a cliché here. ABBA transcended Eurovision when they won in 1974, but this sounds like too many leaden Euroballads that have appeared in that contest down the years.
Another problem is that, well, there isn't much angst here. This is important because (a) they're from the land of August Strindberg and Ingmar Bergman, so gloom is expected and (b) they were all going through a pair of painful divorces at the time. As we will see, this was present in their other 80s singles. However here, they're papering over the cracks in their personal lives with fake smiles and it isn't convincing.
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