Honestly one of my favourite ABBA songs

@tuijakarttunen9164

Жыл бұрын

Mine too. I`m so sorry it doesn`t get played so much.

@hollywould4u

6 ай бұрын

Mine too!!! Great sound, strong arrangement, political!

This is the reward you get for doing a deep dive. Most people only know the hits and have no idea about songs like this one. Just an amazing composition, I love the orchestration and that guitar solo.

This song is so heavy! Abba did many heavy rock songs.

'you're so free , that's what everybody's telling me/yet i feel that i'm an outward bound ,pushed around ,refugee"Bjorn Ulveaous. imo a small lyrical masterpiece.

@nickchristoforou7850

Жыл бұрын

outward bound 😄

@alexioverdo5225

Жыл бұрын

@@nickchristoforou7850 I am old and deaf, and blind. What did you expect. ...lol!Thanx mate ,i mistyped this being in a kinda dark room without even wearing my glasses so i'll correct this since you noticed ( so it's 'outward' instead of 'outer') , hugs.

Frida at this stage (1977) had been on stage for almost two decades starting as a singer in a jazz band, aged 13, where her first husband to be was the leader. She worked on and on and on and had two children by 21. She never broke through like Agnetha with her first single but worked hard in musical theater, dance and jazz bands and as a solo artist, not always with very good material. She did not compose much herself, in contrast to Agnetha. However, her voice was known and respected in the whole country of Sweden, you could say, from about 1966/67. When ABBA first made it (1974) with Waterloo she was 28 (born late, a November child) and when this mini musical was released on The Album she had turned 32. She knew all about the business and the rollercoaster rides up and down AND HAVING HAD TO WORK VERY HARD for her success, contemplating even to leave and get an education instead. The others in the ABBA crew also worked very hard under long periods. Björn and Benny had worked and played with their respective bands since the early sixties to learn the trade form its foundation and to fine tune their art. Benny is still very much active with his 16-man orchestra, different activities with a range of singers, and solo work on the piano. Ha has actually recorded and a studio piano album with Deutsche Grammofon.

@danbike9

8 ай бұрын

How I have always seen the ABBA girls regarding vocal abilities: Agnetha: amateur Anni-Frid: professional When I first heard ABBA, I loved them. Then, I learned who they were. Who was who. Etc... I always thought Frida was an exceptional vocalist. Emotive and technically proficient. I always thought Agnetha was an amateur. Emotive, but not technically proficient. Hence, the term amateur. There is a reason Stikkan 'Stig' Anderson went after Frida. She was the one that checked all the boxes.

What a dark music! Love it!

Ha! for those who believe that ABBA is just a disco band😅 What a music! Love ❤️ ABBA👑 See ya, Matt (& Lucca) ❤️🇨🇱👍

@christianoazzuro6711

Жыл бұрын

An amount of people from older Gen in the USA only have Abba in their mind as a one hit wonder "Dancing Queen' disco Euro/pap groupie and that's all folks.lol.I know it's an unfair and incorrect perception but that's the twisted way they got exposed to, so i can't blame them.

A slightly funny side note about this one, is that many people go to the tube just to hear this original version, after first discovering it through the band Ghost's popular cover of it. But only to discover that Abba's version is actually even more devilish, and more scary. They don't encounter distorted guitars here, but instead the use of multiple classical elements; symphonic arrangement with dynamics and brilliant instrumentalists, vocals that sing in tune every time.. quite fascinating. :)

Kurt Cobain and David Grohl were big ABBA fans, David produced a heavy rock group, Gohst, and made them cover this song , David appears very often with ABBA Tees

@alexioverdo5225

Жыл бұрын

David is tough rocker but also a huge Abba fan and doesn't care to admit!He just wants everyone to know and don't give a @@@@ to 'critical voices!He admitted publicly that he cried like a baby when he first listened to Abba's 2 new comeback songs SEpt.'21.His mother is also a fan of the band.

I was 13 when this was released. I remember lying on the floor with a speaker either side of me listening to this album [not so many headphones around then!]. It was the last album they recorded in the metronome studio before moving to their own purpose built Polar studio. To be honest, for me, this is the best album they did, it has a unique, rich sound production, following albums sometimes lacked at times. That's not to say there aren't some amazing tracks ahead of you!

@Nexando

Жыл бұрын

Same age then, same high up experience, same conclusion about the hardships of migrating to their (delayed and construction & installation problematic) own studio. Also agree in that this is their best overall album, nevertheless their music kept getting better and better. Chess' main graphics say it in several ways: fragmentation was part of best getting better, venturing new fields together with confronting restrictions, shakes, brakes at many levels, and opening doors, explain what comes later on. All in all, an extraordinary story

A comment about the next album "The Album" is released in December 1977 in Sweden, in January 1978 in the UK and it will be the third mad album sold there, behind the albums with the soundtracks of the films Saturday Night Fever and Grease. the musical dominance of the first film in the United States, with the music of the Bee Gees, made ABBA follow that musical trend in their new songs in the middle of 1978 ABBA released the single "Summer night city" previous to the album 'Voulez Vous" (April 1979) "Summer night city" is not on the original edition of the album, but on later reissues and as a Bonus track is the same situation as "Gimme gimme gimme (a man after midnight)" but backwards It was released after the album and only as a single (in August 1979) and later it was incorporated into Voulez Vous in subsequent reissues and as a Bonus track as well. hence the previous comment I don't know if the album Voulez Vous that you have includes these two Singles the timeline is 1) Summer night city 2) Voulez Vous album 3) Gimme gimme gimme (s man after midnight) Psra that you take it into account before starting the following reactions

@petervrijdaghs386

Жыл бұрын

There's also "Lovelight", featuring as a B-side to the single "Chiquitita" but which didn't make it to the album "Voulez-Vous"

@eduardooscar309

Жыл бұрын

@@petervrijdaghs386 yes i remember it also I believe that the B side of Summer night city Is the meddley of covers which actually I think is as a bonus track on the self-titled album "ABBA" but I don't want to overwhelm Matt with too much information.

Great reaction, Matt! This song is a worthy ending of a great album. Dramatic, symphonic and multi layered! This album is my favourite ABBA album I think - in competetion with The Visitors! I believe I can say that ABBA made my childhood and youth bearable! I was overweight, shy and gay and was bullied and had hardly any friends! But when I came home from school - ABBAs music was the thing I "escaped" into. I listened, read the lyrics, searched in every paper and pop magazine about ABBA! And that made me happy in these moments. And I also became better in the english language - I'm from Denmark - which gave me more confidence in school. And I also learned the positive aspect of being alone and enjoying music and its impact it has to your wellbeing! I will always love ABBA! And as Agnetha said at the premiere of the ABBA Voyage concert in London in May last year: "ABBA has never left us" - and ABBA has never left me! Btw: my husband and I are going to London in november to see the Voyage concert - and I can't wait! ❤️

@christianoazzuro6711

Жыл бұрын

This band made 'bearable' the life of many wounded people.They were a relieving hug of consolation even if a whole world had turned you down for various reasons.An open hug to sooth in.We felt safe in their garden.We can't forget.

@christianoazzuro6711

Жыл бұрын

'Yes she did say that indeed,"it's 4 of us' '"Abba has never left us,in my heart...in our hearts".Ad i recall Frida's Interview on BBC the week that VOYAGE Studio album gloriously got shot to no1 outselling everyone after 4 decades (giving them the 10th No1!)"How do you want to be remembered by people',FRIDA kinda answered."I want to be remembered as a member of a band who gave people comfort and happyness' 'we were here for them,we did it for them...'('and for us too") i did cry that day during my listening to that interview of hers.That was live , to Zoe Ball and that was the answer i expected to hear to that specific question.

Great instrumental break makes this track and the vocals are fantastic along with the background sound effects.

ABBA forever

What a brilliant tune to finish a brilliant album. This song like many of ABBAS songs take you on a journey. Their songs are so much larger than the 3 or 4 minute run times. What a band! Thanks Matt👍

This is a masterpiece!

Just a few notes about the next album 1979's "Voulez-Vous". -This is the first album (and all the following ones) where Benny & Bjorn wrote all the songs without assistance from their manager Stig Anderson. -In January of '79, Bjorn and Agnetha announced their divorce.

I love the instrumental break of this song. Sounds like a soundtrack to a movie with chase scene.

I’ve only seen a few of people review whole albums on YT and finding your channel has made my day. Thank you. You’ve probably been told already but there’s a 4th song in the mini musical, Get On The Carousel, which (unsurprisingly) comes before I’m A Marionette. It was part of their set for their ‘77 Australia tour and can be seen in ABBA The Movie. Now you’ve finished The Album i’m gonna pop back up to the top of the playlist and play them all through. Well, maybe after Summer Night City, cos that is a fave :)

@mattsnider2667

Жыл бұрын

Hey there! Cheers, glad you found my channel! And yes, people did mention "Get on the Carousel," and I think that's in the larger folder I have access to, so we'll get to that one too. Thanks again for commenting, so much more ABBA to come. :)

@txxredtache

Жыл бұрын

@@mattsnider2667 Unless someone's ripped it from the film soundtrack i suspect that might be a cover (there's one floating around that always makes it into playlists). I could well be wrong but i don't believe Get On The Carousel appears anywhere other than in The Movie.

Perfect edning to a perfect album.mnakes me wanna re-spin the whole album again n again.its all comes together so perfectly.

The Album is the result of a marvelous story: theirs and improved up to the very last bit of time they had back then. Both Agnetha's story and Anni-Frid are portrayed in the mini-musical story line, just check their start in bands leaded by the then powerful Band conductors. Not stopping there, I'd venture to say, just as pure undetermined realizations, that the whole The Album contains tracks built as part of a potentially coming Musical. So then The Album is really a rearranged lay out of a scrambled Musical, to be completed later, eventually... One could guess the somehow discoverable possible sequence of songs, but Move On is the Musical closing theme most obviously, or at least the resolution of the dramatic knot. And it starts as the Mini-Musical; centered in the character's growth out of the little town and early familiar life. Thank You For The Music and I Wonder. Soon new horizons and experiences bring a fall in love and romance: Take a Chance On me. Only a few weeks later The Name of The Game while declaring innocent love surrender, also brings to the table the question of what is real and what is game. One man, One Woman could be then a declaration of wishfulness. An estate the main character may aspire to, but hardly gets as we find out. More so because in the midst of tours, the spiraling artist life Carrousel (Get On) demands each time more of the artist, and with it goes out personal lives, friends and stability. Hole in Your Soul, portrays the intense passion, lived, loved and shared, while not far on it, intertwines the painful realization of the playwright of masks the main character is subject of. The Carrousel keeps it relentless pace but her insight suddenly turns the unstopping rhythm into her immersion into I'm A Marionette. The ominous feelings now reveal what is really behind all that activity and its extended, energetic play bring that into the scene in cresscendo. Sudden Silence and the jarred protagonist realizes and is left with the pain that her life has come to be. In the empty vacuum she falls and slowly starts to dream... distant sounds of air calmly approach the darkness she is in. Subtle presences of sound speak to her, nurturing as she starts to feel, listening to strange voices, soon she starts to sing, not long getting to the point of... "And I dream I'm an eagle And I dream I can spread my wings Flying high, high, I'm a bird in the sky I'm an eagle that rides on the breeze High, high, what a feeling to fly Over mountains and forests and seas And to go anywhere that I please" Then almost like a reprise, a different scene and stage she is transported into the future while her little boat arrives at the shore sand, stepping down from it, or simply calmly steps down the stairs into the beach while she contemplates the horizon. With her head high, certain that like a roller on the ocean, life is motion, Move on. ________________-________________ So the Musical has these two early loops: the jump from local town to city stardom and soon the step out of friends and family into meeting new people and a love story. The carrousel speeds up and not far the demands of work and fame get into unhuman pace and unending requests, while in tandem the love affair shows its real colors... All along the character has held certain consciousness; deeply reflects in I Wonder while the call of fame and fortune knocks her door, and also questions life at The Name of The Game soon on the Love ball. Shows awareness at Hole in Your Soul break and the whole narration of I'm a Marionette is a realization of what is behind the Carrousel attraction. This insight brings her pain and accelerates her deception with what she has to face, while allows her to rise into a new life integrity and comprehension at Move On ending. The Album as it was presented hides all this, and cleverly places Move On at the beginning of LP side B. As a musical album listening experience it is quite interesting. Eagle, starting side A transports us to the peaks of mountains, winds and flight, while Move On takes us to the seashore sands and rolls our senses as waves. From there each song act as a meaningful scene, as all ABBA songs do, and they built another line and album experience with them. Utterly brilliant.

The live version of this one from their 1977 Australian tour is quite interesting. Agnetha and Frida wear identical blond wigs and do a herky-jerky dance routine that is genuinely unsettling-- the whole thing is very avant-garde musical theater. I think the song suffers somewhat in its translation to the studio version. The tempo is slowed down considerably, and the rock bombast is dialed up a notch to compensate. But, as you say, the subject matter is complicated, and this song reflects that. The next album is glittery, penthouse disco. I'm just going to come right out and say it. But it's also a rich, blue-glowing tapestry of ice-funk, and contains a few really towering moments. This is the sequence I'm hoping you will follow in your chronological journey, I'm sure your ABBA music consultant is helping you navigate this, but I just want to make sure! because there are a couple of non-album singles from this era that are crucially important. The first is Summer Night City from 1978, the band's off year between The Album and Voulez-Vous, and it bridges the gap somewhat. Not the band's favorite or best-selling single, but it's a vibe. Then the Voulez-Vous album. Then the 1979 single Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) which is, and I don't use this word lightly, LEGENDARY.

Probably one of my favorite songs

Epic.. Thank you, you have helped me listen to this song in a slightly different way, even though I loved it before, I heard the guitars and rock elements a lot more.. Love the mania in the story telling.. Friggin amazing ❤

@mattsnider2667

9 ай бұрын

Love hearing that, thanks for this comment. It seems like a lot of fans come to new understandings of certain songs on this journey with everyone here.

One of Abbas greatest!

I like all three songs very much. They are like pictures at an exhibition. In fact, perhaps Benny and Björn have done a Mussorgsky/Ravel: "Three pictures at an exhibition".

@mattsnider2667

Жыл бұрын

I love that piece, both the original piano work by Mussorgsky and the orchestral rendition by Ravel. Need to react to that (in fact, I may have already reacted to the Great Gate at Kiev).

Summer Night City was not included on Voulez Vous but it was part of those sessions. It was released as a single prior to the album's singles. Gimme Gimme Gimme was recorded between the Voulez Vous and Super Trouper albums but appeared on neither. It should, however, be considered a 'Voulez Vous' track as Super Trouper has a wholly different feel as an album.

The next album, Voulez Vous, is the result of a period of writers block for Benny and Bjorn. The tour of Europe and Australia put them off track creatively. A vacation in the West Indies and then Miami started the writing process off again, with some music recorded in the studio used by the Bee Gees - none of that work ended up on the album though a few of the songs did (reworked back in Stockholm). I don't think Voulez Vous is a step forward musically but it does maintain the standard. Production is great but the star for me is the incredible harmonisation. Agnetha and Frida sound unbelievably good together - I can only put it down to witchcraft. Tensions between Agnetha and Bjorn hampered the sessions (can't have been fun for the other two) but this is the result. Abba at their best? No. But thank God Voulez Vous exists. The first album I ever bought with my own money when I was 12. I bought the cassette tape as I thought it would be more accessible but when I got home I found that the batteries in my portable recorder had run down and I couldn't afford to buy new ones, so I couldn't listen to the album. Story of my life. I never really forgave cassettes for that.

@flemmingkristoffersen1896

Жыл бұрын

Voulez-Vous was also my first LP I bought after I just had gotten a recordplayer as a gift from my parents for my Confirmation! Until then I just had the ABBA cassettes! So the sound was so much better and clearer and soon after I bought all the previous albums! As you - I don´t consider VV as ABBA´s best - but it has its moments. And in fact, I like the more unknown album tracks more than the hit-singles! Funny enough - the two singles before and after VV - SummerNight City and Gimme, Gimme, Gimme are some of my all time favourites!

i love this song - it always sounds to me that it could have been sung by liza minnelli in cabaret- its got that sort of decadent vibe to it- perhapts its just me !

@mattsnider2667

8 ай бұрын

I definitely hear the flavor of decadence in there, for sure!

love the instrumental part

Your sound system...amazing..+ get on the carousel 🎠 part 4 of " the girl with the golden hair " only on ABBA the Movie. No studio version...only live in 78. Australia....?.

The I'm a Marionette scene in ABBA The Movie is a real trip! I prefer it to the LP version.

Hello again my dear friend! The revision of "ABBA The Album" has finished I had a lot of expectations Because just as the previous album "Arrival" is a monument to pop, this one is much more versatile in rhythms and when they start to write with more understanding and depth (the swedish composers Björn and Benny already know the English language more) for me this is the best ABBA album, because all the songs are very different from each other but very equal in quality These is the Masterpiece of versatility music of all ABBA albums That's why it's hard for me to make a podium I would choose: Take a chance on me (9/10pts) Thank you for the music (9/10pts) The name of the game (10pts) and I add "Eagle' and "Move on" (8/9pts both) the most exotics songs from these álbum but I make a reservation: live the best song is "Hole in your soul" (10pts live) ABBA's performance at London's Wembley Arena 1979 closing the Concert is from another galaxy, ABBA has nothing to envy the colossi groups or singers of rock My favorite moment is the mythical melodic bridge of "Hole in your soul", with the two girls singing like angels in heaven And the song that I like the least (accepting that they are all very good) would be: "I wonder" (7/8pts) And a special comment with the context These album was recording after the amazing ABBA tour in Australia (with fantastic live performances) and next with the blonde singer Agnetha in pregnacy of their second child She recording "Thank you for the music" in a forced position And that is why the official video of "The name of the game" was filmed in Agnetha's house, for her advanced pregnancy (is the only ABBA official video with Agnetha pregnant) Also all the official videos are great "One man One woman" play with the faces of all four ABBA members "Thank you for the music" shows Agnetha so happy and carismatic "Take a chance on me" is so funny "Eagle" (short versión) is phsicodelic "The name of the game" is lovely I am pleased that you have done this analysis song to song and want to continue I hope to watching your next ABBA reviews Voulez Vous" (ABBA in more disco style) GOD bless and protect you always A cordial greeting from my city and country Buenos Aires (Argentina 🇦🇷 ) South América

I don't dislike this as mich as "Hole In Your Soul", but when this was the sound a "Maxi Musical" would have got, I'm happy it never came to fruition 😃

Abba was privileged because every aspect of the career was only bespoken with the manager Stig and since 1979 they had their own studio and record company Polar Music

There is a long history of female artists singing songs about being puppets - France Gall's Poupee de cire, Poupee de Son, Sandie Shaw's Puppet On A String etc - and it's often a slight levelled at female singers/groups (and pop boybands) - they are just puppets, someone else is pulling the strings. Sadly it is often true. "I'm a Marionette" addresses this - she's left her small town, taken her chance, found success but now it feels like a nightmare - she has no control, she feels like she is just shoved from one place to another, promotion, performance, smile for the cameras - a product, a puppet (Get On The Carousel). It's a warning about being careful what you wish for - people think she is free but she's losing her mind. While it's an old story I suspect it may have been in part inspired by Agnetha - she famously hated all the promotional duties and would have been happier staying at home with her children. It's wonderfully dramatic, menacing at the intro, you can hear the psychological breakdown, the spiralling out of control in the strings, that long guitar section like she is running through her mind to find an escape but at the end seems to accept her fate. Amazing.

@Urfinchannel

Жыл бұрын

All that she wanted at the beginning,being famous in Sweden,not worldwide.

@alexioverdo5225

Жыл бұрын

@@Urfinchannel Logical amount of fame and recognition was fine by her but she couldn't imagine things would go that far and get that huge.I can only name 3 Blonde females that were the top 3 most popular blondes in that decade's music history.Agnetha,Olivia Newton John and Debbie Harry.

I really like I'm a marionette, its a darkly dramatic journey, and like a musical Dante's hell

And now we move on to the forth and final song to complete the mini musical, Get On The Carousel and..........oh, it got scrapped for the album. Well, you can still find it in Abba-The Movie if need be for completist sake. This version of Marionette was the second arrangement of the song. The first version, again, can be found in Abba-The Movie. One of the interesting things in this song is the girls singing the whole song in unison,note for note. There is none of the usual overlaying harmonies that the girls do during most of their songs. No Anna taking the high parts or Frida harmonising in the lower. I think it gives the vocal a strong edgy metal to the soundscape and suits it. Now on to Voules Vous-the so-called 'disco album' which it isn't at all. Not as sophisticated as The Album, nor the pure perfect pop of Arrival, but it has its little gems sprinkled through out. Two additional inclusions in Voulez Vous should be Gimme Gimme Gimme & Summer Night City which were left off the original release and were included in subsequent re-releases. Those inclusions paint a better picture of Voulez Vous era than omitting them.

@mattsnider2667

Жыл бұрын

Right on, thanks for that perspective and conceptual-preview of the next album we're moving to, David. And great point about the vocals, that composition/arrangement of their voices is special here.

@rdwulf6289

Жыл бұрын

You almost inadvertently present Frida as being in a supporting role. Ever thought that maybe Agnetha is harmonising with the lower voice? And by the way, often the high voice people often assume is just Agnetha is in fact both of them, therefore Frida is harmonising with herself - as is Agnetha.👊

@matsholmgren8105

Жыл бұрын

Get on the carousel is actually the third part in the live version of the musical.

Can’t say I love this one. I suggest The Day Before You Came, it’s their magnum opus.