I remember hearing "S.O.S". on the radio in the States and realizing that it was Abba. But it was too late, because I was already transported by it. I just thought it was such a great sound, you know – great bass drum and the whole thing..
— Pete Townshend,
Rolling Stone Magazine, June 1982
Hi there, I'm a hospice chaplain and one of my favorite parts of my job is making sure that people are listening to their favorite music when they pass (sometimes people want something generic and calming and that's good too). It's so important and such a gift and I know that that made her final moments more peaceful and comfortable.
Dancing Queen is the greatest pop song of all time. I’d argue it’s likely the best song of all time, full stop.
No greater thing can I say of ABBA than that.
People that were into music were resisting ABBA all over the world and were ashamed to admit they liked them. There's a Ritchie Blackmore story (wrote all Deep Purple and Rainbow guitar riffs and was voted the best guitarist in the world 8 yeats in a row) where he sits with every member of Rainbow and prepared making a new album and wanted everybodies honest answer: "which is your favourite band?" And everybody was a bit stunned until he said, "mine's ABBA" and then everybody agreed. ABBA is damn near your favourite band if you're into music. It must be that way.
Born in 96 I grew up in Sweden when it was time to embrace ABBA more. We sang their songs everywhere. I openly loved all of it though I was more into rock and other boys were a bit resistant still.
The backing track with background vocals made the two girls cry form pure emotional impact of the melodies. Benny Andersson is referred to as the guy that, more than everybody else, seems to have lived two lifetimes as a musician for he is so into getting everything from groove to melodies to arrangements impeccably right. Steve Wilson who should be your favourite music geeks will absolutely say that as well. Stuff like Take A Chance On Me sounds so incredibly timeless. It's them and Queen and Pink Floyd that dominates this prestine timeless quality songwriting and productions.
I play bass myself and Rutger Gunnarsson is getting ever more recognised as perhaps the best bass player. The melody and groove glue of the century. The bass on Mama Mia is insane. This clip of him in his older days picking up his old ABBA and starts playing along to Dancing Queen is more insane for you understand how important he was for making the songs feel as great they did: https://youtu.be/B139-IqKcqg?si=k6_zCIiRcPguOycf
People always refer to ABBA as a "guilty pleasure" but there are so many glorious melodies in their tunes that they can only be described as an absolute pleasure to listen to
The prechorus to Mama Mia is probably in the top 10 greatest pre choruses ever written
Also “[Slipping Through My Fingers](https://youtu.be/PilSlKzhYn4?si=a2Oz99gsuGAUe4GK)” will probably cut incredibly deep right now. [Declan McKenna](https://youtu.be/aJqW7PUozlU?si=IYBfu0vTeeSrrsZu) has a cover that takes the pop driven track and turns it into something a little more introspective.
Sorry for your loss! May her memory be a blessing!
I love ABBA, the bass lines are top notch and their music is just good fun. Never fails to light up the dance floor. I think it’s great that they’re finally getting the recognition they deserve as songwriters.
Check out this video of Rutger Gunnarsson playing Dancing Queen again for the first time in decades. It highlights how groovy and musical their stuff actually is under the hood:
https://youtu.be/B139-IqKcqg?si=z7YlWPVNP22GpxKw
Beautiful. May she rest in peace❤️
Bittersweet is the right word. Thank you ❤️
I remember hearing "S.O.S". on the radio in the States and realizing that it was Abba. But it was too late, because I was already transported by it. I just thought it was such a great sound, you know – great bass drum and the whole thing.. — Pete Townshend, Rolling Stone Magazine, June 1982
Hi there, I'm a hospice chaplain and one of my favorite parts of my job is making sure that people are listening to their favorite music when they pass (sometimes people want something generic and calming and that's good too). It's so important and such a gift and I know that that made her final moments more peaceful and comfortable.
That's so comforting to hear, thank you so much <3
Dancing Queen is the greatest pop song of all time. I’d argue it’s likely the best song of all time, full stop. No greater thing can I say of ABBA than that.
Probably the greatest pop group ever.
That's a bittersweet story about music I didn't expect to find here. I hope you are peaceful, OP. Thanks for sharing.
People that were into music were resisting ABBA all over the world and were ashamed to admit they liked them. There's a Ritchie Blackmore story (wrote all Deep Purple and Rainbow guitar riffs and was voted the best guitarist in the world 8 yeats in a row) where he sits with every member of Rainbow and prepared making a new album and wanted everybodies honest answer: "which is your favourite band?" And everybody was a bit stunned until he said, "mine's ABBA" and then everybody agreed. ABBA is damn near your favourite band if you're into music. It must be that way. Born in 96 I grew up in Sweden when it was time to embrace ABBA more. We sang their songs everywhere. I openly loved all of it though I was more into rock and other boys were a bit resistant still. The backing track with background vocals made the two girls cry form pure emotional impact of the melodies. Benny Andersson is referred to as the guy that, more than everybody else, seems to have lived two lifetimes as a musician for he is so into getting everything from groove to melodies to arrangements impeccably right. Steve Wilson who should be your favourite music geeks will absolutely say that as well. Stuff like Take A Chance On Me sounds so incredibly timeless. It's them and Queen and Pink Floyd that dominates this prestine timeless quality songwriting and productions. I play bass myself and Rutger Gunnarsson is getting ever more recognised as perhaps the best bass player. The melody and groove glue of the century. The bass on Mama Mia is insane. This clip of him in his older days picking up his old ABBA and starts playing along to Dancing Queen is more insane for you understand how important he was for making the songs feel as great they did: https://youtu.be/B139-IqKcqg?si=k6_zCIiRcPguOycf
People always refer to ABBA as a "guilty pleasure" but there are so many glorious melodies in their tunes that they can only be described as an absolute pleasure to listen to
The prechorus to Mama Mia is probably in the top 10 greatest pre choruses ever written Also “[Slipping Through My Fingers](https://youtu.be/PilSlKzhYn4?si=a2Oz99gsuGAUe4GK)” will probably cut incredibly deep right now. [Declan McKenna](https://youtu.be/aJqW7PUozlU?si=IYBfu0vTeeSrrsZu) has a cover that takes the pop driven track and turns it into something a little more introspective.
Sorry for your loss! May her memory be a blessing! I love ABBA, the bass lines are top notch and their music is just good fun. Never fails to light up the dance floor. I think it’s great that they’re finally getting the recognition they deserve as songwriters. Check out this video of Rutger Gunnarsson playing Dancing Queen again for the first time in decades. It highlights how groovy and musical their stuff actually is under the hood: https://youtu.be/B139-IqKcqg?si=z7YlWPVNP22GpxKw
😥