Music / ABBA (Album)

Look at me now, will I ever learn?

ABBA (sometimes written as Abba) is the eponymous-named third studio album by Swedish pop group ABBA, released on April 21, 1975.

It contains well-known hits such as "Mamma Mia" and "SOS", and launched them into superstardom in Australia. Even though the Eurovision Song Contest win the year before made them a household name in Europe, this album began to make them well-known in other parts of the world and made them leave the One-Hit Wonder stereotype that many Eurovision contestants usually suffer from.

It is also notable for its Genre Roulette nature. Besides the straight pop they were known for, this album dabbles into genres such as rock and roll ("Mamma Mia", "Hey, Hey Helen", "So Long"), schlager ("Bang-A-Boomerang"), and even reggae ("Tropical Loveland").

Interestingly, this album contains a high number of unreleased tracks that didn't survive recording sessions. "Baby" was re-written as "Rock Me", "Crazy World" and "Medley: Pick a Bale of Cotton/On Top of Old Smokey/Midnight Special" were used as the b-sides and are featured as bonus tracks on the 2001 re-release, and "Here Comes Ruby Jamie" and "Rikky Rock 'N' Roller" have yet to be released in full.

Track Listing

Side One

1. "Mamma Mia" (3:32)
2. "Hey, Hey Helen" (3:16)
3. "Tropical Loveland" (3:05)
4. "SOS" (3:22)
5. "Man In The Middle" (3:00)
6. "Bang-A-Boomerang" (2:50)

Side Two

1. "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" (3:15)
2. "Rock Me" (3:03)
3. "Intermezzo No. 1" (3:48)
4. "I've Been Waiting For You" (3:39)
5. "So Long" (3:06)

2001 CD re-release bonus tracks

1. "Crazy World" (3:48)
2. Medley: "Pick a Bale of Cotton/On Top of Old Smokey/Midnight Special" (4:21)

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Personnel

• Benny Andersson – synthesizer, piano, keyboards, vocals, clavinet and Record Producer.
• Agnetha Fältskog – vocals
• Anni-Frid Lyngstad – vocals
• Björn Ulvaeus – guitar, vocals and Record Producer.
• Ulf Andersson – alto and tenor saxophone.
• Ola Brunkert – drums
• Bruno Glenmark – trumpet
• Rutger Gunnarsson – bass
• Roger Palm – drums
• Janne Schaffer – guitar
• Finn Sjöberg – guitar
• Björn Utvous – guitar
• Mike Watson – bass
• Lasse Wellander – guitar
• Michael B. Tretow – engineer
• Ola Lager – photography
• Sten-Åke Magnusson – original album design

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Tropes included:

• Abusive Dad: Implied in "Hey, Hey Helen", which is the reason why Helen divorced him and took his children.
• Ambiguous Ending: "Mamma Mia" ends without revealing if the narrator finally realized it was a bad relationship and left for good or couldn't help herself and just fell into the cycle of breaking up and getting back together all over again.
• Book Ends: The "Mamma Mia" video begins and ends with a shot of a piano then a close up of Björn's hand playing guitar.
• Break-Up Song: "Mamma Mia", "Hey, Hey Helen" and "SOS".
• The Casanova: The man in "So Long" who wants to win the heart of the narrator of the song, but she's not buying it. He's already the heartthrob of several other women...
  Tracy, Daisy — they may be crazy, but I'll never
  be your girl.
• Cover Version: The medley has a mashup of three traditional American folk songs, "Pick a Bale of Cotton", "On Top of Old Smokey", and "Midnight Special".
• "Double, Double" Title: "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do".
• Face on the Cover: The group are looking classy and enjoying some wine in the back of a classic luxury car, surrounded by onlookers outside.
• Gold Digger:
  • The seventeen-year-old wife of the "Man In The Middle".
  • Defied in "So Long".
• Instrumental: "Intermezzo No. 1".
• Hypocrisy Nod: In the lyrics to "Mamma Mia":
  Look at me now, will I ever learn?
  I don't know how but I suddenly lose control
• Island of Mystery: This magical "Tropical Loveland" is apparently "over the rainbow" and "under the moon". Can we get there, that's the question.
• Lemony Narrator: The narrator of "Man In The Middle".
• Love Forgives All but Lust: Zigzagged with the narrator's spouse in "Mamma Mia". She repeatedly makes up her mind not to forgive his most recent escapade, but usually goes back on it.
• Love Makes You Stupid: "Mamma Mia".
  Just one look and I can hear a bell ring
  One more look and I forget everything
• Lyrical Dissonance:
  • Probably because of the hype of the Mamma Mia! musical, a lot of people don't realize that the upbeat-sounding "Mamma Mia" is a sad song about a couple that end their relationship because one of them had an affair.
  • The rock 'n' roll-like exciting feel from "Hey, Hey Helen" about a divorced woman and her children that want to see their daddy that may or may not've abused her.
• Meal Ticket: The man being talked about in "Man In The Middle".
• Mistaken for Cheating: Subverted in "Crazy World". The narrator thinks his lover is cheating on him and confronts her about it, but then the girl calms him down and tells her that it's only her brother who has come to stay.
• Sex God: The narrator of "Rock Me" is probably this.
• Stalker with a Crush:
  • The man the narrator can't stand in "So Long".
  • "I've Been Waiting for You" has several undertones of this, although the lyrics are left ambiguous whether the narrator is only secretly crushing on the man or indeed considering making him agree he is in love with her and that he belongs to her.
• White Void Room: The video for "Mamma Mia".

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