Moopy's Top 50 ABBA Songs - FULL RESULTS ON PAGE 14

Originally gave Dan a 10 before I had to narrow down to only giving out 15 of them, and it felt right for Voyage to not get one.
 
Pingu said:
21. @Suomi (5.1) Voting system: leaving the early albums until a very hung over Sunday morning, resulting in an avalanche of zeroes
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This is true but bar Suzy Hang Around those early album tracks are unlistenable, and I am a very black or white voter.
 
27. Chiquitita
Single from Voulez-Vous
Released: 1979
Score: 8.16

So I know this is one that @Ag predicted may have missed the cut a couple of days ago, but I have to say I'm surprised to see this one as low down as this. I had always assumed this was one of their real big hitters. It's one of their most popular songs on streaming and thanks to its immense success in Latin America, it's one of their all-time best selling singles.

It was quite a long process getting the song to its final version, starting life with the title of In The Arms Of Rosalita, featuring lead vocals from both Agnetha and Frida, and none Benny famous piano outro (although the same chords did feature as a middle-eight which was removed). Another song was originally meant to be the lead single, but when ABBA were invited to perform at a UNICEF gala, this felt like a more appropriate choice and it was released afterwards as a charity single, with UNICEF still benefitting from its proceeds to this day.

Highest scores: @Hak (11), @Devil (10), @BoysForSeles (10), @Ill Advised (10), @VoR (10), @Jark (10)
Lowest scores: @dUb (4), @ZenGiraffe (5)

 
Also, it's easily my favourite ABBA video

Watch with the knowledge that Frida is holding in laughter about the giant snowman about her, and then let's go during the choruses.
 
Pingu said:
I'll give you a rundown of the most (and least) generous voters with mean scores.

Most generous
1. @Lockhart (7.53)
2. @Pingu (7.52)
3. @Iguana (7.43)
3. @Penelope (7.43)
5. @Marilyn (7.39)

Least generous
20. @dUb (5.68) Voting system: assigning a numerical value to the notes he made in preparation for our podcast episode
21. @Suomi (5.1) Voting system: leaving the early albums until a very hung over Sunday morning, resulting in an avalanche of zeroes
22. @ZenGiraffe (4.2) Voting system: being a twat
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What was mine, please?
 
26. I Still Have Faith In You
Single from Voyage
Released: 2021
Score: 8.18

It's the song we never thought we'd hear. Partly because let's face it, who really ever thought that ABBA would get back into the studio and record new material? But also because they kept us waiting three bloody years after teasing the title before letting us actually hear it! All was forgotten though when those first strings played, and we got to hear an older, wiser ABBA singing about the bonds they share.

As much as it's remarked upon that Voyage sounds like it could easily have been from 1980, this song really could not have existed at any other time, with the reflective lyrics coming with old age and distance to appreciate one another. Also, I don't know whether Bjorn and Benny would have got so schmaltzy and sentimental in their 30s; it really is a bit uncharacteristic, but welcome nonetheless. Truth be told, this isn't my favourite song from the reunion, possibly because it sounds more like one of B&B's musical theatre efforts, but there are some little flourishes in there that are unmistakably ABBA, and who didn't get a bit weepy when the music swelled and the four of them declared "We do have it in us!" (actually don't answer that, we know who).

Highest scores: @Lockhart (10), @Tisch (10), @Iguana (10), @lolly (10), @dmlaw (10), @Suomi (10)
Lowest scores: @ZenGiraffe (1), @Penelope (6)

 
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Pingu said:
29. Our Last Summer
Album track from Super Trouper
Released: 1980
Score: 8.07

The most 10s we've had so far now for this one, a lovely piece of nostalgia from Super Trouper. The starting point of the lyrics was a summer romance Bjorn had had in his teenage years in Paris, a concept that had originated in the demo for My Love, My Life. Of course, the songwriting had got that little bit more sophisticated since then, and just to give it that extra layer of melancholy, there's that excellent final verse that brings the story to the present day, describing how mundane the protagonists' lives are now.

Frida does a great job on vocals here - the heavy vibrato might not be to everyone's taste, but it does give the recording a touch of the French chanteuse. Whether it complements or clashes with the music, which is essentially a light rock ballad (even featuring a guitar solo) is up for debate. Thanks to its inclusion in a sweet scene in the Mamma Mia! stage show (and a slightly less sweet one in the movie), there seems to be much more awareness of this one among the great unwashed these days, and rightfully so.

Highest scores: @dmlaw (10), @Penelope (10), @Tisch (10), @BoysForSeles (10), @Devil (10), @Lockhart (10)
Lowest scores: @ZenGiraffe (0)

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one of my absolute favourite Abba Songs but never understood the guitar solo, which has absolutely F.A to do with the rest of the song
 
Pingu said:
Thank you!

You aren't the only person to say that - it seems to have revealed itself as a hidden gem to a few people who revisited the albums for this. What I will also say is that not all of the singles and well-known tracks have made it into the chart, so you never know! :o
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"Dance (While The Music Still Goes On)" is so quintessentially ABBA and the first apparently upbeat but actually wholly miserable song from the catalogue. I've been caning it for decades now and it's never got old.

The endlessly climbing key changes of the last minute really layer on the increasing desperation. It makes me feel nervous just thinking about it.
 
It's not subtle, but it hits the spot HARD.

Oh, my love it makes me sad
Why did things turn out so bad?
Was it just a dream, everything we did, everything we had?
 
Actually, looking back, lots of the Ring Ring album is miserable as sin too :D

"Ring, Ring" ("the loneliest sound of them all" indeed :(), "Another Town, Another Train" ("guess I will spend my life in railway stations"!), "Disillusion"...
 
I also love Dance so much, its the only song out of the first three albums that's made it onto my ultimate ABBA playlist on Spotify. Like you said, its quintessential Abba, profound sadness wrapped in exhilarating melody, and it makes my heart break into a million pieces every time
 
Anyone want to have a go at predicting the top five at this stage?
 
Pingu said:
Anyone want to have a go at predicting the top five at this stage?
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I really don't!

I'd like to think it may be a little different from the ones that invariably fill it out in these lists. So if Dancing Queen, Winner and The Day Before You Came are all in it I'll be kind of disappointed, which is utterly ridiculous considering I gave all three 10s :D
 
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I'd be delighted for The Name Of The Game to be right up there, but I don't think it will.

And I'd be slightly disappointed if Voulez Vous is.
 
I'm assuming Don't Shut Me Down is yet to come and that it's the only Voyage track left. If so, that gives us 5 tracks in the top 50 doesn't it, which I'm quite pleased about, even though I don't think I'd go above two (or perhaps three) in my own personal list.
 
lolly said:
I'm assuming Don't Shut Me Down is yet to come and that it's the only Voyage track left. If so, that gives us 5 tracks in the top 50 doesn't it, which I'm quite pleased about, even though I don't think I'd go above two (or perhaps three) in my own personal list.
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I don't think it's too much of a spoiler at this stage to confirm that this is true.

The other Voyage tracks have ended up as follows:
68. Just A Notion
69. Ode To Freedom
78. I Can Be That Woman
82. Bumblebee
105. Little Things
 
Pingu said:
I don't think it's too much of a spoiler at this stage to confirm that this is true.

The other Voyage tracks have ended up as follows:
68. Just A Notion
69. Ode To Freedom
78. I Can Be That Woman
82. Bumblebee
105. Little Things
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Did u just spoil our bottom 10?
 
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