Hope not, Free as a Bumblebee isn’t one of the most inspired jettisoned tracks of theirs. Under My Sun/Rubberball Man was a strange write off. No idea if they reworked that into another track.
"and you wonder why I'm here today, and so you should... I would" The way they phrase a lyric so simply, but so perfectly.
As someone who used to right lyrics on more of a full time basis. Abba were always my pinnacle. Bjorn is an amazing Lyricist, and the vocal delivery is always inspired.
The lyrics are indeed absolutely amazing. I always loved their phrasing choices, even when it's technically not quite correct, or just sounds a little bit off - there's something still so beautiful and poignant about the words they choose. That was really more noticeable on some earlier stuff, but the lyrics to the new ones are just a masterclass in storytelling in song.
Bits of it were reused in Under Attack. Rubberball Man must have been fairly well advanced when they scrapped it, as it has a full orchestrated backing track...it just lacks finished lyrics. They must have concluded that Gimme Gimme Gimme had more potential, and they only needed 1 new song for Greatest Hits vol 2.
I think bits of it were also used in the Saxophone version of Just Like That which thinking about it got repurposed in Under Attack.
B&B never let a good tune go to waste - and occasionally even a melody line which had been released would reappear. See e.g. Summer Night City > The Visitors, or Our Last Summer > Anthem.
I think Knowing me Knowing you is maybe the quintessential Abba song - the strange mix of Despair and Euphoria in the production and words , the way those vocals carry such depth of Sadness and Hope .. I wonder if any music critic at the time realized the utter genius of this .. I actually cannot believe they weren’t taken seriously during their imperial phase
I’d struggle to pick a favourite ABBA song but Knowing Me Knowing You would possibly be the one - The wonderful storytelling lyrics combined with a strong melody and driving production topped with some sublime vocals and harmonies from the girls makes it a near perfect song that I love today as much as I did 35 years ago.
Just curious, so no offence intended, but do you mean 45 years (it was released on the Arrival album in 1976) or that you first heard it in 1986 (the dark ages when it seemed to the media that ABBA had never existed)?
Choosing an favourite ABBA song is just too hard-will say if really had to be honest though, I would go for Under Attack. Criminally underrated both then and now.
My favourites tend to be the lesser known singles which haven't been overplayed over the years so I'd say mine are Under Attack followed by Summer Night City, When All Is Said And Done and The Day Before You Came.
It's impossible for me to pick one. It'd be easier to just reject the 5-6 songs I don't like and keep the rest. By album though, avoiding the big hits, top picks would be: Ring Ring / He is Your Brother Waterloo / What About Livingstone ABBA / Bang-a-Boomerang (zany happiness!) Arrival / When I Kissed the Teacher The Album / Move On Voulez-Vous / As Good As New Super Trouper / Our Last Summer The Visitors / When All is Said and Done (although the entire album is only a heartbeat behind)
I thought so too - if only because the working title for 'Arrival' (the song) was 'Ode to Darlecarlia'
I could never choose a single favourite. It would change with my mood and the weather, and the day of the week, and how much sleep I'd had and a hundred other factors. The catalogue is so rich, I'm spoiled for choice for favourites.
