~ The first time I heard ABBA ~

FlyingHighNow

I was 17. It was 1975, the winter. I was riding with my future first mother in law, in her Vista Cruiser Wagon, the kind the kids drive on That 70's Show. We were pulling up to the Dekalb County Courthouse in Decatur, GA. A very near suburb of the great city of Atlanta. All of a sudden, this magic, ethereal sound came from her car radio. I was entranced. Amazing for a jr. hippie/freak kid who was all sewed up in Traffic and Jethro Tull. It turned out to be ABBA doing S.O.S. Still my favorite ABBA song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P6EmF3MdJs

Have you noticed that most any Swedish or Norwegian group has that same ethereal sound? And it holds a magic over people. When Mickey was still with us, he used to love to watch our VHS ABBA tape with all their videos on it. He was spellbound by them. Another favorite of mine by them is The Visitors. I am guessing it is about mental illness. But it could be about aliens. After what we went through the last two years, it takes on special meaning.

What do ya'll think of ABBA or groups like A Ha or The Sound Track of Our Lives? Know of any Scandinavian groups we don't that you'd like to hip us to?

FlyingHighNow

The Visitorshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59hkcS5wr9k

If you haven't heard this one, you should listen, it's not the typical ABBA pop song.

So, who are the visitors? Are they delusions? Hallucinations? Aliens? The Police? Your opinion? This song sounds so SCI FI.

"The Visitors"I hear the door-bell ring and suddenly the panic takes me
The sound so ominously tearing through the silence
I cannot move, I'm standing
Numb and frozen
Among the things I love so dearly
The books, the paintings and the furniture
Help me...

The signal's sounding once again and someone tries the doorknob
None of my friends would be so stupidly impatient
And they don't dare to come here
Anymore now
But how I loved our secret meetings
We talked and talked in quiet voices
Smiling...

Now I hear them moving
Muffled noises coming through the door
I feel I'm
Crackin' up
Voices growing louder, irritation building
And I'm close to fainting
Crackin' up
They must know by now I'm in here trembling
In a terror evergrowing
Crackin' up
My whole world is falling, going crazy
There is no escaping now, I'm
Crackin' up

These walls have witnessed all the anguish of humiliation
And seen the hope of freedom glow in shining faces
And now they've come to take me
Come to break me
And yet it isn't unexpected
I have been waiting for these visitors
Help me...
Now I hear them moving
Muffled noises coming through the door
I feel I'm
Crackin' up
Voices growing louder, irritation building
And I'm close to fainting
Crackin' up
They must know by now I'm in here trembling
In a terror evergrowing
Crackin' up
My whole world is falling, going crazy
There is no escaping now, I'm
Crackin' up

Now I hear them moving
Muffled noises coming through the door
I feel I'm
Crackin' up
Voices growing louder, irritation building
And I'm close to fainting
Crackin' up
(I have been waiting for these visitors)
They must know by now I'm in here trembling
In a terror evergrowing
Crackin' up
(I have been waiting for these visitors)
My whole world is falling, going crazy
There is no escaping now, I'm
Crackin' up
(I have been waiting for these visitors)
Now I hear them moving
Muffled noises coming through the door
I feel I'm
Crackin' up
(I have been waiting for these visitors)
Voices growing louder, irritation building
And I'm close to fainting
Crackin' up
(I have been waiting for these visitors)
They must know by now I'm in here trembling
In a terror evergrowing
Crackin' up
(I have been waiting for these visitors)
My whole world is falling, going crazy
There is no escaping now, I'm
Crackin' up

[fade]

TD

My daughter was into Aqua a year or so ago. --Not my cup of tea, but the songs were catchy in the same way ABBA's were

FlyingHighNow

I haven't heard Aqua. I'll have to check them out. Remember Ace of Bass? or was it Base? It was rumored they were the children of Abba.

FlyingHighNow

Oh yeah, Barbie Girl. Were they from Sweden or Scandinavia?

horrible life

My husband, while we were dating, liked and still likes ABBA. So he got me to listening and likeing them also. The song "Thank You for the Music" makes me cry.

brinjen

I just had a flashback. I had 'The Visitors' album on cassette. Loved it, played it constantly. Until the day my mother told another dub how much I loved it and that dub told her The Visitors song was about, yep, you guessed it, demons. So she made me get rid of it. I remember this song off the same album - Head Over Heels . I'll have to get another copy now.

FlyingHighNow

Demons, good lord. I never even entertained the idea The Visitors could be demons. I watched someone I love very dearly, lose his mind for a while. It's funny because we had been playing this song some during those months as it gradually happened. We had no idea what was going on at the time.

brinjen

Don't you just love dub mentality? I was out in the field misery years later with an elder, we went past one house, they had their stereo cranked up, playing Wilson Phillip's 'Hold On', he shook his head and made some remark about 'wordly music getting more and more demon influenced'.

When I listened to it just then, the first thought was "when did Abba face a JC?"

FlyingHighNow

Hold On? Now how did he think that was demonized? It was an innocuous song.

~ The first time I heard ABBA ~

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