By Daphne Clarance:
Just as butter melts on a hot toast so does the heart melt when it’s touched by music. It suffices incandescence and evokes pleasantry feelings to the heart and especially to the mind. There is not a soul who can stand up and say, “I can live without music”. The reality is quite contrary to it. It wasn’t long before Bjorn and Benny Andersson had joined hands, America’s culminating moment of breaking music’s all records before. They were supported by their wives to lend their voices to create harmony, talking to your soul and giving live conversations a little melody. Bjorn, in one of his interviews mentioned how he and Benny would write songs by hearing the conversations of people in the supermarket or in a restaurant.
Rock ‘n’ Roll was sometime Elvis Presley’s style stature that penetrated all cultures in the world; well after him I’d say Abba’s gold and platinum records were the paramount of his legacy that added a new and expanded dimension to the genre. Their music made space for all age groups even kids hummed with their parents as it bridged any gap of generation choice of music. It was the only time when mums, dads and their kids and even their adolescent kids actually sang to the same melody. Whenever I move my body to the sweet and nasty tones of ABBA, it brings to mind, the decade of 1970s and 1980s which I never witnessed. The name ‘ABBA’ actually displays the initials of each member of the group- Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.Â
The ABBA came in the 1960s and thus, launched a whole new different music with their songs topping the charts, especially with songs like Mamma Mia, the Winner Takes It All, Dancing Queen and Chiquitita. Their trendy, retro styled attire and hairdo of the disco age all summed the latest fashion icons of their time. Even Bollywood emulated its music, in those days.
The pop group mostly established their lyrics on what the normal folk spoke in America. Their lyrics contained a very simple and sauntering language. It amazed the masses who were easily hooked to their music. The band enjoyed a fame of almost twenty years.
To contribute the songs that brought life to the dead bones, a movie was released in the year 2007 called ‘Mamma Mia’, in remembrance to famous songs. The movie was a box office hit. It featured Academy Award winner Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried and Pierce Brosnan. The movie blended the songs of the veteran pop group as soothingly stitching its way to weave a story that involves a young girl searching for her father out of three. The movie is a magical realm of musical, drama, comedy and suspense. The original soundtrack is the joint collaboration of Bjorn and Andersson, the original singers and composers.
ABBA that has sold approximately 350 million records worldwide, posing as the one of the maximum hits given by a pop group, is still an unforgettable dream that will remain contained with the era.