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Rating: "The winner takes it all
the loser standing small
beside the victory
that's her destiny"
"The Winner Takes It All"
"Super Trouper" was released at the end of 1980 and finds its place in the group's discography between the two flames of "Voulez-Vous" and "The Visitors", brilliant and warm flames, full of interesting points but polar opposites in terms of themes and music. This album might seem like a transitional work, and partly it is as it loses many of the previous sounds and begins to venture into synth-pop paths; but "Super Trouper" has a distinct identity of its own, it is an album that advances the group's artistic maturity, it is a 360-degree exploration of popular music from various origins which allows ABBA to reaffirm themselves at the top of world charts and craft an almost perfect collection of songs.
It starts with the chorus sung by Frida and Agnetha, beginning with crystalline and pure notes "Super Trouper", a meticulously crafted synthetic ballad with a regular bass and drum rhythm as the backbone on which the melody guided by synthesizers develops. It talks about shows, life on stage, circus activities where the singing is entrusted to the purity of Frida's voice, with Agnetha and Bjorn refining it, the latter filtering his voice with the vocoder. A very famous, complex, and altogether melancholic song follows "The Winner Takes It All", sung only by Agnetha with lyrics by ex-husband Bjorn, the theme deals with the end of a marriage; the singing is intense and is practically a solo by the singer on a fast rhythm, at times almost disco with a fascinating soundscape with Frida's backing vocals and the piano weaving the melody in more reflective moments, culminating in the final high note. The soft tones are abandoned, "On And On And On" is an intricate track sung by Agnetha and Frida as a duo, hypnotic in rhythm opened by hand-clapping, the sounds are those of an enticing pop-rock-disco motif with a fixed verse-chorus scheme with a nod to the Beach Boys and foreshadowing some vocal solutions that would be adopted by the "Tom Tom Club" for their debut album. "Andante Andante" is a beautiful ballad in which Frida evokes the deep passionate singing of Roy Orbison, in this song you can appreciate Benny's splendid keyboard craftsmanship and a smooth electric guitar part along with a very beautiful suspended ending. With "Me And I" the subject is multiple personalities "Sometimes when I'm mad there's a part of me that seems to be a little sad sometimes when I scream", the track begins with a synth part that flows into a powerful progressive melody, Frida sings this very strange crazy song, where the singing is almost neurotic at first and suddenly changes becoming light and airy for the incredible refrain, Agnetha refines with backing vocals joining in the chorus with Bjorn. "Me And I" is one of the lesser-known tracks of the group but potentially could have an instant effect on the masses, it has an upbeat rhythm in the reprise and a very lively free-disco sound, a little gem. "Happy New Year" is a very simple song and does not have particular merits, "Our Last Summer" is instead a pleasant song with lyrics full of references to Paris, a sunny melody for Frida's voice and an electric guitar solo in the well-integrated final digression. With the subsequent "The Piper" ABBA craft a pleasant folk track with a successful recorder part and a Latin interlude between the verses for a boy choir-like suspension. It closes with the disco-rock track sung by Frida of "Lay All Your Love On Me" and the live farewell of "The Way Old Friends Do"."Super Trouper" ultimately maintains very high compositional levels, some tracks may not be as well integrated like "Lay All Your Love On Me", which is too dance, but overall it does not disappoint and paves the way for the group's very prolific final period.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Super Trouper (04:11)
Super trouper beams are gonna blind me
But I won't feel blue
Like I always do
'Cause somewhere in the crowd theres you
I was sick and tired of everything
When I called you last night from Glasgow
All I do is eat and sleep and sing
Wishing every show was the last show
So imagine I was glad to hear youre coming
Suddenly I feel all right
(And suddenly its gonna be)
And it's gonna be so different
When I'm on the stage tonight
Tonight the super trouper lights are gonna find me
Shining like the sun
Smiling, having fun
Feeling like a number one
Tonight the super trouper beams are gonna blind me
But I wont feel blue
Like I always do
'Cause somewhere in the crowd there's you
Facing twenty thousand of your friends
How can anyone be so lonely
Part of a success that never ends
Still I'm thinking about you only
There are moments when I think I'm going crazy
But it's gonna be alright
(You'll soon be changing everything)
Everything will be so different
When I'm on the stage tonight
Tonight the super trouper lights are gonna find me
Shining like the sun
Smiling, having fun
Feeling like a number one
Tonight the super trouper beams are gonna blind me
But I won't feel blue
Like I always do
'Cause somewhere in the crowd there's you
So I'll be there when you arrive
The sight of you will prove to me Im still alive
And when you take me in your arms
And hold me tight
I know it's gonna mean so much tonight
Tonight the super trouper lights are gonna find me
Shining like the sun
Smiling, having fun
Feeling like a number one
Tonight the super trouper beams are gonna blind me
But I won't feel blue
Like I always do
'Cause somewhere in the crowd there's you
02 The Winner Takes It All (04:55)
I don’t wanna talk
about the things we’ve gone through
though it’s hurting me
now it’s history
I’ve played all my cards
and that’s what you’ve done too
nothing more to say
no more ace to play
The winner takes it all
the loser standing small
beside the victory
that’s her destiny
I was in your arms
thinking I belonged there
I figured it made sense
building me a fence
building me a home
thinking I’d be strong there
but I was a fool
playing by the rules
The gods may throw a dice
their minds as cold as ice
and someone way down here
loses someone dear
the winner takes it all
the loser has to fall
it’s simple and it’s plain
why should I complain
But tell me does she kiss
like I used to kiss you
does it feel the same
when she calls your name
somewhere deep inside
you must know I miss you
but what can I say
rules must be obeyed
The judges will decide
the likes of me abide
spectators of the show
always staying low
the game is on again
a lover or a friend
a big thing or a small
the winner takes it all
I don’t wanna talk
if it makes you feel sad
and I understand
you’ve come to shake my hand
I apologise
if it makes you feel bad
seeing me so tense
no self-confidence
But you see
the winner takes it all
04 Andante, andante (04:39)
[Benny Andersson/Björn Ulvaeus]
Take it easy with me, please
Touch me gently like a summer evening breeze
Take your time, make it slow
Andante, Andante
Just let the feeling grow
Make your fingers soft and light
Let your body be the velvet of the night
Touch my soul, you know how
Andante, Andante
Go slowly with me now
I'm your music
(I am your music and I am your song)
I'm your song
(I am your music and I am your song)
Play me time and time again and make me strong
(Play me again 'cause you're making me strong)
Make me sing, make me sound
(You make me sing and you make me...)
Andante, Andante
Tread lightly on my ground
Andante, Andante
Oh please don't let me down
There's a shimmer in your eyes
Like the feeling of a thousand butterflies
Please don't talk, go on, play
Andante, Andante
And let me float away
I'm your music
(I am your music and I am your song)
I'm your song
(I am your music and I am your song)
Play me time and time again and make me strong
(Play me again 'cause you're making me strong)
Make me sing, make me sound
(You make me sing and you make me...)
Andante, Andante
Tread lightly on my ground
Andante, Andante
Oh please don't let me down
Make me sing, make me sound
(You make me sing and you make me...)
Andante, Andante
Tread lightly on my ground
Andante, Andante
Oh please don't let me down
Andante, Andante
Oh please don't let me down...
06 Happy New Year (04:23)
No more champagne
And the fireworks are through
Here we are, me and you
Feeling lost and feeling blue
It's the end of the party
And the morning seems so grey
So unlike yesterday
Now's the time for us to say
Happy New Year
Happy New Year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbour is a friend
Happy New Year
Happy New Year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try
If we don't we might as well lay down and die
You and I
Sometimes I see
How the brave new world arrives
And I see how it thrives
In the ashes of our lives
Oh yes, man is a fool
And he thinks he'll be okay
Dragging on, feet of clay
Never knowing he's astray
Keeps on going anyway
Happy New Year
Happy New Year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbour is a friend
Happy New Year
Happy New Year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try
If we don't we might as well lay down and die
You and I
Seems to me now
That the dreams we had before
Are all dead, nothing more
Than confetti on the floor
It's the end of a decade
In another ten years' time
Who can say what we'll find
What lies waiting down the line
In the end of eighty-nine
Happy New Year
Happy New Year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbour is a friend
Happy New Year
Happy New Year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try
If we don't we might as well lay down and die
You and I
08 The Piper (03:26)
They came from the hills
And they came from the valleys and the plains
They struggled in the cold
In the heat and the snow and in the rain
Came to hear him play
Play their minds away
We're all following a strange melody
We're all summoned by a tune
We're following the piper
And we dance beneath the moon
They came from the south
From the west and the north and from the east
They waited for the man
Like a parish is waiting for the priest
Longed to hear him play
Play their minds away
We're all following a strange melody
We're all summoned by a tune
We're following the piper
And we dance beneath the moon
He gave them a dream
He seduced everybody in the land
The fire in his eyes
And the fear was a weapon in his hand
So they let him play
Play their minds away
We're all following a strange melody
We're all summoned by a tune
We're following the piper
And we dance beneath the moon
We're all following a strange melody
We're all summoned by a tune
We're following the piper
And we dance beneath the moon
We're following the piper
And we dance beneath the moon for him
And we dance beneath the moon
09 Lay All Your Love on Me (04:35)
I wasn't jealous before we met
now every woman I see is a potential threat
and I'm possessive it isn't nice
you've heard me saying that smoking was my only vice
but now it isn't true
now everything is new
and all I've learned
has overturned
I beg of you...
don't go wasting your emotion
lay all your love on me
it was like shooting a sitting duck
a little small talk a smile and baby I was stuck
I still don't know what you've done with me
a grown up woman should never fall so easily
I feel a kind of fear
when I don't have you near
unsatisfied
I skip my pride
I beg you dear...
don't go wasting your emotion
lay all your love on me
don't go sharing your devotion
lay all your love on me
I've had a few little love affairs
they didn't last very long and they've been pretty scarce
I used to think that was sensible
it makes the truth even more incomprehensible
cause everything is new
and everything is you
and all I've learned
has overturned
what can I do...
don't go wasting your emotion
lay all your love on me
don't go sharing your devotion
lay all your love on me (repeat 2x and fade)
10 The Way Old Friends Do (02:57)
You and I can share the silence
Finding comfort together
The way old friends do
And after fights and words of violence
We make up with each other
The way old friends do
Times of joy and times of sorrow
We will always see it through
Oh I don't care what comes tomorrow
We can face it together
The way old friends do
You and I can share the silence
Finding comfort together
The way old friends do
And after fights and words of violence
We make up with each other
The way old friends do
Times of joy and times of sorrow
We will always see it through
Oh I don't care what comes tomorrow
We can face it together
The way old friends do
We can face it together
The way old friends do
We can face it together
The way old friends do
We can face it together
The way old friends do
We can face it together
The way old friends do
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