The 'Bands I don't Get' thread (3 Viewers)

[ann post]

Adele has no good songs. None. Zero. Not even Rolling in the Deep, which is just an expensive facsimile of other good songs.

That skyfall tune was in head for hours one day.

I hate it.

 

[Kermit McDermott]

I like Rumor has is.

 

[nuke terrorist]

ABBA's lyrics always came across as clumsy.
when they had a good idea for lyric it always seemed to come out wonky.

Any fans got an opinion on this?
Is this a genuine weak point or is that how the lads asthetically think pop lyrics should be?

 

[seanc]

I assume the latter.

They are singing to a Europe-wide audience. As European pop lyrics go, the lyrics always seemed relatively ok to me.

 

[GO]

The lyrics to Waterloo are great. What an opening line.

 

[JohnnyRaz]

I assume the latter.

They are singing to a Europe-wide audience. As European pop lyrics go, the lyrics always seemed relatively ok to me.

Yeah - I mean whats your point of comparison - lenoard cohen?
lyrics to most pop songs across the decades are fairly harmless/labored

 

[therealjohnny]

I've heard the same accusation of twee and insipid, or just poor English lyrics from reputable music journalists too. But it doesn't matter, obviously.

 

[Lili Marlene]

ABBA's lyrics always came across as clumsy.
when they had a good idea for lyric it always seemed to come out wonky.

Any fans got an opinion on this?
Is this a genuine weak point or is that how the lads asthetically think pop lyrics should be?

Genuine weak point, their grasp of English wasn't fully up to the standards of a native speaker. If I recall correctly Agnetha's English was very poor in their early days, you can kind of hear on songs like Waterloo that she's just short of singing it phonetically.

Having said that, they got better and better with time, the lyrics to the Visitors are basically Ian Curtis:

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


but also, they always wrote the music before the lyrics and had all sorts of placeholder lyrics in place, so they were fitting the actual words to fit an already-written melody, probably didn't help matters.

 

[GO]

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Unicron]

Genuine weak point, their grasp of English wasn't fully up to the standards of a native speaker. If I recall correctly Agnetha's English was very poor in their early days, you can kind of hear on songs like Waterloo that she's just short of singing it phonetically.

Having said that, they got better and better with time, the lyrics to the Visitors are basically Ian Curtis:

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


but also, they always wrote the music before the lyrics and had all sorts of placeholder lyrics in place, so they were fitting the actual words to fit an already-written melody, probably didn't help matters.

I have a theory that part of the reason that Swedes are so good at English language pop music is that while as a nation their English is very good it's still not native speaker level and so their songwriters tend to focus more on melody and will sometimes resort to cramming any old barely-parsible nonsense into the song that fits the meter and sounds fine.

This theory is entirely based on listening to Heartbeats by the Knife about 6 times in a row a few months ago and thinking "I like this, but what the fuck is she singing?"

"And you
You knew the hand of the devil
And you
Kept us awake with wolves teeth
Sharing different heartbeats
In one night"

 

[GO]

I have a theory that part of the reason that Swedes are so good at English language pop music is that while as a nation their English is very good it's still not native speaker level and so their songwriters tend to focus more on melody and will sometimes resort to cramming any old barely-parsible nonsense into the song that fits the meter and sounds fine.

This theory is entirely based on listening to Heartbeats by the Knife about 6 times in a row a few months ago and thinking "I like this, but what the fuck is she singing?"

"And you
You knew the hand of the devil
And you
Kept us awake with wolves teeth
Sharing different heartbeats
In one night"

Cake by the ocean is the perfect example of this

 

[nuke terrorist]

Genuine weak point, their grasp of English wasn't fully up to the standards of a native speaker. If I recall correctly Agnetha's English was very poor in their early days, you can kind of hear on songs like Waterloo that she's just short of singing it phonetically.

Having said that, they got better and better with time, the lyrics to the Visitors are basically Ian Curtis:

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


but also, they always wrote the music before the lyrics and had all sorts of placeholder lyrics in place, so they were fitting the actual words to fit an already-written melody, probably didn't help matters.

Cheers Lili - great insight.
I was listening to the song The Visitors last night sung by Frida. Definitely a song about living in totalitarian regime and the terror she feels as the police are trying to get into her house is a great lyric idea. one of the best few songs I've heard by them.
But even there the line "I'm crackin' up" and a few other words are slightly off.

Anyway I am not fan so if I don't completely get their appeal don't worry.

Best ABBA songs I've heard:
( I am) The Tiger, Voulez Vous, The Day Before You Came, The Visitors.

I can't say I think any of ABBA's songs are truly great but I must listen to the whole The Visitors LP. The synth based record seems to have had no big hits and was too dark for many fans but seems like their best era.

 

[Lili Marlene]

Cheers Lili - great insight.
I was listening to the song The Visitors last night sung by Frida. Definitely a song about living in totalitarian regime and the terror she feels as the police are trying to get into her house is a great lyric idea. one of the best few songs I've heard by them.
But even there the line "I'm crackin' up" and a few other words are slightly off.

Anyway I am not fan so if I don't completely get their appeal don't worry.

Best ABBA songs I've heard:
( I am) The Tiger, Voulez Vous, The Day Before You Came, The Visitors.

I can't say I think any of ABBA's songs are truly great but I must listen to the whole The Visitors LP. The synth based record seems to have had no big hits and was too dark for many fans but seems like their best era.

I love ABBA but not uncritically, I mean they were split up by the time I was born and i've had to suffer the various revivals over the years along with everyone else. I'd say they're a product of 70s British pop and that unfamiliar Swedish influence allows you to draw a parallel to all the other 70s British pop acts, i.e. a mixture of the very familiar and the very alien; not that different to the other big ones, your Bowie's and your Bolan's.

In regards their biggest songs I won't have a bad word said about them, the strange choice of words works in the context of pop music, I mean what the fuck is Purple Rain about? Doesn't matter. What is "Lovesexy" supposed to mean, precisely? Who cares. ABBA's Ringo-isms are similar to my mind, whether they're intentional or not. I don't think good pop music has to be explainable in that way (although you can push it too far and end up with Noel Gallagher writing vague songs about absolutely nothing, on purpose, because it sounds profound to him)

Their albums always have enough great non-singles to justify their existence but rarely are they without a few huge clunkers and lyrical absurdities, or even obscurities (a dreadful song about how kids today don't know their famous explorers? yes please) .

The Visitors is their only album I really listen to start to finish, but even that has the completely bizarre sex fantasy of Two for the Price of One, where I think the joke is that it's a mother and a daughter, and these were pre-milf category pornhub days... song gets by on the strength of the music though imho.

Anyway, one of my favourite Abba album tracks is I'm A Marionette which is both a half-decent lyrical critique of the price of fame (and part of their mini-musical on ABBA the album because it's the 70s and you have to do a bit of prog) but also features the rarest of all ABBA things, a massive guitar solo! ABBA the symphonic metal band:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Lili Marlene]

Jesus, what a load of waffle, sorry everyone. I love ABBA!

 

[therealjohnny]

I love ABBA but not uncritically, I mean they were split up by the time I was born and i've had to suffer the various revivals over the years along with everyone else. I'd say they're a product of 70s British pop and that unfamiliar Swedish influence allows you to draw a parallel to all the other 70s British pop acts, i.e. a mixture of the very familiar and the very alien; not that different to the other big ones, your Bowie's and your Bolan's.

In regards their biggest songs I won't have a bad word said about them, the strange choice of words works in the context of pop music, I mean what the fuck is Purple Rain about? Doesn't matter. What is "Lovesexy" supposed to mean, precisely? Who cares. ABBA's Ringo-isms are similar to my mind, whether they're intentional or not. I don't think good pop music has to be explainable in that way (although you can push it too far and end up with Noel Gallagher writing vague songs about absolutely nothing, on purpose, because it sounds profound to him)

Their albums always have enough great non-singles to justify their existence but rarely are they without a few huge clunkers and lyrical absurdities, or even obscurities (a dreadful song about how kids today don't know their famous explorers? yes please) .

The Visitors is their only album I really listen to start to finish, but even that has the completely bizarre sex fantasy of Two for the Price of One, where I think the joke is that it's a mother and a daughter, and these were pre-milf category pornhub days... song gets by on the strength of the music though imho.

Anyway, one of my favourite Abba album tracks is I'm A Marionette which is both a half-decent lyrical critique of the price of fame (and part of their mini-musical on ABBA the album because it's the 70s and you have to do a bit of prog) but also features the rarest of all ABBA things, a massive guitar solo! ABBA the symphonic metal band:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

I learned of this through Gh*st

This live version is insane

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[nuke terrorist]

Nah, Lili - a good writer can write something interesting about things someone might not be interested in and make them want to listen to it.

Marionette was a another strange one. I agree with your analysis of it as a symphonic metal precursor! I wonder what their rank and file fans made of tracks like this?

Two for The Price of One: Jesus, that was an awful tune Bjorn.
a great example of very clumsy lyrics. No malice is intended? the guy is meeting a partner and getting family (a daughter) but it comes across as if the mother is saying they are both up for a shag!
This takes awkward lyrics to another level. But hey it's just one song out of maybe a hundred.

I've spent this morning listening to noise grind tapes so no one can accuse me of being musically narrow minded

 

[flashback]

Genuine weak point, their grasp of English wasn't fully up to the standards of a native speaker. If I recall correctly Agnetha's English was very poor in their early days, you can kind of hear on songs like Waterloo that she's just short of singing it phonetically.

Having said that, they got better and better with time, the lyrics to the Visitors are basically Ian Curtis:

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


but also, they always wrote the music before the lyrics and had all sorts of placeholder lyrics in place, so they were fitting the actual words to fit an already-written melody, probably didn't help matters.

holy shit. I've not heard that song since I was about 8, lowering the needle onto the vinyl on the parents' record player with the focused care and finesse of a technician disarming a landmine.

That gets fuck all air play. Huh.

 

[Lili Marlene]

Nah, Lili - a good writer can write something interesting about things someone might not be interested in and make them want to listen to it.

The 70s are like another planet to me, I listen along with bemusement and try and make sense of it. I can't recreate that context, not least because people would see something on tv once at most, or maybe they'd just hear a mate talking about what they saw and imagine the rest, so watching/listening back now is like doing archeology or something for me. I try and not judge quality or even especially trust my tastes with these things.

For example, I'm a Marionette sounds pretty fucking cool now, but was going for disturbing, right? Then you listen to really early ABBA and they think they're doing wholesome family fun and it just screams, I dunno, suicide-cult or weird European sex lives to the modern viewer

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

The stuff of nightmares.

 

[flashback]

Yeah, you could probably start a moderately successful religion in Utah based on the teachings of that song.

 

[nuke terrorist]

There was a Swedish documentary on the roots of ABBA broadcast on Sky Arts.

The lads were long haired rockers part of the flourishing Swedish mid 60's beat scene.
Agnetha was a 60's Swedish pop star who wrote her own material.
Frida won a TV talent show about 1963 singing light jazz and was already a mother at that stage.

Also Frida was so lucky. Norwegians whose fathers were German soldiers were all institutionalised out of national embarrassment and were only freed and got an apology in their 40's.

Gradually the lads get a bit less rockin' and then as jobbing musicians they four gradually come into each others orbit.
Worth a watch even for non fans.

The early 70's Coca Cola 'I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing' advert looks like propganda for a malevolent cult.