Tag: Agnetha Fältskog

Agnetha Fältskog & Gary Barlow – I Should Have Followed You Home

“Romantics will want to switch off.”

Tom: Crikey, that is a strong line-up.

Tim: Two former members of huge bands, one duet. Before you push play though: this is an incredibly depressing song and any romantics will want to switch off until tomorrow.

Tim: At least, lyrically it’s very depressing, and that annoys me. Because musically it’s lovely, really – the two of them are at the top of their game and it could so easily be a happy love song.

Tom: It’s lovely, yes, but also a bit dull — and I don’t know what I’ve got to pin that opinion on, only that the “ooh-oohs” in the chorus just left me a bit cold. But yes, it could be a happy love song.

Tim: Instead, we hear about two people who both regret parting after one night. But here’s what really gets me: the middle eight. Or, more precisely, what immediately follows it. (Brace yourself for what’s coming.)

Tom: Have you read more into these lyrics than was intended, by any chance?

Tim: Well, look. Basically, this song could tell a story. It could be a romantic film. We’ve had the basic introduction about the first magical night, we’ve had the regrets the two have felt since. So, enter the middle eight. The closing scenes. The lyrics “Snow falls, street lights paint your face,” and you think they’ve seen each other in the street, after years of anguish. You get her singing “maybe if you want to I’ll see you soon again,” and we know he wants to. So basically, the ending’s obvious: they change the lines for the chorus. The two of them run to each other. They grow old together. They have a family. It’s lovely. Except, no.

Tom: You really do get involved in these tracks.

Tim: Don’t interrupt, I’m getting emotional. You promised it in the lyrics, you even put nice twinkly noises coming into the final chorus to give us all hope, excitement and goosebumps, and then you STOLE IT FROM US. It would haver been WONDERFUL, but no. The two are DOOMED for a LIFETIME APART. WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS, BARLOW? WHY WOULD YOU TAKE MY HAPPY ENDING?

Tom: Heh. “Happy ending”.

Tim: I’m going to ignore that pathetic innuendo, because I’M CRYING TOO MUCH.

Agnetha Fältzkog – Dance Your Pain Away

Away from the ballads and on to the disco floor!

Tom: Agnetha! You’ve gotta see her! Go insane and out of your mind! …just me?

Tim: That version? Yes, yes it really is just you.

Tom: Hey, it’s a good version. (At least you actually followed the link, though.) Anyway! Agnetha. What’s she got?

Tim: Second single off her solo album (which is really very good indeed, by the way), and it’s away from the ballads and on to the disco floor!

Tom: A quick note for our reader: this advice is not backed up by medical facts.

https://soundcloud.com/agnethafaltskog/dance-your-pain-away

Tom: Blimey! Everything from the synths to the strings in the background: it’s like it’s taken from the Disco Textbook.

Tim: It’s quite fun, isn’t it? If there’s pain, just dance it all away. Certainly seems to work for Agnetha, as there’s really very little pain here at all – just lots of happy synths rolling up and down, vocals that really do sound like they’re coming for a smiling mouth, and plenty of assurance that ‘he got nothing on you’.

Tom: It’s a good disco track: not a floor-filler by any means, but there’s nothing wrong with it.

Tim: It’s a reassuring message, and, sure, it’s working. I think all my pain has gone.

Tom: Either that or ibuprofen. That say, I wouldn’t be surprised if that middle eight has mild analgesic properties.

Tim: Yes, we can’t overstate this enough – this is only for emotional pain. Dancing to this really isn’t the best way to soothe a headache, or a dislocated shoulder. For that, I’d advise seeing a pharmacist. Or just stick to Riverdance.

Agnetha Fältskog – When You Really Loved Someone

“AGNETHA’S ONLY BLOODY BRINGING OUT A NEW ALBUM.”

Tim: You remember a while ago, there was a fairly successful Swedish group? Can’t remember what it was called, but the members were called Agnetha, Björn, Benny and Anni-Frid.

They had some sort of success sometime or another – I think they were like the second or third best-selling band of all time. I don’t know, they were before my time. But now, and actually I can’t fake this any more, AGNETHA’S ONLY BLOODY BRINGING OUT A NEW ALBUM.

Tom: Strange: Bonnie Tyler does a Eurovision song, and you’re cynical. Agnetha releases an album, and you’re all excited. What causes that, I wonder?

Tim: Well, firstly I’d quite like the Bonnie Tyler track if it wasn’t the song that’s due to represent the country’s musical output at the world’s largest music competition, and secondly, Bonnie Tyler has (as far as I’m concerned) a two-track Greatest Hits collection, whilst ABBA has a two-disc collection.

Tim: And what about that?

Tom: It’s… well, it’s pleasant, I guess?

Tim: Apparently the credit for the whole new album thing should go to writer Jörgen Elofsson, who has more than a couple of above average tracks to his name, who apparently turned up on her doorstep with a few tracks he’d written for her, and it all went from there. And how wonderful it is that it did. Because…oh wow. It’s just beautiful.

Tom: See, I’m not quite on board with that.

Tim: Seriously?

Tom: It’s a nice track, well performed and competently produced, but I can’t say there’s anything in there that makes me go “this is wonderful, this is a comeback, this is a hit”.

Tim: Not a massive hit, no, but it’s a lovely tune to lead a new album with. Gentle, charming, and all round ‘aaahhhh’-ing.

Admittedly I could take or leave the synthy middle eight, but my favourite part of it, by quite some way, is the entry into the first chorus. I don’t know what it is, but it gives me the same sort of feeling as a well-executed key change. And I really can’t ask for more than that.