MovieChat Forums > ABBA: The Movie (1979) Discussion > Fan of ABBA, but disappointed in the men...

Fan of ABBA, but disappointed in the men.

posted 19 years ago by chool
29 replies | jump to latest

I am a huge ABBA fan. I love them. I was a huge fan of Benny & Frida. It saddened me a lot to find out why they broke up. I respect Benny & Bjorn a lot as songwriters, but am a bit disappointed by them as people. It shocks me that they were able to write such beautiful lyrics when they sometimes didn't show the're wives much respect. Bjorn was inconsiderate about Agnetha wanting to spend time w/ their young daughter, who I believe is named Linda. The men wrote 'Slipping Through My Fingers', but it sounds closer to what Agnetha must have been thinking. Also they write a whole bunch of songs about cheating men, but Benny was cheating on Frida! How sad:(

[–] KatButler 19 years ago

chool...I agree with you 100%. The men didn't give a damn about their wives. All they wanted was fame and fortune. I'm sure it ripped Aggie apart when she wanted to spend time and raise her daughter, but yet she was obligated to the group.

Well, in any event, it ended up being the demise of ABBA. The guys wanted the fame and all the goodies that went along with it, and the gals wanted to settle down. Go figure.

I swear that Aggie was a trophy wife for Bjorn. There's no doubt about it. She was actually head over heals in love with him, but then he treated her like crap. He even had the balls to bring his girlfriend on ABBA's last world tour. What a stinker!! Even though Bjorn and Aggie might've been separated, that still takes a hell of a lot of nerve and disrespect.

Kat
(devoted ABBA fan for over 30 years)

[–] chool 19 years ago

Hi,

Glad to see that you agree. I liked ABBA when I was a kid, but got really into them in 1992. I can't believe Bjorn had the nerve to bring his girlfriend along on ABBA's last world tour. Those guys treated their wives like s*%$! I will never be able to understand how Benny & Bjorn were able to write such beautiful lyrics.

[–] KatButler 19 years ago

They definitely wrote some really great music, but ABBA had such a unique sound b/c of Aggie's and Frida's harmonies.

To this day, and in my opinion, there hasn't been a pop group since then who can even come close to the sound of ABBA.

Hey...what are your favorite songs?

Kat

[–] chool 19 years ago

My fave ABBA songs are , 'Head Over Heals', 'Fernando', 'What About Livingstone', 'Like An Angel Passing Through my Room', 'The Winner Takes it All', 'Me & I', 'Money,Money, Money', 'That's Me' & many more. Almost too many to mention. What are your faves?

I can't believe Benny & Bjorn had the nerve to put the lyric "Neither you nor I'm to blame, when all is said & done." I think Benny was the one to blame.

I agree ABBA are probably the greatest pop group of all time. I really love them. I own the following ABBA albums:
- Ring, Ring
- Waterloo
- ABBA
- Arrival
- The Album
- Voulez Vous
- Super Trouper
- The Visitors
- ABBA The First Ten Years/The Singles
- ABBA in concert
- ABBA Gold
- More ABBA Gold

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] KatButler 19 years ago

Sorry I haven't replied for such a long time. I very rarely get access to a computer.

Some of my favorite ABBA songs are -

Dancing Queen
Fernando
Waterloo
As Good As New
Me and I
If It Wasn't for the Nights
Lay All Your Love On Me
Super Trouper
On and On and On
The Name of the Game
Hole in Your Soul

I love pretty much every song that Aggie sings, too. *grin*

Kat

[–] celina361 19 years ago

It just dawned on me that Benny did cheat on Frida, because I read somewhere, that he told her that it couldn't work out anymore because he was in love with someone else, and she said the hardest thing was watching him walk out the door. I'm surprised I never thought about it, though I never fully understood why Angetha and Bjorn got a divorce, since Frida is my favorite ABBA member...I just usually read everything on her and nobody else, though that is so sad!

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] drjukebox 18 years ago

So who wrote the music? Who wrote the songs?
The girls contribution were voices well suited for the music and they did sing in good harmony. And their looks surely were a major part of the group's success.
The group's image was that of two happily married couples. Now we know that the image was phoney.
Them girls were really lucky to have met those two men and you all have been reading too many gossip columns!

[–] Dirkgently123 18 years ago

My favourite ABBA songs are

The day before you came
I´m a marionette
Under Attack
The Visitors (i like it because it´s so different from their other songs. Dark and strange.)
As good as new
When I kissed the teacher
My love my life (beautiful music written by Agnetha)

Well, there are many many more good songs from them worth to mention. My favourite albums are "The Album" and "The visitors", but the very best thing Björn & Benny have done is Chess. (There are several releases of this musical, but the one i own and love is the 80´s studio version with lyrics in english)

Their songwriting and recording were at it´s peak at that time, and it´s a masterpiece, the most intelligent thing Björn and Benny have done. If you´re an ABBA fan you have to check it out.

[–] Pharaoh-in-de-Nile 18 years ago

Sorry to say this but 'My Love, My Life' didn't have music by Agnetha, the only one that did was 'Disillusion' which was great.

"The face of evil is ugly to look upon. And as the pleasures increase, the face becomes uglier."

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] mstrorm 18 years ago

Sweden has (nowadays) just over 9 million inhabitants. That's not huge, but it's 150 times(!) more people than Greenland (57,000 people)....

[–] jepe2503 17 years ago

Sweden has less blondes than Poland and western Russia, since the blonde gene originated in Lithuania. The blondes came to Sweden some 5,000 years ago and are thus not the native swedes in the genetical meaning.

IreneAndersson/mahakimon, don't plague IMDb again, please. Or else we will have you shot.

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] user-11082 18 years ago

I havent read the gossip columns so I don't know if BB were jerks to AA.

But about the lyrics
"a whole bunch of songs about cheating men"

I didn't notice any. But even if so, it's obvious that they had to write the song from a female point of view because females were singing!

[–] DarthBill 18 years ago

I'm very sorry that the relationships between the ABBA men and the ABBA women didn't work out.

ABBA songs I like in no particular order -

Dancing Queen (probably their signature)
Waterloo
Fernando
Take A Chance On Me
Knowing Me, Knowing You
Thank You For The Music
Does Your Mother Know
Voulez-Vous (probably spelled that wrong)
Summer Night City

[–] ivc7-1 17 years ago

What's even worse is the fact they ended so poorly the group will never get back together.

[–] Commander_Cronus 17 years ago

Another reason they broke up has to be mentioned: the fact that their records weren't selling very well by 1983. ABBA had fallen out of favor in comparison to the more contemporary Eighties bands, even though they tried altering their musical style to fit the times. As a result, Bjorn and Benny decided to pursue their dream of becoming musical theater producers, and Frida and Agnetha pursued thier own solo careers.

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] gkpete 17 years ago

That would be for that time, but they could have gotten back together later had not the two bozos botched things up. They've been given multiple offers for world tours in the last 15 years.

[–] Thespear 16 years ago

How can people who have no insight into their relationships have a clue what happened to them and who was to blame? They were PEOPLE and as people they had relationship problems, something which is NOT uncommon in the lives of celebrities or even regular everyday people.

All I can say, judging from the lyrics in their songs, is that at some point they were very much in love and then somehow things did not work out. Can't tell who, if anyone, was to blame. I will simply say Thank you for the Music

The Italian subtitle for INLAND EMPIRE - L'impero della mente - Empire of the mind

[–] HarpoSpoke 15 years ago

I echo the sentiment that there is rarely a "good guy" and a "bad guy" in relationships.

Read the book about ABBA and you'll learn that Bennie was incredibly patient with Frida during the early part of their relationship when she was depressed. He wasn't a bad guy. (He's actually known to be the happy-go-lucky type) ...But times change...relationships change. We all know that, right?

It's true than Agnetha wanted to stay at home...but Bjorn wasn't that eager to tour either. She would get upset at having to spend a day or two away from the kids. Understandable...but also understandable that Bjorn would find that to be unreasonable considering the business they were in. He wasn't asking her to spend months on the road after all.

I love them all and think they all were good people. Not perfect people...but who is?

[–] saldian 17 years ago

This ain't true, still noone, except the band it self, know why they break up. I think the problem laid in that ABBA was abducted by aliens and when they returned they just couldn't work together much more... That theory is almost as fantastic as yours *LOL*

[–] velcronewsletter 9 years ago

i think they were wrapped up in their music so much that they didn't think about their wives and children. i also never even knew benny had had previous children until a few years ago. both men were so busy working together that family life appeared to slip by the wayside, as my impressions of the situation are