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"The winner takes it all
the loser standing small
beside the victory
that's her destiny"
"The Winner Takes It All"
"Super Trouper" viene pubblicato sul finire del 1980 e si inserisce nella discografia del gruppo tra i due fuochi di "Voulez-Vous" e "The Visitors", fuochi brillanti e caldi, pieni di spunti interessanti ma agli antipodi come temi trattati e musica. Questo disco potrebbe sembrare un lavoro di transizione, in parte lo è in quanto perde molte delle sonorità del precedente e inizia ad avventurarsi in sentieri synt-pop; ma "Super Trouper" ha una identità propria precisa, è un disco che porta in avanti la maturazione artistica del gruppo, è un'esplorazione a 360 gradi della musica popolare di più varia provenienza che permette agli ABBA di confermarsi ai vertici delle classifiche mondiali e firmare una raccolta di canzoni quasi perfetta.
Si parte con il coro cantato da Frida e Agnetha, inizia con note cristalline e pure "Super Trouper", un ballata sintetica calibratissima che vede nella ritmica regolare di basso e batteria l'asse portante su cui si sviluppa la melodia guidata dai sintetizzatori. Si parla di spettacoli, di vita sul palco, attività circensi il cui il canto è affidato alla purezza della voce di Frida, Agnetha e Bjorn rifiniscono, quest'ultimo filtrando la sua voce con il vocoder. Un brano molto famoso, complesso e nell'insieme maliconico è il successivo "The Winner Takes It All", cantato solo da Agnetha su testo dell'ex-marito Bjorn, il tema trattato è la fine del matrimonio; il canto è intenso ed è praticamente un solo della cantante su un ritmo veloce, a tratti quasi disco con un tappeto sonoro affascinante con i controcanti di Frida e il pianoforte a ricamare la melodia nei momenti più riflessivi, spicca poi l'acuto finale. Si abbandonano i toni morbidi, "On And On And On" è un intricatissimo brano cantato in coppia da Agnetha e Frida, ipnotico nel ritmo aperto da un hand-clapping, i suoni sono quelli di un accattivante motivo pop-rock-disco su schema fisso strofa-ritornello con citazione dei Beach Boys e anticipazione di alcune soluzioni vocali che verrano fatte proprie dai "Tom Tom Club" per il disco d'esordio. "Andante Andante" è una bellissima ballata in cui Frida cita il canto passionale profondo di Roy Orbison, in questa canzone si può apprezzare un lavoro di cesallatura splendido di Benny alla tastiera e una parte fluida per chitarra elettrica oltre che ad un finale sospeso molto bello. Con "Me And I" si parla di personalità multiple "Sometimes when I'm mad there's a part of me that seems to be a little sad sometimes when i scream", il brano inizia con una parte per synt che sfocia poi nella potente melodia progressiva, Frida canta questa pazza canzone molto strana, in cui il canto è quasi nevrotico all'inizio e cambia improvvisamente diventando leggero leggero per l'incredibile refrain, Agnetha rifinisce con i controcanti intervenendo nel ritornello con Bjiorn. "Me And I" è uno dei brani meno noti del gruppo, ma potenzialmente può avere un effetto istantaneo sulle masse, ha una ritmica sostenuta nella ripresa e un sound free-disco molto frizzante, un gioiellino. "Happy New Year" è un brano molto semplice e non ha particolari pregi, "Our Last Summer" è invece una piacevole canzone con un testo pieno di riferimenti a Parigi, una melodia solare per la voce di Frida e un assolo di chitarra elettrica nella divagazione finale ben inserita. Con la successiva "The Piper" gli ABBA confezionano un piacevole brano folk con una riuscitissima parte per flauto dolce e un intervento in latino tra le strofe per una sospensione da coro di voci bianche. Si chiude con la disco-rock cantata da Frida di "Lay All Your Love On Me" e il congedo live di "The Way Old Friends Do"."Super Trouper" mantiene alla fine livelli composotivi molto alti, qualche brano non è forse ben inserito come "Lay All Your Love On Me" che è troppo dance, ma nel complesso non delude e apre la strada all'ultimo periodo molto prolifico per il gruppo.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
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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