Arrival is the fourth studio album by ABBA, and is considered their best. It was released in 1976 and contained very well-known hits such as "Dancing Queen", "Money, Money, Money" and "Knowing Me, Knowing You" and launched them into super-stardom, eventually erasing their identities as just the winners of the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest.
Tracklist
Side One- "When I Kissed The Teacher" (3:00)
- "Dancing Queen" (3:50)
- "My Love, My Life" (3:52)
- "Dum Dum Diddle" (2:50)
- "Knowing Me, Knowing You" (4:02)
Side Two
- "Money, Money, Money" (3:05)
- "That's Me" (3:15)
- "Why Did It Have To Be Me?" (3:20)
- "Tiger" (2:55)
- "Arrival" (3:00)
2001 CD re-release bonus tracks
- "Fernando" (4:12)
- "Happy Hawaii" (4:25)
Personnel
- Benny Andersson: vocals, synthesizer, piano, accordion, chimes, keyboards, marimba
- Agnetha Fältskog: vocals
- Anni-Frid Lyngstad: vocals
- Björn Ulvaeus: vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
- Ola Brunkert: drums, strings
- Lars Carlsson: saxophone
- Anders Dahl: strings
- Anders Glenmark: electric guitar
- Malando Gassama: percussion, rhythm
- Rutger Gunnarsson: bass
- Roger Palm: strings, drums
- Janne Schaffer: electric guitar
- Lasse Wellander: acoustic guitar, electric guitar
Troping Queen
- Alliterative Title:
- "Money, Money, Money"
- "Knowing Me, Knowing You"
- "My Love, My Life"
- "Dum, Dum Diddle"
- Ambiguous Gender: No one can seem to agree on who the narrator of "Fernando" is supposed to be. It's sung by Frida, making many think that it's a old lover of Fernando's (the 2018 film Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again even frames it in this light). However, the lyrics seem to point towards an old friend and fellow soldier, reminiscing about their times in the war rather than about a relationship.
- Bittersweet 17: "Dancing Queen". The lyrics suggest how that being 17 is the key to being free in dance, and yet can also be interpreted as retrospectively wishing the singer could be 17, despite how peppy it is:You are the dancing queen,
Young and sweet, only seventeen.
You can dance, you can jive,
Having the time of your life! - Book Ends:
- The "Knowing Me, Knowing You" video begins and ends with the shot of the same wintry landscape.
- The "Fernando" video begins and ends with the shot of a campfire.
- Break-Up Song: The group pointed out that "Knowing Me, Knowing You" is about a divorcing couple. It can be implied that it's from the point of view of the wife.
- By the Lights of Their Eyes: "Tiger".Yellow eyes are glowing at the neon lights.
Yellow eyes that sparkle with the city lights. - Careful with That Axe: The ending of "Tiger".Look in the shadows
And you'll see the shape
Of me… - Cargo Envy: The narrator of "Dum Dum Diddle", who envies her crush's violin. She points out that her crush always seems so unhappy except when he's practicing his instrument, and wishes that she had the ability to make him smile.Dum dum diddle — to be your fiddle
To be so near you, and not just hear you... - Clingy Jealous Girl: Carrie-not-the-kind-of-girl-you-marry from "That's Me".I'm jealous, and I'm proud;
If you hurt my feelings, I'll cry — I'm loud... - Cool Plane: ABBA in a helicopter on the album cover. When Mike Oldfield covered the title track of this album and released it as a single in 1980, he rented a helicopter just like the one on the ABBA cover, but since Oldfield is a licenced aviator, his version of the cover has him pictured in flight.
- The Cover Changes the Meaning: The original, instrumental version of "Arrival" is allegedly about the birth (or "arrival") of Björn and Agnetha's first child. Frida later did a cover as a solo artist where she added French lyrics about Sleeping Beauty and titled it "Belle". (The French tile of the fairy tale is "La Belle au bois dormant".)
- Dancing Royalty: "Dancing Queen" tells the story of a seventeen-year-old girl who wows the crowd on the dancefloor in clubs and attracts the attention of other men.
- "Double, Double" Title: "Money, Money, Money"
- Gold Digger: Implied in "Money, Money, Money", in which the singer believes if "I got me a wealthy man, I wouldn't have to work at all: I'd fool around and have a ball" – but then she is convinced that "he wouldn't fancy me", and feels she'd have a better time getting rich on gambling.
- Gratuitous Spanish: "Fernando".
- How We Got Here: The "Knowing Me, Knowing You" video starts with footprints on a snowy landscape and through the video we realize that it was made by Agnetha and Frida.
- If I Were a Rich Man: "Money, Money, Money":All the things I could do if I had a little money
It's a rich man's world! - Incredibly Lame Pun: The vows of the student in "When I Kissed The Teacher".One of these days, I'm gonna show him I care;
Gonna teach him a lesson, all right! - Incredibly Long Note: "Tiger"I am the ti-GEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRR!!!
- Instrumental: "Arrival".
- It Meant Something to Me: In "Why Did It Have to Be Me?", the woman only wanted a quick fling, while the man wanted more and ended up feeling used.
- Lyrical Dissonance: Largely averted, but:
- "Dum Dum Diddle" is a cheerful song about feeling ignored and neglected by someone you care about.
- "Knowing Me, Knowing You". A cheerful little number about a very messy breakup.
- "Money, Money, Money" is an upbeat song about being broke at best and living in poverty at worst.
- "Why Did It Have To Be Me?" is an upbeat song about feeling used.
- Averted in its alternate version, "Happy Hawaii", which is an upbeat song about going on vacation to Hawaii.
- "Fernando" is a friendship song sung in romantic tones.
- Money Song: "Money Money Money".Money, money, money
Must be funny in the rich man's world - One-Man Song: "Fernando".And if I had to do the same again,
I would, my friend, Fernando... - One-Word Title: "Arrival" and "Tiger".
- Pimped-Out Dress: The gang dressed up in 18th-century clothes for the first public performance of "Dancing Queen" at the wedding festivities of Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf in 1976.
- Precocious Crush: The narrator of "When I Kissed The Teacher" towards her maths teacher.
- Pretty in Mink: The girls wear fox coats in the video for "Money Money Money".
- Questioning Title?: "Why Did It Have To Be Me?"
- Really Gets Around: In "Why Did It Have To Be Me?", the confronting man is annoyed that his lover has so many boyfriends and accuses her of treating them like objects.
- Shout-Out: "Money, Money, Money" is inspired by the "Money" song in Cabaret. In the music video, directed by Lasse Hallström note , Frida also wears a typical antebellum high hat.
- The Show Must Go Wrong: "Arrival" was supposed to have lyrics, but Björn forgot to bring them to the recording sessions. The lyrics were about the birth of his and Agnetha's daughter Linda.
- Step Up to the Microphone: Björn takes lead vocal in "Why Did It Have To Be Me?"
- Stunned Silence: After screaming, the other students in the maths class in "When I Kissed The Teacher", seeing their classmate kiss their teacher, and their teacher in a blushing uncomfortable mess.
- Teacher/Student Romance: "When I Kissed The Teacher". This has raised speculation that the song is a satire on the subject because the student is the one forcing her feelings onto the teacher, and not the other way round like people expect it to be.
- Title Track: "Arrival".
- Unrequited Love: "Dum Dum Diddle" because the narrator wishes he/she could please their crush like his violin.
- War Is Glorious: "Fernando" is a reminiscence about how the singer's Glory Days were During the War, namely the Mexican-American war, even though they were on the losing side.
