The true story behind the classic of the election 'The Winner Takes It All': there wasn´t winner ...
La verdadera historia detrás del clásico de la elección 'The Winner Takes It All': no hubo ganador...
Het echte verhaal achter dé verkiezingenklassieker ‘The Winner Takes It All’: een winnaar was er niet
Muziek Uitgezongen
‘The Winner Takes It All’ van ABBA schalt na dit verkiezingsweekend weer door menig kabinet, maar het verhaal achter dit liedje is intriest.
✦ Exclusief voor abonnees, SASHA VAN DER SPEETEN25 mei 2019, 17:00
Nee, ‘The Winner Takes It All’ gaat niet over mijn scheiding met Agnetha”, aldus Björn Ulvaeus van de Zweedse popgroep ABBA, die altijd heeft ontkend dat het liedje een inkijk in zijn leven biedt. “Want in een echtscheiding zijn er nu eenmaal geen winnaars of verliezers, zeker wanneer er kinderen bij betrokken zijn.” Ook Agnetha Fältskog, die het liedje op hartverscheurende wijze zingt, heeft altijd de autobiografische lading van het nummer gerelativeerd.
Het schizofrene aan het verhaal? Ulvaeus, die de song schreef met ABBA-kompaan Benny Andersson, schotelde Agnetha amper een aantal maanden na hun pijnlijke break-up de tekst voor. Kan het bitterder? Jazeker. De videoclip voor het liedje werd tien dagen na de ondertekening van de echtscheidingspapieren gedraaid. Auch! Toch bleven de groepsleden professioneel bij de ellende. “Op de oorspronkelijke demo van het nummer zing ik zelf de tekst,” aldus Ulvaeus, “maar ik besefte al snel dat alleen Agnetha die song tot zijn recht kon laten komen. Ik geef toe dat het raar was om het haar tijdens de opnames te horen zingen. Ik kon me niet van de indruk ontdoen dat ze voor het liedje een personage verzon om zichzelf te beschermen. Toch was ik diep ontroerd. Na die studiosessie zijn er veel tranen gevloeid.”
Ook tijdens het schrijven van ‘The Winner Takes It All’ worstelde Ulvaeus met de demonen die een gebroken hart baart. Hij spoelde de ermee gepaard gaande weltschmerz weg met sterke drank. “Ik weet het, ’t is geen goed idee om te zuipen als je een liedje schrijft, maar ik had ‘The Winner Takes It All’ niet zonder drank kunnen afmaken. Toen ik bij de regel ‘The gods may throw their dice / their minds as cold as ice’ kwam, was de fles brandy trouwens leeg.”
De combinatie van alcohol en een getormenteerde ziel leverde hoe dan ook een pakkend verhaal op waarin het gekwetste hoofdpersonage met het nodige sarcasme terugkijkt op een breuk en naar een ex die met een nieuwe geliefde de draad van het leven weer oppikt.
“Het feit alleen dat Björn het nummer schreef vlak nadat ons huwelijk strandde, raakt me nog steeds diep”, vertelde Agnetha Fältskog die ‘The Winner Takes It All’ trouwens haar favoriete ABBA-song noemt. “Ik vond het fantastisch om het te vertolken omdat ik er zoveel authenticiteit in kon leggen. En net daarom voelde het niet verkeerd aan om dat liedje met het publiek te delen. Het herbergt zo goed de mix van mijn gevoelens en die van Björn, maar ook die van Benny en Frida die kort na ons scheidden.”
Misschien, maar de scheiding van Benny Andersson en zangeres Anni-Frid Lyngstad huisde dan weer nadrukkelijker in de later uitgebrachte single ‘When All Is Said and Done’ (tekst: (‘Here’s to us one more toast and then we’ll pay the bill’). Onnodig te zeggen dat er behoorlijk wat parallellen lopen tussen ABBA en Fleetwood Mac, ook zo’n band die zich ondanks de zware echtelijke perikelen van de groepsleden door de studio-opnames sloeg en op die manier toch nog klassiekers afleverde. In het geval van ABBA werd dat Super Trouper uit 1980, het succesalbum waaruit ‘The Winner Takes It All’ komt.
Kennelijk heelt de tijd alle wonden. “Björn en ik hebben ons hartzeer verwerkt”, vertelde Fältskog zes jaar geleden. “We zijn vrienden. En hij is een geweldige grootvader voor onze kleinkinderen. In de liefde heb je nu eenmaal ups en downs. Ik heb nooit mijn deuren voor hem gesloten.”
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La verdadera historia detrás del clásico de la elección 'The Winner Takes It All': no hubo ganador
'The Winner Takes It All' de ABBA está en auge nuevamente después de este fin de semana electoral, pero la historia detrás de esta canción es íntima.
✦ Exclusivo para suscriptores, SASHA VAN DER SPEETEN.25 de mayo de 2019 , 5:00 PM
No, "The Winner Takes It All" no se trata de mi divorcio con Agnetha ", dijo Björn Ulvaeus, del grupo de pop sueco ABBA, quien siempre ha negado que la canción ofrezca una visión de su vida. "Porque en un divorcio no hay ganadores ni perdedores, especialmente cuando hay niños involucrados".
¿El esquizofrénico de la historia? Ulvaeus, quien escribió la canción con el compañero de ABBA, Benny Andersson, presentó la letra a Agnetha solo unos meses después de su dolorosa ruptura. ¿Puede ser más amargo? Si El video clip de la canción fue filmado diez días después de la firma de los papeles del divorcio. Auch! Sin embargo, los integrantes del grupo se mantuvieron profesionales con la miseria. "En la demostración original de la canción, yo mismo canto las letras", dice Ulvaeus, "pero pronto me di cuenta de que solo Agnetha podía hacer justicia a esa canción. Admito que fue extraño escucharla cantar durante la grabación. No pude evitar tener la impresión de que ella inventó un personaje para la canción para protegerse. Sin embargo, estaba profundamente conmovido. Muchas lágrimas fluyeron después de esa sesión de estudio ".
Mientras escribía "El ganador se lo lleva todo", Ulvaeus también luchó con los demonios que dieron a luz a un corazón roto. Se lavó el acompañamiento con espíritus. "Sé que no es una buena idea beber cuando escribes una canción, pero no podría haber terminado 'The Winner Takes It All' sin alcohol. Cuando llegué a la línea " Los dioses pueden lanzar sus dados / sus mentes tan frías como el hielo" , la botella de brandy estaba vacía por cierto ".
Sin embargo, la combinación de alcohol y un alma atormentada produjo una historia apasionante en la que el personaje principal herido mira hacia atrás con un sarcasmo en una fractura y un ex que reanuda el hilo de la vida con un nuevo ser querido.
"El solo hecho de que Björn escribiera la canción justo después de que se rompiera nuestra boda todavía me afecta profundamente", dijo Agnetha Fältskog, quien llama a "The Winner Takes It All" su canción favorita de ABBA. "Pensé que era fantástico interpretarlo porque podía ponerle mucha autenticidad. Y es precisamente por eso que no se sintió mal compartir esa canción con el público. Se adapta tan bien a la mezcla de mis sentimientos y los de Björn, pero también los de Benny y Frida que se divorciaron poco después de nosotros ".
Tal vez, pero el divorcio de Benny Andersson y la cantante Anni-Frid Lyngstad fue más enfático en el último single 'When All Is Said and Done' (texto: ( 'Aquí, un brindis más y luego pagarás la factura ' ). no hace falta decir que hay bastantes pocos paralelos corren entre ABBA y Fleetwood Mac, también una banda que afectó a pesar de los graves problemas matrimoniales del grupo por el estudio de grabación y por lo tanto merece nuestros clásicos. el caso de ABBA que se convirtió en Super Trouper a partir de 1980, el álbum de éxito del que proviene 'The Winner Takes It All'.
Al parecer el tiempo cura todas las heridas. "Björn y yo procesamos nuestro dolor", dijo Fältskog hace seis años. "Somos amigos. Y es un bisabuelo para nuestros nietos. Simplemente tienes altibajos en el amor. Nunca le he cerrado las puertas ".
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notes - songs
ABBA's Agnetha and the year of the truth!
1981: ABBA's Agnetha and the year of the truth!
Ever since the Swedish group ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974, which was held in the English seaside resort Brighton, a lot has changed in the lives of these humble young Swedes. Millions of records were sold in Europe and even beyond, millions of hearts were lit up by ABBA’s cheerful and happy music. Annifrid and Benny got married during those successful years, Agnetha and Björn separated, the shadows of success. This divorce almost meant the end of the super-group. ABBA’s Agnetha explains what happened in the year of the truth.
Agnetha’s career in music already started when she was 15 years old. Ironically, it all started with a song called ‘I Was So In Love’. Two years later, she recorded that song on a tape and sent it to a local record producer, who was immediately impressed by her voice. Agnetha, as serious as she was, started to take singing lessons and it wouldn’t take long before her first single was recorded, followed by several other tunes. Since 1968, Agnetha was under contract with CBS where she recorded six solo albums, after which she sang solo in 1975 at her own record company, Polar Records. Last year she even recorded a Christmas album with her daughter Linda, who is now seven years old.
“When you are young,” Agnetha explains about her career, “you are able to do anything and when you are successful as well, it doesn’t occur to you that there’s more to life than just success. It seems strange, but everything you experience in life is a continuation of what you have done already. As a singer, I met Björn and fell in love with him. He was a musician as well, so things were as normal for us as could be expected. We were on the same wavelength, we both had success, we understood each other. The success of ABBA was an extension of our talents. Years before the Eurovision Song Contest, we already entered the Swedish qualifying round, but every time we failed to get through. You learn a lot from that, because every following year we came back with a better song. Our manager helped us to make it big with ‘Waterloo’, because for him there wasn’t a single doubt, failing didn’t even cross his mind, he had thought everything out, up to the smallest detail.”
ABBA willingly made use of the given opportunity. In the years following 1974, Benny and Björn produced one hit after the other. They could even be admired on the silver screen in ‘ABBA, The Movie’, of which the soundtrack was praised by both friend and foe. Still, things started to stagnate just a little bit, because the machine didn’t run as smoothly as before. Several experts and fans had been guessing about the reason, but in 1979 it was revealed. Despite the arrival of a baby, Agnetha and Björn’s marriage was on the rocks and a divorce was inevitable.
Agnetha: “In a normal family life, the father goes to his job in the morning and the mother stays at home with the children. What would happen when the woman went along to her husband’s job and they were together all day long? Well, that’s exactly what happened to us. We were in each other’s company all day long, twenty-four hours a day. In the beginning it’s all good fun, the success makes up for much of it, but there comes a time when it goes downhill and that’s when you start to snap at each other. That happened to us. That was the time when we started to get tired with each other, a time when we asked ourselves if maybe the birth of a second child could bring salvation, bring us closer together. In hindsight, it was already too late for that but we didn’t want to accept it. Apart from that, we thought that, if we separated, ABBA would dissolve as well. But there was no escaping it, we were really tired with each other, but still there’s that emotional connection. It’s not a decision you make out of the blue. It was an awful time, I can tell you that.”
“The first weeks after our divorce was officially announced were the hardest,” according to Agnetha, “what would the fans think, would ABBA quit, would it be a good thing if they still continued. We had a very difficult time ourselves. You know, in a way ABBA has saved ABBA. Benny and Frida were a tremendous support to us during that time. I talked to Frida for hours, friend to friend, someone who knew exactly how I felt and Frida and Benny were real confidants between Björn and me. We knew how each of us felt: terrible! I had already made a personal decision then. I wanted to quit, because I was afraid that Björn and I wouldn’t be able to stand each other because of these emotions. My mind was made up, I wanted to focus more on animals, maybe become a veterinarian. But I realized I would only makes things worse. Music is my life, I’ve been singing for more than 15 years. On top of that, that’s how Benny and Frida convinced me, why wouldn’t we see each other anymore, why wouldn’t an artistic continuation be able to help appreciate each other again?
Yes, I did fall in love again after that. I kept a low profile, but I watch carefully if I really love somebody. To have your heart broken is not an easy thing, especially if you have to remain working with your ex-husband, that’s very difficult. One of the worst things I experienced after the divorce was the recording of the album ‘Super Trouper’. I shed a lot of tears singing ‘The Winner Takes It All’. That’s why it was decided that Annifrid would record the song, but she refused, she couldn’t sing it. Strange actually, but Björn was the one who convinced me that I should sing the song. I will never forget what he said to me, not for the rest of my life. He said: “I know that what you’re going to sing is very difficult, but understand that I’ve never been able to explain what happened between us. I’m not a man of many words, everything I have to say can be found in a song. Everything that I have written in that song is about us, I know that, but I feel just as miserable as you and there are a lot more people on this planet who have experienced a similar thing. I also would like to say that you can come out of all this as a winner, as long as you think positive. And if you just don’t bother anymore, then you’ll never resolve anything.” I thought that was very sweet of him. There are more songs on the album ‘Super Trouper’ that refer to our divorce, but we both have something to deal with. Yes, the recording of the album took quite some time, but I think everyone will understand that we couldn’t do it any faster. Now we’re in a situation where we can look each other straight into the eyes and appreciate and respect each other, that’s the biggest victory for us. We’ve had to fight to get on top again, just like in the old days.”
“How our children are doing? Where their health is concerned, they’re fine and they see a lot of their father. It’s just a bit problematic with Linda, because she doesn’t understand it at all, but we’ll be able to explain everything better when she’s older. I don’t know how much better, because I have the feeling she has suffered a lot as well. She’s been very sweet to me during that time. Yes, you could say she got me through it. Some things you have to cope with on your own. That’s very difficult and she sensed that. During that period I also recorded another solo album and I did that together with Linda. You should have seen us, two crazy girls in the studio. We recorded it in Swedish, because Linda doesn’t speak English yet.”
In the meantime, ABBA still continues. If everything goes according to plan, there’s a live-album in the works, that will take us back to that wonderful ABBA-atmosphere, and that’s great for the ones who haven’t been able to attend an ABBA-concert themselves.
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ABBA member Bjorn Ulvaeus wrote this after separating from wife and fellow band member, Agnetha Fältskog. It's about a divorce where one person doesn't want to separate and clings desperately to the marriage. It put Agnetha in the strange spot of being asked to sing a breakup song written by her ex-husband. Ulvaeus didn't intend it this way. He explained: "I sang a demo of it myself which a lot of people liked and said, you have to sing that. But I saw the sensible thing of course, it had to go to Agnetha. I remember coming to the studio with it and everyone said, Oh this is great, wonderful It was strange hearing her singing it. It was more like an actress doing something when she sang it, but deeply moving. Afterwards there were a few tears as well."
Bjorn has said that while he usually didn't use drugs or alcohol while writing, he had a bottle of brandy next to him while writing the lyrics for this song. It was very personal to him. He told The London Times March 26, 2010: "Usually it's not a good idea to write when you're drunk, but it all came out on that one. By the time I wrote 'The gods may throw their dice' the bottle was empty."
Ulvaeus claimed that 90% of this song is fiction, which is why he didn't feel too bad about having his ex-wife sing it. Said Ulvaeus: "I had this image of a man walking through an empty house with all the furniture removed for the last time as the symbol of divorce and just describing what I see."
The cover of their album Super Trouper was set in a circus. "Super Trouper" is the name given to a spotlight used to illuminate the stars while on stage. The original recordings of the album did not include the songs "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme" and "Put On Your White Sombrero." These were added to the song list at a later album release on DVD format. >>
Like Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way," this evokes some very Behind The Music moments as the male band member wrote deeply personal lyrics about a female bandmate. At least Stevie Nicks didn't have to sing lead on Lindsey Buckingham's lyrics like Agnetha did with Bjorn's.
For many people this song with its heartbroken lyrics, swelling crescendos and sudden lulls is the definitive Abba single. Benny Andersson explained to The Sunday Times June 21, 2009 how the catch in the throat music came to be written: "It's the simplest song," he said. "It has two phrases - that's it. And they just go round and round. Now it also has, around those two phrases, this counterpoint thing going on" - Andersson then played the descending theme that opens the song, runs beneath the chorus and, modulated, responds to the verse's vocal melody - "and without a doubt, without that, it would not have been a song. Music is not only melody; music is everything you hear, everything you put together. But without the core of a strong and preferably original melody, it doesn't matter what you dress it with, it has nothing to lean on." Andersson went on to say that for a long time, there were only the two phrases, the latter (the chorus) with each line following immediately after the one before. "And then one day," he went on to say as he played the song again, "we were out in the country, and I suddenly played the chorus like this, pausing each time for the phrase to gather itself, and all of a sudden it was a song. Björn and I played around with it for hours, just feeling that there was something in it that was talking to us. Then we recorded it, but still without the counterpoint, and it still was no good. It was only when, finally, I played this other part that it really made sense."
Despite the song's portrayal of the breakdown of her marriage, Faltskog calls this "her biggest favorite" from ABBA's back catalogue. "It's a shame we never got to play it live," she told the BBC.
Faltskog told The Mail on Sunday in May 2013 this is her favorite ABBA song: "Björn wrote it about us after the breakdown of our marriage. The fact that he wrote it exactly when we divorced is touching really," she explained.
"It was fantastic to do that song because I could put in such feeling. I didn't mind sharing it with the public. It didn't feel wrong. There is so much in that song. It was a mixture of what I felt and what Björn felt, but also what Benny and Frida went through."
Meryl Streep recorded this song in just one take for the ABBA-themed jukebox musical movie, Mamma Mia! Ulvaeus told The Telegraph: "Meryl Streep is a goddess. And at first we couldn't believe that she wanted to do it. I was completely taken by surprise when I saw her performance in the movie. To hear her delivering the songs with all the emotion we put in the lyrics is more than we could have dreamed of."
The Winner Takes It All is also the title to a 1999 documentary about the band.
Australian pop singers Kylie Minogue and Dannii Minogue record this with the BBC orchestra in 2008 for the UK comedy series Beautiful People.
Matthew Morrison and Jane Lynch performed this on the series finale of Glee in 2015.
