Lyrics

[crfriend]

I'll come clean here: I like Abba, and have since they were in their prime. They did some truly spectacular work, and I felt a loss when they broke up. What this is about, however, is how the change of one word in the lyrics of The way Old Friends Do from the Super Trouper album can change things.

The official rendition of the closing line is "We can face it together the way old friends do". Sitting here by myself, with Sapphire many miles away, I put the old album on the turntable and, as I've done many times before, found myself singing along (yes, I can still hit all the notes) but with an interesting twist: Instead of the "official" word "can", I instead used "will". I suspect that this is a long-time hitch, but the difference between the two renditions is rather profound -- and hopeful. It seems to connote confidence in what may come -- a feeling of security and belief that things will be better in the future. There's something almost Victorian in it -- a sense that we can conquer the world around us, and that the friendships we have are permanent and the world around us is stable.

Of course the myriad events in the 19-teens proved that confidence somewhat misplaced, but I find it interesting that I, at least, still long for such. I'm not worried about the stability of my relationship with Sapphire, but rather was caught by the change of just one word from an "old" pop song, and how that one tweak could so profoundly change the feel of the piece. It also reinforces my love of the English language -- and damn all the scoundrels who tried to spoil it for me during my "education"!

[Kirbstone]

Agreed. The break-up of ABBA was a loss to the world. However, their popularity remains undiminished....witness the success of Mama Mia the musical film.
Frankly I have no hang-ups about a word change here or there. Lyrics are secondary to me. It's the music that counts.