Skip to main content

Written by: Erick Marquez

There is no shortage of international music sensations. The United Kingdom has Queen, Latin America has Luis Fonsi, South Africa has Tyla, and the many voices of international music has many voices in different languages. One band comes from Sweden, and their music has become a sensation in international pop that even other countries recognize. ABBA, a Swedish pop group has been hitting the marks of pop culture where the distinctive music has segmented itself in 80s pop music. And being that the band had come together 40 years after their last album was like a special event seeing the band reunite after years of splitting up was something very special, even the Christmas release was like a holiday gift (Even thought they had reunited years earlier in 2016 in world tours).

 ABBA wearing their famous 1970s costumes, with shiny and colorful outfits, smiling and striking poses.

Part of the reason for its popularity is the synthesis of music, no other pop group could reach the same level of happy go lucky music where it is unavoidable to find it in someone’s happy playlist. Whether it be Waterloo, Dancing Queen, or Mamma Mia, it is bound to bring someone to put a smile on their face. The combination of rock and roll and electropop made them distingisable between other Europop musicians. The music of ABBA resonates listeners with the themes of love, friendship and memories. That was the reasons it was a winner of the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest as the first winner from Sweden. Listening to ABBA’s music today, you can get a sense of memories like going to the beach, hanging out with friends or cherishing a memory from your childhood. I think part of the reason why my taste in ABBA came from my mother, she grew up in the 80s listening to ABBA and so I had the chance to listen to ABBA and it hasn’t gone away. And it’s not just music, their fashion is also a popular thing too. The band members go out with the most colorful clothing in their history. They go out in yellow, blue, white, red, purple and even in shapes and styles. It helped bring in the international fashion to the world and it won’t always be France that holds the world’s fashion sense of sensations.

The four members of ABBA posing together, from left to right: Agnetha, Björn, Anni-Frid, and Benny, all wearing stylish 1970s outfits.

And of course, you can’t forget about the sensational Mamma Mia movies with Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried. With not one but two movies, it’s one of the many musical films that get their own sequel. Part of what made it a popular musical film was that it was a simple story of Sophie meeting her three fathers and see who married Donna brought out a comical and heartfelt story of family and love. But what steals the show is not just the music, but how fun the film is. The whimsical tone is more akin the films with the music of the Sherman Brothers. It can be happy or sad depending on the mood they ask for. The characters have a sense of charm that makes them approachable that it gives of the wine mom demographic that feels funny than cringe. But this and along with Les Miserables helped the movie industry see a return to the musical format. Because in the 2000s, people were getting exhausted with Disney leading the way with broadway style musicals and the films that tried to replicate that. Universal Pictures sought to release Mamma Mia as a summer blockbuster not knowing what impact it would have. While they fumbled with Cats, they have one last hope with Wicked that will be out in Thanksgiving 2024.  With the recent announcement of a third Mamma Mia movie in the works who knows if Voyage will be the core use of songs in the film. What the story will be is yet to be known but it maybe involve memories since the last films dealt with marriage and family. And maybe, the band themselves will finally make a cameo.

The four members of ABBA posing together, from left to right: Agnetha, Björn, Anni-Frid, and Benny, all wearing stylish 1970s outfits.

The question is what other artists has used ABBA as an influence? You could say Chappell Roan is influenced by the works of ABBA with the themes of memories and love with queer themes in her music that also resonates with pop music and soft music, along with the songs from the 1990s and 2000s. Of course there is A*Teens that covered their own songs, it’s like a descendant-esque scenario where they younger Swedish teens may sing ABBA’s music. I could be wrong but Taylor Swift could be influenced by ABBA by using memories as a theme in her music and the style of melodic and soft pop music in her 1989 album. It’s a little off, but that’s my thought. After all, 1989 is like a companion piece to ABBA’s line of albums like The Visitors where every song is distinct from each other. I know that’s a weird take, but listening to Taylor Swift’s songs like Out of the Woods or Welcome to New York. But other than that, they influence the world of Europop to go all over the world so that they would reach out listeners. 

ABBA is like the The Beatles of Sweden, if you know the songs then you are bound to indulge yourself in a sweet serenade of fun and melancholy. What you should do is add ABBA to your playlist because the songs will help you get through a bad day. I am glad that their songs bring me a little joy in life even through the worst times I have went through, and maybe you should to because we all need a little Swedish music in our lives. We should all thank ABBA for the music because they gifted us with the joy of happiness in all forms.

Author

StreetTeam