ABBA - PART 1

Ugh. What a black mood I've been in of late. Eight months of court-ordered sobriety (with six to go). My brother's death in February. A 40-year-old cousin dying of liver failure (despite never having been a drinker at all). A speeding ticket Thursday night. And goddam religion & pseudo-religion & "spirituality" every goddam place I look. Obama's goddam preacher doing his damndest to Swift Boat him. Goddam pope on the 24-hour news channels 24/7. Goddam Dalai Lama traipsing around my beloved, secular Ann Arbor (with Richard Gere! PHILIP GLASS! BOBBY fuckin' McFERRIN!). Orthodox Jews walking the streets looking like something out of a "Saturday Night Live" sketch. Creepy Mormons in creepy dresses & creepy hairdos in Texas compounds. Why the hell couldn't we just burn them all down -- like we did with that other cult in that other Texas compound.

Okay, so I'm feeling a little angry. A little bitter. (Uh-oh -- there's that word again. Obama called the White Trash of Pennsylvania "bitter." Said that's why they cling to their guns & their gods & their prejudices. He was, of course, correct. Overly simplistic, but correct. So... welcome to the White House, John McCain. Welcome to four more years of old-white-man Republican rule, people of Earth. Welcome to 1989-1993, Part Deux. Son of a bitch.)

So.... what is one to do? Turn to pop music, of course. Happy, absurd, immaculate pop music from the beautiful people of Sweden. People who don't believe in gods or guns or Texas. People who believe in the important things. Like hockey. And vodka. And a great hook. And a glorious chorus.

So here's Part 1 of three today. Keep coming back. I promise to be less bitter. And, six months from now, I'll be right as rain....

ABBA on WIKIPEDIA.

[MP3] "The Winner Takes It All" [1980]

[MP3] "On and On and On" [1980]

[MP3] "Our Last Summer" [1980]

[MP3] "Head Over Heels" [1981]

[MP3] "One of Us" [1981]

[MP3] "Slipping Through My Fingers" [1981]

[MP3] "Under Attack" [1982]

[MP3] "You Owe Me One" [1982]