What a joy, what a life, what a chance

And I’ve often wondered, how did it all start?
Who found out that nothing can capture a heart
Like a melody can?
Well, whoever it was, I’m a fan

My mom & I went to see Mamma Mia! today. It was absolutely positively utterly cheesetastic, and I loved it. I haven’t seen the stage show, and I’m sure the movie version is slightly different, but no matter. It’s just .. perfect. Sure, there’s cringe-worthy moments. But they just make the overall movie better, in their own odd way. Ha. The fact that it’s over the top and doesn’t take itself seriously fits the music to a ‘t’.

I literally cannot remember any part of my life without ABBA’s music in it. We had a massive stereo system when I was a child, the record player/cassette deck/reel-to-reel tape deck was tucked away in the walk in closet off the den, and the speakers to it were in our living room. It was commonplace for my parents to play records on there while we did stuff around the house, especially when mom was cleaning. (In addition to ABBA, my mom liked to play Roger Whittaker and a few others I don’t remember.) When I got my first record player as a kid, Super Trooper was one of my first albums, and I snagged Arrival out of my parents’ collection. My next door neighbor, Becky, and I put on ‘concerts’ to those albums on a regular basis — using the microphones from my dad’s stereo system to sing along with the songs as we danced, putting on a full show.

I can also remember that on more than one occasion, my parents would set up a card table in the driveway, where they’d play bridge with our neighbors until late at night. I would drag my record player outside, plug it up in the garage, and put on one of my ABBA albums. Becky and I would dance around the yard to ABBA as our parents played cards. Whenever Tiger would come on, we’d (of course) start prancing around the yard, acting like cats. Haha.

As I got older, I never grew out of their music, even during all the times that the bulk of my music taste changed. I bought their music on CD to replace my record collection, even buying the Spanish albums. And of course they’re on my iTunes now, and I’ve been listening to them all afternoon since getting back from the movie. Ha. I’ve posted lyrics to several of their songs in my lyrics blog over the last couple of years. (They come in at #2 on artists I’ve posted the most lyrics from in that blog.) That’s Me is a song I’ve always identified with, often substituting my name/nicknames for “Carrie”. After all, I’m definitely not the kind of girl you’d marry. That’s me. 😉

Oh, and another amusing ABBA-related story. Several years back, mom and I were at home watching Jeopardy. The end of show rolled around, and they announced the Final Jeopardy category — Greek Mythology. They hadn’t revealed the clue yet, but I turned to my mom and said “The answer is — ‘Who is Cassandra?'” She just rolled her eyes at me but when they did reveal the clue – I started laughing. I was right, the answer was indeed Cassandra. She asked how I knew what it’d be before they even asked, and my response was “I was listening to ABBA earlier. The song Cassandra is still stuck in my head, so I decided it had to be the right answer.” Yeah. I know. I’m crazy. But I was right! 😉

Ah well. Enough reminiscing. Time for me to get back to cleaning and packing for my impending trip.

So I say thank you for the music, the songs I’m singing
Thanks for all the joy they’re bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty?
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me

I have a dream, a song to sing

My mom informed me this morning that apparently, Robbie Williams is in talks to record with ABBA.

That… maybe kinda made me a little gleeful. I don’t care if anyone else thinks it’s cheesy, I love ABBA. They were a very big part of my childhood. I have so many memories associated with their music. I can remember my friends and I putting on concerts, lip-syncing along with the Super Trooper album. I also remember being outside at dusk with the record player, the Arrival album on. My parents and neighbors were playing bridge in the driveway, the light coming from the garage, and my best friend and I acting like cats, running all over the front yard when “Tiger” was on. (Did I mention I was very young at that point? Hah.)

To maybe get to hear new music from them makes me happy. Very happy. I hope Robbie pulls it off and this happens.

And speaking of ABBA and gleeful – I just might possibly have gotten a little giggle at the Corporate Business Meeting on Tuesday. They played ABBA’s “Take A Chance On Me” over the loud speakers while we were waiting for the meeting to start.