'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. 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. Music is not only melody music is everything you hear, everything you put together.
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. Benny Andersson explained to The Sunday Times Jhow the catch in the throat music came to be written: 'It's the simplest song,' he said.
For many people this song with its heartbroken lyrics, swelling crescendos and sudden lulls is the definitive Abba single.
