Björn explains the lyrics of "The visitors" (ABBA)

** Hit the "CC" button for subtitles!
Björn talks about the lyrics of the title track on ABBA's final album: The Visitors, combined with a little history lesson :) He also talks about the choral piece he and Benny wrote about the Romanian dictator Ceausescu in 1989. And he mentions the time US TV censored a statement made by him and Benny as well.
This interview is from earlier this summer, broadcast on Swedish radio.

About 2 minutes into this clip, is a part of a radio interview with Björn from 1981, talking about the US censoring their statement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CQ_-NgoEFA
(Of course is the Sandinista angle fake, but the radio interview is originally about them on the TV gala for Poland.)

Apologies for misspellings and grammatical errors! :)

Music used in this programme:
ABBA - The Visitors (repeatedly throughout the clip)
04:14 - a Swedish song which I know nothing about - political lyrics
04:50 - Waka-Waka
06:14 - The Conductor (from Benny's album "November 1989")
07:26 - Coldplay - Viva la vida
08:22 - David Byrne & Fatboy Slim feat. Róisín Murphy - Don't you agree?
11:36 - Peter Gabriel - Games Without Frontiers
12:04 - Beyoncé - If I were a boy
12:10 - Mariah Carey - Emotions

Category:

Music

Tags:

• ABBA
• The
• Visitors
• Björn
• Ulvaeus
• politics
• secret
• lyrics
• meaning
• message
• 1981
• politisk
• text
• Soviet
• Union
• Russia
• Red
• Square
• intervju
• radio
• interview
• Benny
• Andersson
• Leonid
• Brezhnev
• dissident
• dictatorship
• communist
• Romania
• Bucharest
• Bukarest
• Rumänien
• Östblocket
• freedom
• of
• speech
• USA
• Reagan
• Poland
• translation
• Sovjetunionen

[Percussi020]

3:55 Hurrah

Теперь понятно почему ABBA никогда не приезжала в USSR.Ахаххаха испугались Брежнева суки

[SADL00KINM00N]

@Percussi020 Они не хотят быть частью в прославлении диктатуры ...?

[mozpiano2]

Many thanks for uploading this! May freedom reign! I wonder what Bjorn is thinking in regards to the Arab Spring.

[SADL00KINM00N]

@mozpiano2 My pleasure! :) Ohh i suppose he's glad about it like most people are, peace and freedom is what everyone should be allowed live in.

[Grandpaw2511]

Howdy Elin, Very interesting and thanks for the translation. I've always thought the lyrics to Visitors were such a change from anything they had done before. They were very dark and clearly about a person hiding from someone but I never made the connection. This gives the song a whole new meaning for me. Thanks so much, Lenny

[SADL00KINM00N]

@Grandpaw2511 Thank you Lenny, yeah the lyrics is so different and more mature than on the early albums.

Finally Björn told us what he was thinking about at this time! :)

[CelineElla123]

Han har så rätt. Jag älskar honom <3

[MrSuecobrasileiro]

Elin, i just found this video but i still haven't watched it but so soon i'll be back when i finish to watch it and i must leave you a comment and rate on it, right?  Kisses from KIKO

[Fabian81]

So now I see where some of the inpiration comes from to the creation of Chess from a thematically point of view ...

[GuoXiang1995]

@Percussi020 Козёл немытый, не смей их называть суками!

[SADL00KINM00N]

@Aurora0Lights Me too! :) It has a real cool synth sound

[SADL00KINM00N]

@Mrroydoncrossing It did take a while to transcribe it, yes :)

Thanks for dropping by Bill!

[SADL00KINM00N]

@TheMauvetys You're welcome! :))