Abba - I'm Still Alive

Abba undertook their biggest tour between September 13 and November 15 1979, with a schedule of 41 concerts in North America and Europe. Abba performed a total of 25 songs without an interval. The tour involved 50 people, 40-50 tons of equipment, three articulated lorries for the equipment and two buses for the musicians and technicians. To make travelling easier in North America, the group hired a Lear jet.
One of the big surprises of the tour was "I'm Still Alive", a song written and performed by Agnetha on the piano. Unusually this song has never been recorded. It has only ever been performed live, during this tour and the Japan tour from March 12-27 1980. Agnetha had put her solo career on hold after 1975, to concentrate on performing for Abba. She shows here that she has lost none of her composing abilities.
This performance is from the Pavillon de Paris concert on October 23. This was Abba's first concert in France and they were an enormous success, with the 7000 strong audience singing along to every one of the group's hits. Bjorn spoke to the audience in French. Salut magazine wrote "Abba have just triumphed in France. Everything was meticulously planned, and there wasn't a single mistake during this unforgettable evening. Everyone was standing on their seats, shouting and clapping." Lyrics:
I was a loser then but I'm a winner now,
I'd do it all again 'cause now I know how,
How everything in life comes down to this at last,
Survivin' and livin' determined not to give in,
And I'm still alive,
My life is rollin' on gently from day to day,
Memories will fade away,
Yes, I'm still alive
The agony is gone, and my mind is slowly wakin'
And my heart has ceased its achin',
I'm still alive,
I took so many blows, I cried a sea of tears
And only heaven knows, how I could stand the fears
I think of all the nights I lay alone and scared,
All shattered, and cryin' and thinkin' I was dyin'
But I'm still alive,
My life is rollin' on gently from day to day,
Memories will fade away,
Yes, I'm still alive
The agony is gone and my mind is slowly wakin',
And my heart has ceased its achin',
I'm still alive,
I'm still alive,
My life is rollin' on gently from day to day,
Memories will fade away,
Yes, I'm still alive
The agony is gone and my mind is slowly wakin',
And my heart has ceased its achin',
I'm still alive,
I'm still alive,
I'm still alive.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Abba
• Agnetha
• Faltskog

[stillovescott]

Is that really her singing it? Too many flat notes for me to believe it......

[abbafanglosuk]

Yes it really is Agnetha singing and playing this beautiful song that she wrote herself - though its live and not very well recorded!

[WayOutProd]

I could have done with this song 30 years ago. Where can I get a download of this. Its awesome! makes you see Agnetha in a different light. Not just a blonde bombshell but creative, inspirational and intelligent....

[abbafanglosuk]

You're right this is absolutely fantastic and very moving! Amazingly Agnetha never recorded this but wrote it especially for Abba's concert tour of 1979-80 and that was the only time it was performed. Who else but Agnetha would write this well and then not record the song - so its not available for download as far as I know. Yes she was fantastically creative in her own right before, during and after Abba.

[vintagerosenz]

Oh wow doesn't even sound like her but it's beautiful.

[abbafanglosuk]

Cheers Becky - yes the quality is not too good here as this is recorded live at a concert. This song was never officially recorded, but its got all the emotional qualities of Agnetha's genius song writing talent in it and shows what we missed from her in the Abba years! I'm going to try for another batch of free autographed photos from her soon if you wish to be included as Fan Club founder!

[nanarjain74]

This woman is unbelievable! The more I found out about Agnetha, the more I love her. The talent she has seems to never end. Thank you, John!

[saloabad]

wow what a song! is so amazing how Agnetha had everything...she was not only a pretty face but she was truly talented and smart!

[oraxxxx]

This is a live recording from 1979, wonder was it with a cassettrecorder, no wonder the sound is bad. But the song and the performance was exellent :)

[jeulate]

I think that she should have recorded this song in the studio.... it is very beautiful and it is a shame that we only can hear it in bad recordings....

Thank you for sharing it.

[SofiaAlskarOlaSalo]

@stillovescott I think it sounds more beautiful than ever before... The vulnerability in her voice is heard more clearly in this song, which adds this extra emotion to a song that requires it! The recording is not the best though..

[AgnethaLOVE]

 I CRY!!!!!

[AgnethaLOVE]

I CRY!!!!

[AgnethaLOVE]

:P I CRY!!!!

[AgnethaLOVE]

:P I CRY

[impassable]

Wow that almost made me cry