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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2020 8:25:44 GMT
I've seen a few comments regarding Chiquitita and how some people just don't like it anymore. I'm the complete opposite! I always liked it, now I love it! The harmonies, the melody, even the video with the snowman!! Agnetha and Frida's voices, particularly in the second verse, are just gorgeous, so pure. I also think it's a classic example of another of those sad but uplifting songs that ABBA do so well. There is actually nothing about it that I don't like and am not sure why it seems to divide opinion so much?! I loved the UNICEF concert footage too, they all looked great. Would appreciate hearing others views on why they do/don't like the song. This one always cheers me up no end, loud on my car speakers sat in a traffic jam in the rain!!!
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Post by madonnabba on Feb 19, 2020 10:06:17 GMT
The song is fine but I did feel at the time it compared unfavourably with other hits at the time...Heart of Glass, Tragedy etc. It seemed like a step back rather than forward but it had phenomenal success in The Spanish speaking territories. I also think that it just does not sit well on Voulez Vous. Of the Latin orientated songs I cannot see pass Fernando and I thought that Chiquitita was not as good. It’s not a song I listen to often whereas I can’t resist Fernando or most of the other singles and album tracks. Of the singles less keen on IHAD, Under Attack and Head over Heels.
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Post by richard on Feb 19, 2020 11:20:07 GMT
Although, like madonnabba, I prefer Fernando, I've come to appreciate Chiquitita a lot more than I did. The verse-melody has a lovely flow to it, and it has the magic of the girls' singing: first Agnetha, and then joined by Frida from the second verse. Just beautiful.
I think it's a fairly widely-held view that Chiquitita and I Have A Dream both sound out of place on the Voulez-Vouz album; and I would have preferred that IIWFTN had been chosen as a single instead of either one of them.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 19, 2020 23:16:49 GMT
Alib, I adore " Chiquitita " and when you have a moment feel free to browse my ABBA song megarate ( album by album ). I have awarded the song 10 points.
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Post by Michal on Feb 20, 2020 5:06:56 GMT
I've always liked Chiquitita a lot (maybe with the exception of the instrumental bit at the end) and don't even feel it's out of place on the Voulez-Vous album (I Have A Dream is). The way Agnetha and Frida treat the vocals is heavenly, I like the changes of instruments in the verses (piano in the first, guitar in the second), the wonderful backing vocals and I must not forget the tympani (ha ha). By the way, do you know that it was Christian's favourite song when he was a child? Agnetha said in one of the interviews he almost drove her crazy, asking her to play the song over and over again...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2020 8:16:25 GMT
edmfio76, I had a look at your megarate and pretty much agree with your points, although I've never been a big fan of Angeleyes, but it does seem to be quite popular amongst fans. Michal, I wholeheartedly agree with your comments regarding the vocals, precise beyond believe, the backing vocals are amazing! After watching about 20 minutes of the Brits the other night, it made me appreciate ABBA even more (if that were possible)! as I could barely make a word out in any of the songs!! Is it me just getting old?! I want to hear the words, feel the song if you know what I mean? And I don't wish to be preached to - there's enough news, political or otherwise, around to irritate, or engage people, whichever way they feel, I want to escape from all that when I listen to music!!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2020 18:21:28 GMT
I know what you mean Alib, I haven't watched The Brit Awards for a few years now and have no inclination to as I have closed the book on the music of today. I would rather listen to ABBA than some of the so called artists of today. The awards have become over-rated and tiresome. Currently I am going through a sorting and clearing up phase and have a lot of compact discs by artists who I thought were " cool " at the time I bought the discs but now regret doing so because they are cluttering up the garage and I have no desire to listen to them anymore. Many of today's artists are very over-hyped. I wish I could turn back the clock and re-live ABBA's glory days.
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Post by chron on Feb 20, 2020 18:28:25 GMT
If compared to Fernando, as some have done, it comes off favourably; it's a more refined and nuanced track. It has a hard-to-pin quality all of its own, but the feeling(s) it generates linger(s). The acoustic guitar at the beginning is smashing, and Agnetha does a sterling job as the central singer of the verses, aided by some lovely reverb. The only things I have have reservations about are the way the choruses are handled (i.e. attacked with a bit too much gusto; given that the words in them are strong and complex for an ABBA song, they don't need a strong 'sell' or the implications of the words 'acted'), and Benny's piano work, which is disagreeably pub pianist thump-it-out in places (it's dawned on me that on the whole I much prefer Benny's synth work to his acoustic piano work; the former is invariably adroit and tasteful, while the latter is often too percussive, for me (I know that the piano is technically a percussion instrument, but it's a versatile one, and I just don't like the sound of keys being hit hard).
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Post by josef on Feb 20, 2020 19:27:26 GMT
People complain about the outro but to me it's one of the wonderful things about the song -it's a thing of beauty. In fact, I can't remember who it was but a pop star from years ago once said how much he liked the outro but that the rest of the song was s**t. I happen to strongly disagree with that opinion, though. To me, it's a truly lovely song. I remember listening to it on a transistor radio under the covers as a teenager and I was enraptured. It was sooooooo beautiful to me! I don't have that same feeling anymore, sadly, but I still appreciate it. Now Fernando...that's a whole different ball game. That intro can actually make me cry a little. It's so wistful and yearning. Oh, the pathos. And then Frida's voice like velvet. Well, what's not to love?
As a double A side Fernando/Chiquitita would have been a cracker.
I guess they could both could be considered schlager-ish? Like that's a bad thing?! I detest musical snobbery. I hear people say things like oompa pa pa or whatever. So what? Songs like this, with a catchy melody and a simplicity are what people have, for hundreds of years, sang and danced around campfires to! And you're going to dismiss that because it's not "cool"? Get out of here.
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Post by chron on Feb 20, 2020 19:36:06 GMT
In fact, I can't remember who it was but a pop star from years ago once said how much he liked the outro but that the rest of the song was s**t. If we're defining 'pop star' broadly, I reckon it was either Bobby Crush or Richard Clayderman. |
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Post by josef on Feb 20, 2020 20:06:29 GMT
Nope. I wish I could remember who it was. It was someone like the lead singer of The Verve or someone like that. An "indie" person.
I know what you mean about the gusto in the chorus and Benny slamming the piano keys. A little restraint wouldn't have gone amiss at times.
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Post by josef on Feb 20, 2020 20:11:47 GMT
Or Ian McCulloch from Echo and the Bunnyman.
That kind of bloke.
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Post by chron on Feb 20, 2020 21:04:00 GMT
Ah, McCulloch it could've been; I seem to remember him one or two times name-checking ABBA in interviews (the Crush/Clayderman response was a tongue-in-cheek development of the 'Benny: pub pianist' position.)
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