If It Wasn’t For The Nights

Not sure I'm a subject matter expert here, Alan    But I love the song and can blather on about it til the cows come home.

For me, it has all the hallmarks of a classic ABBA single. It's uptempo and feels like such an energetic and happy song - until the sadness of the lyrics becomes evident. Classic ABBA misdirection; a plot twist in a pop song. The edits for the two TV performances I've seen are not doing the job properly, I think. The instrumental sections before each verse are too long for a single. That's my personal opinion. That's not to say that longer songs didn't regularly work as singles back then. Chiquitita, Voulez-Vous and TDBYC all exceeded a five-minute running time. To my ears, there are obvious edit opportunities in both sections that would allow the vocals to come in sooner. Similarly, the outro could be faded earlier - or, better yet, remixed slightly to create a natural ending or a faster fade. If they were more open to the format, there could have been a killer 12" version too.

Ultimately, it comes from an album that was chockfull of potential singles. At the time, I didn't rate Angeleyes. I wondered why DYMK came out when the rest of the album offered better choices. But the public seemed to like what came out. Chiquitita was/is such a powerful song that I can see why it came out as a single. The UNICEF angle was such a strong promo tool too, with the broadcast performance working well as a video AND as a reminder to the public that it was a fundraising single. The snowman clip didn't emerge until later in the year? It wasn't part of the Switzerland special. I'm not even sure that it was broadcast (widely) in 1979. I remember the coffee shop performance late that year on the Dame Edna show. I'm struggling to remember when I first saw the snowman clip.... Christmas TOTP, maybe? Or was that the coffee shop clip, too?

I digress. IIWFTN remains a baffling missed opportunity in my opinion. Had that album emerged five years later, when the likes of Michael Jackson made it fashionable to milk LPs dry for singles, it might have had its moment on a 7" A-side. I should double check, but I think there was a 7" edit prepared and pressed - I think it appeared on Discogs? 

Does anyone else think that DSMD feels like a hybrid of JLT and IIWFTN? Just me? It also feels like the kind of thing could emerge nowadays as a buzz track for an anthology... Given that Voyage was "trend blind" and redolent of the group's heyday, I don't think it would be all that strange for IIWFTN to come out as a single now. It's a song I'd love to see in the Voyage show. 

Yes, it would’ve made a great single release. The Mike Yarwood Christmas Show figures got into the 20-millions so for four minutes at least, IIWFTNs had its moment to shine and I’m sure the Japan tv performance, likewise.

There’s something quite powerful about Agnetha’s performance on those shows. She looks like a woman not to be messed with! As ever, she really acts out the lyrics brilliantly.

Although the song lives on and the performances are there to enjoy online it does probably remain one of those magical songs that are not in the ‘Mamma Mia generation’-psyche.

But we know its quality.

I'm not going to go into the song's merits - I'd like to focus instead on its position in the running order on the VV album. Second-on-side-two tended not to be where ABBA planted their 'best' stuff, certainly in terms of 'lead single' material. It's the slot where, up to that point, they'd stuck things like 'Rock Me', 'That's Me' and 'Hole in Your Soul', not to mention 'Me and Bobby and Bobby's Brother' and 'Watch Out'.* My question is, when was the VV running order finalised and was it a relatively last-minute decision to 'hide' IIWFTN slightly out of the way? Was this confirmation that B&B (and/or others) somehow lost belief a little in the song? All reliable answers and unreliable speculation gratefully received!

* Later, we'd get 'Our Last Summer' and (much, much later) 'Keep an Eye on Dan', though not forgetting 'One of Us' which arguably bucked the trend - but I've got my own theories about that one!

The intro to the song is quite long but it has three distinct and utterly mesmerising parts; the initial ‘happy’ piano sound, then the funky guitar rift and then ‘bu-bu-bu’ the piano/base part leading into the lyrics.

Quick question re the Japan tv performance (my favourite of the two). Delicate subject as the couple were on the cusp of splitting, but is it just me or does it look like Bjorn and Agnetha might’ve had a few ‘words’ immediately before?

Maybe the documentary will give them a moment to talk about the shoulda-been-singles? I wonder if CMP's new book addresses the decision to recast it as "just" an album track?


Not sure I'd agree with that take on running orders. IMO, the Waterloo album suggests they hadn't clue how to structure a running order. The more general "wisdom" behind album running orders is that the weakest track is placed second last on side two, but ABBA certainly didn't seem to follow that "rule": LAYLOM, STMF and NDAI are great cases in point. And they didn't usually frontload the albums with hits either. Arrival, The Album, Voulez-Vous, and The Visitors opened with non-singles - or tracks that got A-side status in fewer territories. Even the ABBA album opened with Mamma Mia, which they had to be pressured into releasing as a single. My guess is that the tempo and key of a song, and then its running time, were the main factors in where it was placed.

I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I can’t hear the similarity between As Good As New and If It Wasn’t For The Nights.

HOMETIME, I just feel that the fellas have long dismissed a large bulk of their back-catalogue, with Benny being quoted as saying that ABBA made “maybe 15 good songs”, and both B&B focusssing more on the ‘Gold’/‘Mamma Mia’ big-hitters.

That’s the impression I get. I would be amazed if we ever hear any ABBA member taking a deep-dive into the hidden gems of their album tracks.

Graham, you are arrested. It is "you're" not "your"

The Grammar Police.

I agree with him re. TKHLHC too. 

Benny is a conundrum. I remember an interview with B&B on MTV around 1992, when Gold had just topped the chart for the first time. The interviewer was asking them about their pride in ABBA's music and Benny said something like "I can't believe we weren't killed for being so corny." Now, I don't know if that was a stab at false modesty or some level of distain for ABBA's poppiness. For all his preciousness about recording standards and the tiny number of those he rates, he must surely have some proper perspective now? If not, why invest time, money and ego in Mamma Mia!, the Voyage show and the Voyage album? Does the ker-ching of a cash register override all those qualms?

With reference to Benny's number 15 - did he say recordings or songs? There is a difference when you weight that up.

Yes, it seems quite a few of us regard what B&B say about ABBA and their music often has to be taken, unfortunately, with a shovelful of salt!

And regarding their opinions of songs, I think songwriters will often be more critical of their work than their fans will be - and yet sometimes favour songs that their fans, generally, don't go a bundle on. In the latter case, it seems to be I Wonder and The King Has Lost His Crown when it comes to ABBA. But I happen to think both songs are great. And the tonality of Frida's vocal in TKHLHC is beautiful. Pity there isn't more of it in the song, imo.

True. I've been surprised over the years, hearing some artists being dismissive of and/or embarrassed by some of their most beloved hits.

" if It Wasn't For The Nights " is an underrated gem. Initially it was scheduled for single release but unfortunately bowed out when " Chiquitita " was chosen instead and all royalties were given to Unicef. Such a missed opportunity for " If It Wasn't For The Nights ". A slice of polished pop. One of my favourites from " Voulez-Vous ".

Iiwftn, I can vividly remember watching ABBA perform " If It Wasn't For The Nights " and " Thank You For The Music " on The Mike Yarwood Show way back in December 1978 and I agree I was totally blown away with both Agnetha and Frida. Beautiful !

Yes, I do love that story. It was mentioned again on the recent Against The Odds documentary. At the same time it was being broadcast in the UK on Christmas Day, Agnetha was formally leaving him with the children. In all likelihood though, the decision was probably made before the show was filmed on 10 December and they were likely still living in the same house but not as a couple.

There’s absolutely nothing in the Mike Yarwood footage to indicate what was going on though. How did they do that? I always tend to think it’s the One Man, One Woman video from earlier in the year that gives more away, you can really see it in their faces. By December, the decision was made and some of the pressure was off. Even so, hats off to them. ABBA was about to have a busy year and this life-changing situation was happening that would have a huge effect on their personal lives and particularly their children.