Two for the Price of One (ABBA song)

Last updated
"Two for the Price of One"
Song by ABBA
from the album The Visitors
ReleasedNovember 30, 1981 (1981-11-30)
Genre Soft rock [1]
Length3:36
Songwriter(s) Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus
Producer(s) Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus
Audio
"Two For The Price Of One" on YouTube

"Two for the Price of One" is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA, featured on their 1981 album The Visitors . The song also appears on the 1986 album ABBA Live .

Contents

Synopsis

The Leader-Post explains that the song is about "our pathetic love-starved hero answering an ad for the girl of his dreams". [2] The song's lyrics describe a male custodian answering a personal ad for two women seeking a threesome, until the final punchline which reveals that one of the women is the other one’s mother, not revealing whether the mother is just an intrusive chaperone or if the original innuendo still stands.

Composition

Abba's Abba Gold describes it as the "obligatory Bjorn-sung track". [3]

Critical reception

ABBA - Uncensored on the Record says that "Two for the Price of One" is an "extraordinary song" and that it, along with another song from the album, "attracted some interest". [4] Abba's Abba Gold likened it to "Electric Light Orchestra doing an operetta, with superb multi-layered vocals on the chorus". [3] Keith Tuber of Orange Coast Magazine describes the song as his favourite on the album, describing it as a "humorous, clever ditty with a twist ending", and likens it to Rupert Holmes' "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)". [5]

The Leader-Post describes "Two for the Price of One" as a "novelty number", and a "witty little tune". Along with "When All Is Said and Done", he said it is one of two songs worth mentioning in the review. [2] L.A. Times talks about the album's melancholy vibe, noting that "even the album's two lighthearted cuts - "Two for the Price of One" and "Head over Heels" - are about out-of-synch relationships." [6]

Only Solitaire says "the Bjorn-sung "Two for the Price of One" is an absolute lyrical nadir with a banal pop melody that could have easily made it onto Ring Ring . In regard to the song's inclusion on ABBA's live album, it says "if you're gonna have one really really bad ABBA song on a live album, at least make it something goofy from the early days, like "King Kong" or "Nina Pretty Ballerina"! At least they were having fun with these ones." [7]

Writing for Pitchfork on the 2012 deluxe reissue of The Visitors, Tom Ewing was also dismissive of the track, calling it "a hokey story of a failed threesome [that] calls back to their earliest, goofiest records". [8]

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References

  1. ↑ Rowe, Felix (October 31, 2024). "Classic Album: Abba - The Visitors". Classic Pop . Retrieved December 22, 2024.
  2. 1 2 Michael Lawson (Dec 16, 1981). "Swedish quartet scores top marks". The Leader-Post.
  3. 1 2 Vincentelli, Elisabeth (2004-03-31). Abba's Abba Gold. ISBN   9780826415462.
  4. ↑ John Tobler (2012). Abba - Uncensored on the Record. Coda Books Limited. p. 152. ISBN   978-1-908538-23-9.
  5. ↑ "The B Side". Orange Coast Magazine. March 1982. ISSN   0279-0483.
  6. ↑ Grein, Paul (Jan 24, 1982). "POP RECORDS: ABBA DABBLES IN DEPRESSION". Los Angeles Times.
  7. ↑ "Abba Reviews".
  8. ↑ Ewing, Tom (18 May 2012). "ABBA: The Visitors [Deluxe Edition] Album Review". Pitchfork . Retrieved 20 December 2024.
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