Two for the Price of One (ABBA song)

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"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 man with a low-status job who answers a personal ad for two women seeking a threesome: the final punchline reveals that one of the women is the other one’s mother.

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]

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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