"Elaine" is a song recorded by Swedish pop group
ABBA
ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...
. It was used as the
B-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
to the 1980 single "
The Winner Takes It All
"The Winner Takes It All" is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA. Released as the first single from the group's seventh studio album, '' Super Trouper'' (1980), it is a ballad in the key of G-flat major, reflecting on the end of a relatio ...
". It was not included on any of their original albums but was later included as a bonus track on the 2001 reissue of
''Super Trouper''.
Synopsis
The song is about a "devil-may-care path in pursuit of love".
Composition
''ABBA: Let the Music Speak'' describes "Elaine" as a "bold and brazen up-tempo number", adding that it has a "wealth of treated synth effects". The pace remains the same throughout the song, and the intro has a "melodic riff that is squeezed and contorted over a series of suspended chords". This is followed by a "whistlable refrain".
At the end of the second verse, the synths mimic the girls' voices.
Analysis
The song has a degree of programmatic irony, as the "extrevert nature" of the refrain juxtaposes "Agnetha and Frida's decisive and cutting unison stabs".
Critical reception
''Abba - Uncensored on the Record'' says the song is "OK, in a rather frantic way", and adds that it "paled in comparison" to the song it was paired with in the single "The Winner Takes It All", widely regarded as the best song ABBA ever recorded.
References
{{ABBA songs
1980 singles
ABBA songs