"Little Things" is a song by

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 ...

, released on their 2021 album '' Voyage''. It is the third track on the album. It was released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

on 3 December 2021.

Background and synopsis

The song was written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, who contributed music and lyrics respectively. The song is partly based on "Godnattvisa" ("lullaby" or "cradle song"), an instrumental by

Benny Anderssons Orkester Benny Anderssons orkester (also known as BAO, Benny Andersson Band) is a Swedish band, with Benny Andersson as musical leader and composer. The band was formed in mid-2001 by 16 people, some from Orsa Spelmän, and Helen Sjöholm and since 2004 Tom ...

, released on the album '' BAO 3'' in 2007. It was announced in December 2021 that all of the band's royalties earned from the song in the next five years would be donated to

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide. In 1979, the band similarly donated their royalties from the single " Chiquitita" to UNICEF, in recognition of that year's designation as " International Year of the Child". Described as a "gentle reflection on the joy of Christmas morning and family time around this special time of year", "Little Things" is about a woman who wakes up on

Christmas morning ''Christmas Morning'' is a comic but poignant short story by Ireland's Frank O'Connor, first published in The New Yorker in 1936. The narrator of the story is Larry Delaney, an Irish boy who appears regularly in O'Connor's stories, and serves a ...

and reflects on the joy that the season brings her and her family, and all the 'little things' that make Christmas special. The outro features the Children's Choir of the

Stockholm International School Stockholm International School (SIS) provides an international education in English to approximately 700 students aged 3–18 in the heart of Sweden's capital. Offering the International Primary Curriculum and International Baccalaureate Middle ...

Music video

A lyric video for the song was published to ABBA's official

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channel on 5 November 2021. It was directed by Mike Anderson, and produced by Nick Barratt, of the Able production company. On 3 December 2021, the official music video for the song was published to the band's YouTube channel. The video features schoolchildren getting together at Christmastime and producing their own ABBA Voyage-inspired concert. The video features an extended version of the song (additional parts before and after the choir), not available on the CD single. The band members themselves do not make a direct appearance in the video, showing only on screen as part of the depicted production effort. The music video was directed by Sophie Muller.

Personnel

ABBA

* Agnetha Fältskog - Vocals *

Anni-Frid Lyngstad Princess Anni-Frid Synni Reuss, Countess of Plauen (born Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad on 15 November 1945), also known by her nickname "Frida", is a Norwegian-born Swedish singer, songwriter and environmentalist, who is best known as one of the foun ...

- Vocals * Benny Andersson - Keyboards * Björn Ulvaeus - Guitar

Other personnel and production staff

* Jan Bengtson - flute * Per Grebacken - flute, clarinet *

Per Lindvall Per is a Latin preposition which means "through" or "for each", as in per capita. Per or PER may also refer to: Places * IOC country code for Peru * Pér, a village in Hungary * Chapman code for Perthshire, historic county in Scotland Math ...

- percussion * Children's Choir of the

- vocals * Stockholm Concert Orchestra, conducted by Göran Arnberg - orchestration

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2021 singles 2021 songs ABBA songs Music videos directed by Sophie Muller Songs written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus Swedish Christmas songs