"Love Isn't Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough)" is a

country rock Country rock is a music genre that fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal sty ...

song recorded by Swedish pop group

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

. It was the fifth single to be released from their album '' Ring Ring'', but unusually, it was not issued in ABBA's home-country of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, but elsewhere in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

. It was coupled with "I Am Just a Girl" as its

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

upon release in 1973. The song was one of the last songs to be recorded for the album '' Ring Ring''. The song describes the common phenomenon of a quarrel between lovers, and although the song's title seems to be self-contradictory, it's unlikely that it pertains to a sexual

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacc ...

as some have believed it to be.Scott, Robert (2002) 'ABBA: Thank You for the Music – The Stories Behind Every Song', Carlton Books Limited: Great Britain, p. 31

History

The song was written and composed by

Benny Andersson Göran Bror Benny Andersson (; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, composer and producer best known as a member of the pop group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duvemåla'', and ''Mamm ...

Björn Ulvaeus Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (; born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish musician, singer, songwriter, and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA. He is also the co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duve ...

. All four members of the ABBA share the lead vocals.

Track listing

# "Love Isn't Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough)" # "I Am Just a Girl"

Chart performance

The single's limited release did not generate a Top 10 chart placement anywhere, though it was a minor hit in some countries where it was released. In Sweden, it reached #3 on the ''

Tio i Topp ''Tio i Topp'' ( English: ''Ten at the Top'') was a Swedish record chart and radio program broadcast by Sveriges Radio P3 between the years of 1961 and 1974. It was launched to combat pirate radio charts and was the first official Swedish record c ...

'' singles chart, even though it wasn't issued as a single in that country.

References

1973 singles ABBA songs Polar Music singles Songs written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus {{1970s-single-stub