At their peak, nobody could deliver an earworm pop song with the consistency of ABBA. You could make an argument that their peak came in the neighborhood of 1977, the year they uncorked the ridiculously catchy “Take A Chance On Me” upon the world.
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The creation of the song serves as a good example to writers that you should be listening for music in everything. “Take A Chance On Me” proved that ideas could even be found in your footsteps.
Still Catchy After All These Years
By 1977, ABBA had established themselves as pop superstars second to none. They used that credibility to stretch their creative muscles a bit. That calendar year witnessed them performing a kind of mini-musical within their concert tours and releasing a movie.
But they didn’t take their eye off the ball when it came to their music. At the end of 1977, ABBA: The Album, their fifth full-length LP, hit record shelves. It found the band’s chief writers, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, writing ever-more complex songs that still retained the pop smarts for which the band had become known.
ABBA also took the opportunity to get a bit more bluesy with their music, a move that would anticipate the melancholy nature of subsequent albums. But they didn’t completely abandon their sugar-rush, ear-candy side. “Take A Chance On Me”, the first single from the album, ranked right up there as one of the catchiest songs the band ever recorded.
“Chance” Encounter
As a way of relieving stress and keeping in shape, Bjorn Ulvaeus kept up a steady regimen of running. Always on the lookout for song ideas, he noticed the sounds that his sneakers made, scratching against the pavement. To him, they made a shuffling noise that brought to mind consonant sounds like “t” and “k” and the blend “ch”.
The phrase “Take A Chance On Me” sprang to mind as something that resembled the sounds he was hearing. To emphasize it, the band put it right up front in an a cappella section. Ulvaeus and Andersson breathlessly sang those consonant sounds in their lower registers. Meanwhile, ABBA’s female singers, Anna-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Faltskog, belted out the words of the chorus.
The music for the song proved captivating as well, with elements resembling country music and disco working their way into the mix. “Take A Chance On Me” soared to massive success all over the world upon its release. That included a No. 1 spot in the United Kingdom and a No. 3 placing in the US.
Behind the Lyrics of “Take A Chance On Me”
Ulvaeus and Andersson used the song title as a jumping-off point for the tale of a steadfast suitor, one who sticks around and waits for the object of their affection no matter what. “If you change your mind,” she promises. “I’m the first in line.” She suggests that she’ll be there when others leave: “If you’re all alone when the pretty birds have flown/Honey, I’m still free/Take a chance on me.”
The narrator starts suggesting possible activities for the two to do once they get together, such as dancing and walking. (Considering the provenance of the song, we’re surprised a co-ed jog wasn’t on the table.) She refuses to flinch. “You want me to leave it there,” she says. “So afraid of a love affair/But I think you know that I can’t let go.
In many ways, “Take A Chance On Me” represented one of the last examples of lightweight pop that ABBA would deliver. With this classic track, they made sure that they left everybody wanting more from them in that department.
Photo by RB/Redferns/Getty Images
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