Hello and welcome to your first remote learning edition of Sara’s Seventies Playlist! I hope you’re all happy, safe, and healthy. I know that social distancing is incredibly hard and can be very tough on our mental health, so I am going to explain a rather bubbly song that I hope will get you all up from your cozy beds and couches to dance or sing along to! 

 

Since I am unable to see all of you and make you smile with my classroom antics (which I’m sure you miss, right?), I am going to recommend a song that never ceases to put me in a great mood: Voulez-Vous by ABBA!

Now I know Voulez-Vous probably isn’t the first song you think of when you hear about the Swedish pop/disco sensation that is ABBA, but it’s a hit! I was going to explain Mamma Mia or Dancing Queen, but I found out that they were both written about pretty gloomy stories. However, I do recommend that you all use this extra time at home to cuddle up with a bowl of popcorn and jam along to Mamma Mia the movie! 

 

So, Voulez-Vous. You’re probably wondering what that means in English (I know I was) and as the author of this blog, I found the answer for you all: do you want? No, I’m not asking a question. That’s what “Voulez-Vous” means! 

 

You are probably wondering who is wanting and what they’re craving, so let’s dive into the meaning of these groovy lyrics!

 

This song, written by Swedish musical geniuses and ABBA frontmen Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, is about a night out on the town spent doing disco moves and looking for a lover. Like most songs in the seventies or any other time for that matter, this tune is about love and sex and how to acquire one or both of those things. I’m sure you’re all shocked, right? Another song about love! 

 

The song starts out by opening the scene of what can be guessed to be a bar of some sort with lots of young, attractive people drinking and dancing and looking for one another. 

 

“People everywhere

A sense of expectation hanging in the air

Giving out a spark

Across the room, your eyes are glowing in the dark”

 

Andersson and Ulvaeus talk about the “expectations hanging in the air” and on the minds of all of these disco fiends. I think we can all assume that this expectation involves some risque behavior…

 

As the chorus begins to buzz, we hear these Swedish songbirds laugh with excitement about the prospect of their big night out on the town: 

 

“Voulez-vous (ah-ha)

Take it now or leave it (ah-ha)

Now it’s all we get (ah-ha)

Nothing promised, no regrets”

 

It is obvious that these singers are looking for nothing more than a one-night fling. 

 

I do have one issue with this song as I think one section goes against my staunch feminist ways. 

 

“I know what you think

The girl means business so I’ll offer her a drink

Looking mighty proud

I see you leave your table, pushing through the crowd

I’m really glad you came, you know the rules, you know the game

Masters of the scene”

 

Are these men suggesting that they own the situation as “masters of the scene”? I sure hope not. I am going to hope that these pop idols intended for this line to apply to both actors in the situation and pray that Sweden was and is full of feminist men. 

 

This song isn’t too deep. We have two people at a bar or disco club who are attracted to each other and… well, you know the rest of the story. 

 

I hope this sassy song of lust can bring you a smile and brighten up whatever room you’ve decided to self-quarantine in!