This would be the most favorite Abba song for me, my mom and my sister - all the ladies in my family. We love this song primarily because the beat is fast and the tone so high... it's like vein-breaking note is placed all over the song.

I remember we were in my cousin's house (in Tandang Sora, which is in Quezon City). We had this mic which has installed videoke songs on it. It was my mom's favorite gadget. So we were singing with our neighbors and my mom, as friendly as she is, easily got the attention of our equally friendly neighbors while singing this song. It was also a mom-and-daughter-tandem - we shared the song. But all the praises were for my mom (I was second best, I know). When that party was over, the neighbors couldn't forget that note when my mom sung "Diggin' the dancing queen", with full force, with the right pause and perfect note!

That was just one of my stories with this song and my mom! Bravo to my mom!

Here goes the lyrics!

You can dance, you can jive
Having the time of your life
Ooh see that girl, watch that scene
Dig in the dancing queen

Friday night and the lights are low
Looking out for a place to go
Where they play the right music, getting in the swing
You come in to look for a king

Anybody could be that guy
Night is young and the music's high
With a bit of rock music, everything is fine
You're in the mood for a dance
And when you get the chance

You are the dancing queen
Young and sweet, only seventeen
Dancing queen, feel the beat
From the tambourine, oh yeah

You can dance, you can jive
Having the time of your life
Ooh see that girl, watch that scene
Dig in the dancing queen

You're a teaser, you turn 'em on
Leave 'em burning and then you're gone
Looking out for another, anyone will do
You're in the mood for a dance
And when you get the chance

You are the dancing queen
Young and sweet, only seventeen
Dancing queen, feel the beat
From the tambourine, oh yeah

You can dance, you can jive
Having the time of your life
Ooh see that girl, watch that scene
Dig in the dancing queen
Dig in the dancing queen

and the music:

dancing queen - abba

I like this song mainly because it made an affirmation about me - I have a dream. When I was still a kid, I had a very simple dream - to be happy. And as I age, I realize how complicated life could be in trying to be happy. I was just thinking about laughing all the time, wearing those smiles and affecting other people. That's how simple being happy is, really?

In reality, no matter how much we want to make others happy, or make ourselves happy, most of the time we end up rejected. It's just so hard to please other people and personally, I find it even harder to please my self. I find it hard to convince myself that I got what I wanted in life. I really don't see it. Other people would tell me, "You are good at what you do"... I am not convinced.

From my previous post, I said I make things Complicated most of the time. I still do. Nevetheless, as this song would also remind me, having a dream is just one thing. Coupling it with being satisfied in what we do is good enough. We really don't need to have a grand dream and expect to achieve them. What's the point of realizing that kind of dream when we are not happy after all?

Here is the lyrics:
I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail

I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me

I'll cross the stream - I have a dream
I have a dream, a fantasy
To help me through reality
And my destination makes it worth the while
Pushing through the darkness still another mile

I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me

I'll cross the stream - I have a dream
I'll cross the stream - I have a dream
I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything

If you see the wonder of a fairy tale
You can take the future even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I'll cross the stream - I have a dream
I'll cross the stream - I have a dream

Let's sing with it:

I Have A Dream - ABBA

Here is the song that started this blog after all... This is the main reason why I have this blog, why I am so inclined to music. I would like to declare to the world that my inclination to music did start with my mom -my singing partner in videoke.

I have always loved music, the songs, the lyrics, the MTV and everything attached to it! Let this be my living testimony that I am a slave to the music industry!

I always have something to say about my favorite songs, about the music and people they remind me of... everything, everything about music.

Looking back, I realized this song is the main reason why I have this blog site. It's a celebration of music and what they meant to me. I will always love this song by Abba because it captures everything. The reason why I remain in love with a certain person, why a certain place reminds me so much of something, why a certain event would bring me back some memories of places I've been through, persons I've been with, ocassions I attended.

If I had to choose the song of the hour even the song of the century and the song of the world, this would be it.

"I'm nothing special", yeah that's what I always tell about myself until I found meaning in what I am blogging about, until I learned to talk about a person I've know, an event I can't forget. I really want to thank music for everything!

So enjoy the music...
Im nothing special, in fact Im a bit of a bore
If I tell a joke, youve probably heard it before
But I have a talent, a wonderful thing
cause everyone listens when I start to sing
Im so grateful and proud
All I want is to sing it out loud

So I say
Thank you for the music, the songs Im singing
Thanks for all the joy theyre bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me

Mother says I was a dancer before I could walk
She says I began to sing long before I could talk
And Ive often wondered, how did it all start?
Who found out that nothing can capture a heart
Like a melody can?
Well, whoever it was, Im a fan

So I say
Thank you for the music, the songs Im singing
Thanks for all the joy theyre bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me

Ive been so lucky, I am the girl with golden hair
I wanna sing it out to everybody
What a joy, what a life, what a chance!

So I say
Thank you for the music, the songs Im singing
Thanks for all the joy theyre bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me

Thank You For The Music - ABBA

Gimme Gimme Gimme - Abba / A Teens

For your pleasure, you may listen to the music first before going on with my story.

I have been an Abba fan, that's a fact. As such, I love singing their songs as well. We were having a party. It was a family affair: my folks, their cousins, niece and nephews and all those within the "fourth degree of affinity and consanguinity". All of a sudden, my sister conspired with my aunt in singing this song. I never knew what they were trying to imply until they signalled me into following the lyrics of the song.

It was very embarrassing but the song they were singing is really about "giving a man after midnight".

My cousin told me one time that while waiting for a bus going to Manila, at midnight, he chanced upon a "guy" at a waiting shed apparently waiting for a "man after midnight". It happened that the "guy" was someone known to me. I told you this is embarassing but... the heck... that is my story behind this song. Let me correct though that I am not a homophobic. This is just a story, an account of somebody else of which I am not personally convinced it happened unless I see them with my eyes.

This is just a story, my story for this song.

Here is the lyrics:
Half past twelve
And I'm watching the late show in my flat all alone
How I hate to spend the evening on my own
Autumn winds
Blowing outside my window as I look around the room
And it makes me so depressed to see the gloom

there's not a soul out there
no one to hear my prayer

Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Won't somebody help me chase the shadows away
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Take me through the darkness to the break of the day

Movie stars
Find the end of the rainbow, with a fortune to win
It's so different from the world I'm living in
Tired of T.V.
I open the window and I gaze into the night
But there's nothing there to see, no one in sight

there's not a soul out there
no one to hear my prayer

Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Won't somebody help me chase the shadows away
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Take me through the darkness to the break of the day

Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight...
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight...

there's not a soul out there
no one to hear my prayer

Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Won't somebody help me chase the shadows away
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Take me through the darkness to the break of the day
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Won't somebody help me chase the shadows away
Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight
Take me through the darkness to the break of the day

Lyrics | Abba lyrics - Slipping Through My Fingers lyrics

Epilogue:
This would be my most favorite song in the Musical Movie Mamma Mia! This is a blind item, by the way. I am not supposed to blow the whistle about an impending wedding but I hope my baby won't read this... yet. I wish I could stay quiet but I couldn't. So peace!

Now the story:

It was just so timely that when I watched this movie, my "baby" told me that she's getting married. I cannot express how happy and at the same time how sad I was that I reallt felt her "slipping through my fingers". Some close friends would ask me: "How can you be happy and sad at the same time?" I just answer them "I really get so emotional on weddings". Imagine the parents walking the aisle, giving away their child to become one with a stranger. How many times did I put myself into the situation of a parent during weddings. I am teary eyed most of the time.

The intro of the song: "School bag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning..." exactly depicts me and my baby when she goes to school. Sometimes, I heat water for her bath, cook food, pack her bag, iron her uniform, shine her shoes and all the things we do together in preparation for her school. We walk together, talk and wait for her ride. Once the ride comes, assist her in and as the ride goes, I could hardly wave goodbye because I see her go father and farther. It was a mixed emotion!

That was the exact feeling when I received her good news -I saw her going farther and farther- and it just strikes me straight to the hypothalamus! The entire song really sent me a picture of how a parent feels... but the good thing is... she'll be in good arms with her groom-to-be and my heart is so filled with joy!

She's all grown-up, you know. But I'd still like the idea, at least I was given a chance to be a mother, that she is my baby.

Rendition of Meryl Streep (Mamma Mia Soundtrack)

Mamma Mia! Slipping Through My Fingers - 13[MP3-Codes.com].mp3 -

Lyrics | Abba lyrics - Fernando lyrics

My mom loves to sing, no wonder I'm so inclined to music. In fact, the rest of my family members are: my dad, who sings duet with my mom; my sister who sings so great especially with beer in hand; my big brother, who had for himself his own videoke machine and; our youngest brother, whose song I have previously featured here in my blogsite (title: STAY).

Fernando is a song that would remind me greatly of my birthplace: it's called San Fernando, La Union (North of Manila, here in Philippines). I am not really sure if Abba was really referring to a place or a person but for me it is the former. There is so much memory in that place and each time I hear this song, my mind would really bring me back to that place. There were a lot of good childhood memories there for me. We cooked, we went fishing, we learned how to swim, boating, stroll in the evening, played hide and seek (forever because the players usually go straight to the beach while the "seeker" seeks players among the trees, houses and all).

That part of my childhood is like a paradise. There is beach to your left, a runway to your right and playmates in the middle. When we get tired playing in the runway (which was not yet fully functional back then), we play on the grasses, we rest then go swim in the beach. It sounds fun huh? Envious? Come visit our San Fernando one time! Lots of foreigners there too.

Enjoy the sound:

Fernando - ABBA

This is an Abba song that my mom used to sing in what we call "magic sing". We were one of the fortunate families who got the first edition of such gadget for entertainment. It was circa 90s.

Of course, prior to that, my mom had already been singing, even before she was born (wink)... singing is her twin.

Funny thing that I remember this song so much because next to singing, my mom is also fond of that "sports". That kind of sports you will usually see in casinos. When this song was played or sung by her, I almost always try to picture her playing cards and wish she'd "win it all", really! Who would want to lose anyway.

Everyone in the family would attest to the fact that my mom is a mild gambler. She does this during the weekend, after her office work, but not really on a weekly basis (granting that, we would have been so rich, plus she wins it all!) She skips it sometimes, and probably forgets about playing cards when she's with her grand children.

I can just see the smile on my mom's face when she wins it all and so we'll end up singing this song together. haha! Well, anyway, that is my story about this song: my mom, the winner of it all! And let me add that she's really a winner as a mom, a wife, a boss, a lola (grandma) and all.

Here is the lyrics:

Lyrics | Abba lyrics - The Winner Takes It All lyrics

Here is the music:

The Winner Takes It All - ABBA

This is where I would start my Mamma Mia saga. Everyone knows about this musical movie consisting of Abba songs. For the succeeding posts, let me impart with you my stories behind some songs of Abba.

It all started with the song Chiquitita.

I remember watching a televised singing contest with my parents. It was "Ang Bagong Kampeon" hosted by (the late) Bert Marcelo and Ms. Pilita Corales (translation: "The New Champion" circa 80s). It was the first time I learned about the song when one of its contestants sung it as a contest piece. I asked my mom about the original singer and she said it was Abba. At the back of my head, I wondered why would someone be named Abba (in my dialect, it means a kind of rootcrop -vegetable).

My parents used to encourage me to join in a singing contest. My confidence was never solid to start with so I brushed the idea behind my brain. I would recall how my dad would tell me "you can do that, too". I really had a fan in my dad. But my mom would just be quiet as she was maybe listening to my flaws while singing Chiquitita with the contestant.

If my memory serves me right, the contestant who sang that song was proclaimed the new champion. I really loved the part where it says (in a high note) "Try.... once more... like you did before... sing a new song Chiquitita" then the instrumental after that. I can't help but sway with it.

It's good, play it:

Chiquitita - ABBA

and here is the lyrics:

Lyrics | Chiquitita lyrics