Dum Dum Diddle
{{Infobox song
| name = Dum Dum Diddle
| cover =
| alt =
| type = song
| artist = ABBA
| album = Arrival
| B-side = Tiger
| released =
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| year = 1976
| length = 2:53
| label = Polar (Sweden)
Epic (UK)
Atlantic (US)
| writer = Björn Ulvaeus
Benny Andersson
| producer = Björn Ulvaeus
Benny Andersson
| misc = {{External music video|header=Audio|{{YouTube|3yoTDkGuHxw|"Dum Dum Diddle"}}|type=song}}
}}
"Dum Dum Diddle" is a song by ABBA, released on their 1976 album Arrival. In 1977, it was released as a promo single in Argentina on the RCA label.
Production
When asked how ABBA made "such a ridiculous and quite banal song [as Dum Dum Diddle] come alive,"{{cn|date=July 2023}} Björn Again founder Rod Leissle said, "I think ABBA had a special quality about them. They could put ridiculous lyrics into a song, and because they were fundamentally great songwriters they could make it work. A line like 'Dum Dum Diddle, to be your fiddle' doesn't really make a great deal of sense, but it still works because it's something you can sing along to and enjoy".{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-hkbqflhfKoC&q=%22Dum+Dum+Diddle%22+abba&pg=PT112 | title = Abba - Uncensored on the Record | isbn = 9781908538239 | last1 = Tobler | first1 = John | date = 2012-01-04}}
Composition
"Dum Dum Diddle" is a folk-inspired pop song, featuring acoustic guitar from Lasse Wellander in the verses. Lead vocals are shared by Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The song has a fiddle-style refrain (simulated by a synthesiser), which serves as its hook. It contains a "stream of strong melodies and instrumentation".{{cite book|last=Tesch|first=Christopher Patrick ; editor: Matthew|title=ABBA : let the music speak : an armchair guide to the musical soundscape of the Swedish supergroup|year=2008|publisher=Christopher J N Patrick|location=Fairfield Gardens, Qld.|isbn=9780646496764|pages=33, 121|edition=1st}}
Synopsis
The song is about a woman who quietly longs for the affections of a sad, lonely man who derives his only pleasure from constantly playing and practicing on his violin. The Guardian described it as "a song about a woman who feels sexually threatened by her partner's violin".{{cite news|author=Alexis Petridis |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/oct/28/popandrock.shopping7 |title=CD: Abba, The Complete Studio Recordings | Music |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=2013-10-07}}
Critical reception
Abba's Abba Gold suggests that ABBA criticised the song, but adds that the writers of the book like it.{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yoCV0eaetb0C&q=%22Dum+Dum+Diddle%22+abba&pg=PA11 | title = Abba's Abba Gold | isbn = 9780826415462 | last1 = Vincentelli | first1 = Elisabeth | date = 2004-03-31}} Abba - Uncensored on the Record said the "unfortunately titled song ... seemed like a reversion to Eurovision-style thinking". The complete New Zealand music charts, 1966-2006 describes the song as "rather silly but fun".{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=wyU5AQAAIAAJ&q=%22Dum+Dum+Diddle%22+abba | title = The complete New Zealand music charts, 1966-2006: Singles, albums, DVDs, compilations | isbn = 9781877443008 | last1 = Scapolo | first1 = Dean | date = January 2007}} Bright Lights Dark Shadows: The Real Story of Abba implied that Eagle was more lyrically ambitious than "the 'dum dum diddles' of ABBA's earlier work".{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=jo4ZAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Dum+Dum+Diddle%22+abba | title = Bright Lights Dark Shadows: The Real Story of Abba | isbn = 9781847724199 | last1 = Palm | first1 = Carl Magnus | date = 2008-09-01}} The Los Angeles Times described the song as "cheery nonsense".{{cite news |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/153339641 |title=POP MUSIC; DISC DERBY: WE'RE GONNA GET LETTERS |publisher=Los Angeles Times: Archives |date=1983-01-30 |access-date=2013-10-07 |author=Hilburn, Robert |pages=K62-3 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304231957/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/doc/153339641.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jan%2030,%201983&author=&pub=Los%20Angeles%20Times&edition=&startpage=&desc=POP%20MUSIC |url-status=live }} The Scotsman implied that "Dum Dum Diddle" was a bad song by saying: "LIFE – to quote Toni Collette in Muriel's Wedding – can be 'as good as an Abba song' but the clunky transfer of Mamma Mia! from stage to screen proves that it can be just as awful as 'Dum Dum Diddle' too."{{cite news|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/film-review-mamma-mia-1-1434485 |title=Film review: Mamma Mia! |newspaper=The Scotsman |date=2008-07-04 |access-date=2013-10-07}}