One Man, One Woman
{{Infobox song
| name = One Man, One Woman
| cover =
| alt =
| type =
| artist = ABBA
| album = The Album
| released = 12 December 1977
| format =
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre =
| length = 4:33
| label = Polar
| writer = Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus
| producer = Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus
| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|sw_fuu9jIOc|"ABBA - One Man, One Woman"}}}}
}}
"One Man, One Woman" is a song by ABBA, released on their 1977 album ABBA: The Album. It is that album's third track after "Eagle" and "Take a Chance on Me".{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/search/albums/abba+the+album|title=Album Search for "abba the album"|website=AllMusic|access-date=23 April 2021}} Composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, it has appeared on several compilation albums over the years, such as 1998's Love Stories and 2012's The Essential Collection.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/one-man-one-woman-mt0007564549|title=One Man, One Woman - ABBA | Song Info | AllMusic|access-date=23 April 2021|website=AllMusic}}
Synopsis
The song is about a couple (made up of the titular "man" and "woman") trying to save their marriage.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jo4ZAQAAIAAJ&q=%22one+man+one+woman%22+abba |title=Bright Lights Dark Shadows: The Real Story of Abba - Carl Magnus Palm - Google Books |access-date=2013-09-23|isbn=9781847724199 |year=2008 |last1=Palm |first1=Carl Magnus }}
Composition
Anni-Frid Lyngstad sang the lead vocals. The instruments used in the song are piano, synths, guitar and strings. The piano is used to add a colourful countermelody to the vocal pauses in the chorus, a similar technique to the "descending double-octave riff" used in "Dancing Queen." The synth is used in a "chord-per-bar" fashion throughout the verses, and strings take over in the chorus.{{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|page=122|edition=1st}}
Analysis
Abba: Let the Music Speak describes the song as "one of ABBA's most introspective portraits of the fragility of human relationships", adding that it is engulfed by a "genuinely fatalistic quality". It says that Frida's lead vocal is filled with "urgency and inner suffering...insecurity and self-doubt", filling the song with "unsettling realism". Both her performance and the musical progressions of the song illustrate an unsureness and lack of faith.{{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|page=41|edition=1st}}
Critical reception
The Sydney Morning Herald described the song as a "big-treatment ballad".{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YJ9WAAAAIBAJ&sjid=I-cDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1864,4227593&dq=one+man+one+woman+abba&hl=en|title=The Sydney Morning Herald - Google News Archive Search|website=News.google.com|access-date=23 April 2021}} Soon after the album was released, The Boston Globe described it as "the most striking of the new songs".{{cite web|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/746969820 |title=Gordon Lightfoot Endless Wire Warners |publisher=Pqasb.pqarchiver.com |date=1978-02-16 |access-date=2013-09-23}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{ABBA}}
{{ABBA songs}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Music videos directed by Lasse Hallström
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