Should I Laugh or Cry
{{Infobox song
| name = Should I Laugh or Cry
| cover =
| type =
| artist = ABBA
| album = Thank You for the Music
| A-side = "One of Us"
| released = {{Start date|1981|11|30|df=y}}
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre = Synth-pop{{cite web|first= Felix|last= Rowe|title= Classic Album: Abba - The Visitors|website= Classic Pop |date= October 31, 2024|url= https://www.classicpopmag.com/2024/10/classic-album-abba-the-visitors/|accessdate= December 22, 2024}}
| length =
| label =
| writer = Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus
| producer =
| misc = {{External music video|header=Audio|{{YouTube|kTmZnQOfAF8|"Should I Laugh Or Cry"}}|type=song}}
}}
"Should I Laugh or Cry" is a song by Swedish pop group ABBA, released as the B-side to the 1981 singles "One of Us" and "When All Is Said and Done" for the album The Visitors. Lead vocals were handled by Anni-Frid Lyngstad. It first appeared on an album on the 1983 compilation Thank You for the Music.
Synopsis
ABBA - Uncensored on the Record says: "Should I Laugh or Cry" is "a rather bitter song" about the end of a relationship.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-hkbqflhfKoC&q=%22%22Should+I+Laugh+or+Cry%22+%22+abba&pg=PT77 |title=Abba - Uncensored on the Record |isbn=9781908538239 |last1=Tobler |first1=John | date=2012-01-04}} ABBA: Let the Music Speak explains it as "reflect[ing] a failing relationship's pre-emptive strikes of anger and contemplation". The narrator is the "emotionally afflicted party", both "volatile and pitiless" in the verses yet "tender and forgiving" in the choruses. There is a sense that this is the last time the narrator will put up with this situation.{{cite book |last=Patrick |first=Christopher |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=81 |edition=1st}}
Composition
{{Over-quotation|date=January 2022|section=yes}}
The chorus harmonies are "intricate" and "close-knit". Agnetha's "dreamy echo vocal" adds a sense of sadness to Frida's "fiery sentiments". The song has "deep percusive strikes" and also a "defiant electric glissando" in the verses, and a "lilting acoustic" in the chorus.
Release
While originally recorded on 4 September 1981 during sessions for the album The Visitors,{{Cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-visitors-mw0000188860 |title = The Visitors - ABBA | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic |website = AllMusic}} "Should I Laugh or Cry" was ultimately not included. However, the song is included on Thank You for the Music (1983){{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r28629|pure_url=yes}} |title=Thank You for the Music > Overview |publisher=Allmusic |access-date=May 1, 2010}} and as a bonus track on remastered reissues of The Visitors.