One Man, One Woman

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"One Man, One Woman"
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"One Man, One Woman" is a song by

Love Stories and 2012's The Essential Collection.[2]

Synopsis

The song is about a couple (made up of the titular "man" and "woman") trying to save their marriage.[3]

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.[4]

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.[5]

Critical reception

The Sydney Morning Herald described the song as a "big-treatment ballad".[6] Soon after the album was released, The Boston Globe described it as "the most striking of the new songs".[7]

References

  1. ^ "Album Search for "abba the album"". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  2. ^ "One Man, One Woman - ABBA | Song Info | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  3. . Retrieved 2013-09-23.
  4. ISBN 9780646496764. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  5. ISBN 9780646496764. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  6. ^ "The Sydney Morning Herald - Google News Archive Search". News.google.com. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  7. ^ "Gordon Lightfoot Endless Wire Warners". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. 1978-02-16. Retrieved 2013-09-23.