Mama Mia! Memories Tied to Dancing Queen and Other ABBA Songs

Ah, ABBA! How many times have you sung this Swedish band's songs at the top of your lungs, and even a tad bit louder after a few beers?

Mama Mia! has been all the rage for several years now as a play, and was just released as a film version. Just thinking of ABBA brings back so many memories. My guess is you can relate.

DANCING QUEEN

You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life See that girl, watch that scene, dig in the dancing queen

This song brings back childhood daydreams, especially considering I was in elementary school when it was released. In particular when listening to Dancing Queen, I envisioned twirling around in the arms of Deney Terrio. That's right. Denney Terrio of Dance Fever!

Please don't judge too harshly. My fantasy partner would have been Matt Dillon if only this song had been released just a few years later. Sigh.

DOES YOUR MOTHER KNOW

"Well I can dance with you honey

If you think it's funny

Does your mother know that you're out?

And I can chat with you baby

Flirt a little maybe

Does your mother know that you're out?"

With a chorus like this, the teenage memories come rushing back!

In particular, I loved visiting Tupelo, Mississippi, as a teenager. This town was the home of Elvis and also the land of fun-loving, baseball-slinging guys in Jeeps. And, no, my mother did not know I was out! Fortunately ‘Flirt a little maybe' very accurately described those times.

SUPER TROUPER

"Super trouper beams are gonna blind me

But I wont feel blue

Like I always do

Cause somewhere in the crowd there's you"

If you have been lucky in love, you can relate to the pure bliss of just knowing that the person you adore is nearby. This song brings back the heart-stopping excitement combined with the this-may-end-one-day fear that you rarely experience in life. And even years later, you can still remember the way it felt to be looked at like that, whether in or out of a crowd.

TAKE A CHANCE ON ME

"If you change your mind,

I'm the first in line

Honey I'm still free

Take a chance on me"

This song became my theme song after being dumped during graduate school by the most handsome guy I have ever met. Even worse, he was my upstairs neighbor in a quaint apartment building built in the 20s. With a gay guy friend and a slight buzz, singing this song on my balcony while aiming our voices up to my former boyfriend's balcony seemed like great fun! So much so that we amused ourselves doing this more than once.

It was almost as much fun, in fact, as my gay guy friend and I had when driving around in his convertible singing Carpenters songs, all while I gave beauty pageant waves. Keep in mind, this was in a hip band down, which made us find these antics all the more brazen! We of course were disguised by our sunglasses.

It does not matter, though, how much fun either thing was. I still got dumped by aforementioned neighbor and still secretly hoped he would hear me and take one more chance.

If you've ever been a tad bit reluctant to let go, without mind you being at the point of being completely obsessed, then you can relate. Glad those days are behind me.

THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL

The winner takes it all

The loser has to fall

It's simple and it's plain

Why should I complain.

But tell me does she kiss

Like I used to kiss you?

Does it feel the same

When she calls your name?

This song speaks to true heartbreak and the harsh reality that your ex has moved on to someone else. If you have ever felt like your heart was smashed and that something in you really was taken, this song probably speaks to you.

For me, it happened in my mid-20s and he really did seem to walk away with it all - my adoration, trust, ability to really give and vulnerability. For many years after, he made occasional efforts to perhaps reconcile, but he had taken all.

THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC

"So I say Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing

Thanks for all the joy they're 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"

While this band indeed shot to superstardom, its success came at a price for its members. Marriages ended in divorce. Time was spent away from young children. Tensions rose. The band ultimately broke up with member Agnetha Fältskog becoming reclusive.

And, to ABBA I say with sincerity: thank you for the music. So much of it was great fun, but yet it also contained very human stories to which we can all relate.

And, thank you also for the memories. You gave us so much.