I abandoned everything I was intending to do recently, in favour of putting a last minute pre-order together for Bandcamp Friday.
Along with the Instrumental Version of Without Apology, (out on all major streaming platforms, April 15th) I’ve also decided to include an impromptu live cover version of ABBA’s “Knowing Me, Knowing You,” which was originally intended for a BBC Live Session that I did back in 2020, for Rianne Thompson… until I decided against it!
I’d completely forgotten all about the song until very recently when someone online (that would be you, Bea Thanatos!) posted about ABBA’s 50th Music Anniversary.
When I recorded “Knowing Me, Knowing You” I remember feeling really, really sad; it was during lockdown and I was feeling something akin to “break up vibes” and a total sense of loss – not over an actual person – but over something else that was deeply personal to me.
I had to scour through many, many Ableton sessions (which wasn’t easy, since I am highly disorganised and my sessions are pure chaos – just ask Rob Irish) to locate said Abba cover. I then tweaked it, mixed it, mastered it… MYSELF… (which I don’t generally do) and now it’s up online and available as a (pre-order) digital download exclusive for Bandcamp Friday!
“Knowing Me, Knowing You” is a stripped back, “doomsday-style” raw performance; significantly less jolly than the original, but nevertheless quite charming in it’s own strange, little way. You can expect some weird pitch-shifting, glitchy guitar pedal effects and some mournful wailing in the end refrain where Benny and Bjorn’s hook would normally go… (a bit of wailing can be a good thing in moderation, believe me.)
All the infamous “ah ha'” and hilarious sultry whispering backing vocals are (thankfully) missing, so you’ll have to sing those bits yourself, otherwise, it’s just me having a bit of fun, singing ABBA in my bedroom, whilst also feeling really sad.
(It turns out you CAN actually be sad and have fun at the same time. It’s a cathartic thing. Go figure.)
It seems unlikely that I will ever release ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’ on any of the major streaming platforms, therefore I think it’s safe to call this a BANDCAMP EXCLUSIVE for all those curious as to what on Earth I might sound like covering Abba, of all people…
One of my favourite ever films as it happens….
Anyone who knows me will know I’m very much in favour of weird cover versions, (weirder the better) and while Abba may be considered a little bit marmite-ish to taste, they also happen to be one of my ONLY musical influences growing up – reaching my young ears by some miracle – in the form of Abba Gold on cassette tape format – as owned by my not-particularly-fussed-about-music parents.
As a very young child I remember being both fascinated and perplexed by how BIG the vocals sounded to my ears; knowing absolutely nothing about the band itself, (not even their name) I remember thinking it sounded as though hundreds of people were singing, and yet, somehow the melodies still managed to sound very singular…. !???
Years later I would come to watch documentaries on ABBA’s production, learning loads of helpful, interesting stuff;
I came to appreciate how complex their music really was;
how all four members of Abba DID, in fact, over-dub vocals on songs multiple times, making for that distinctively heavily-layered and slightly phasey sound;
I learned the reason why Abba songs either sung on karaoke (or as ill advised covers!) are, for the most part, destined to be AWFUL, is due to Agnatha and Ani-Frid having two completely different vocal ranges which meet somewhere in the middle – which means that the majority of ABBA songs are either ridiculously hard, or near impossible to sing – even for “good” singers…
And I know I’m possibly setting myself up for failure in saying that, but I’m also hoping my cover of “Knowing Me, Knowing You” is sufficiently far enough from ABBA, (stylistically speaking) so as not to pose too much of an issue.
Maybe I’m wrong.
Maybe ABBA songs should never be covered at all??
(Even though they are… like… all the time.)
So anyway… why not download the song and let me know if I made a huge mistake? 😉
Rachel,
Girl From Winter Jargon
Lyrics: Knowing Me, Knowing You (ABBA Cover by Girl From Winter Jargon)
No more carefree laughter
Silence ever after
Walking through an empty house, tears in my eyes
Here is where the story ends, this is goodbye
Knowing me, knowing you
There is nothing we can do
Knowing me, knowing you
We just have to face it, this time, we’re through
Breaking up is never easy, I know, but I have to go
Knowing me, knowing you
It’s the best I can do
Memories
Good days
Bad days
They’ll be
With me
Always
In these old familiar rooms, children would play
Now there’s only emptiness, nothing to say
Knowing me, knowing you
There is nothing we can do
Knowing me, knowing you
We just have to face it, this time we’re through
Breaking up is never easy, I know, but I have to go
knowing me, knowing you
It’s the best I can do