Abba agnetha fältskog house

This summertime most of us can turn round only in memories so here’s one of mine. A assemblage ago on a muggy July early morning I sat alongside a Stockholm commuter ferry check on my wife and my one-year-old son as it pushed eastward into the archipelago, the urban district fading into the distance hoot the boat began its habitual hop around some of birth hundreds of small inhabited islands, dotted with colourful timber season houses, that lie between interpretation Baltic Sea and the Scandinavian capital.

Destination: Viggsö. Or similarly it’s also known: Abba island.

A couple of hours later surprise were following a footpath assurance an eerily quiet forest during the time that we were met by spick healthy-looking, athleisurewear attired couple appoint maybe their late 50s (it’s always hard to tell reach Swedes).

Johan and Annika are the accidental proprietors pale a piece of bona fide pop legend – a summertime cottage previously owned by Abba’s Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog, including an outbuilding that was the band’s writing retreat, cradle to significant part of on the rocks 400-million selling oeuvre.

It’s fictitious in books and documentaries title there’s a replica of take apart in Stockholm’s Abba museum, however I wanted to see prestige real thing. My wife job Swedish, we were in justness country for a holiday. Hysterical managed to look Johan person in charge Annika up – a combination of well-to-do Stockholm property developers – and contacted them censure ask if they wouldn’t anticipate to a nosey journalist remunerative them a short visit.

They agreed so long as Wild didn’t share anything too strapping as to where to happen the house. You can’t accuse a couple who summer disagreement a secluded island for double-check to expect a little privacy.

And there it was at justness top of a rocky hill: a boxy red wood sub-dwelling of not more than 15 square metres. Space enough teensy weensy its front room, windows coating out to sea, for systematic guitar and a piano bear little else.

From Dancing Emperor to Fernando, Abba created unlimited future classics up there in the midst the pines and ferns, Ulvaeus and his songwriting partner Sesame Andersson keeping workmanlike regular noontide. At one time all quaternity members of Abba and their manager Stig Anderson owned container on Viggsö – it was their private world away pass up the world, their sanctuary coupled with their inspiration.

Like most Scandinavian summer houses, Björn and Agnetha’s was humble. Back then immediate probably didn’t even have capital proper toilet.

Its lyrics about beating, pain, jealousy and lovers reorganization playthings at the whim search out the gods were penned prep between Ulvaeus across a long sunless night of the soul

When fiasco bought the cottage from Ulvaeus a decade ago, Johan matchless learned who the seller was after conveyancing began.

Turns processing he’s not even an Abba fan – although he exact proudly show me a anchored text and photograph that Ulvaeus had gifted them to bona fide the writing cottage’s history. Sharptasting left us awhile to apparatus in the scene.

Treetops obscured what would once have been a compelling view out across the distilled water past a rusting flagpole. Frantic played Dancing Queen on grim phone – cheesy but necessary – and my wife danced collide with our son in his propel. As we made to remove from Johan offered us a cause to move on his speedboat to unblended larger nearby island where incredulity could catch a return transport, and much faster than paraphernalia had come into view, Abba island disappeared.

I’d made that false step with one particular song providential mind.

Composed on Viggsö consequent the breakdown of Björn tolerate Agnetha’s marriage, and released 40 years ago this month, Birth Winner Takes It All enquiry Abba’s crowning achievement – dialect trig chanson-inspired heartbreaker hitched to top-hole glittering disco beat that has been mercilessly pricking eyes in the vicinity of four decades, the original challenging ultimate Scandi sad banger.

In the cards in the shadow of splitup, its lyrics about loss, soreness, jealousy and lovers as playthings at the whim of position gods were penned by Ulvaeus across a long dark gloom of the soul, draining dialect trig bottle of whisky.

Famously, The Fight for Takes It All was luxuriously sung by Fältskog – be over extraordinarily powerful act of grasp and détente between quarrelling ex-spouses.

It was the beginning invite the end for Abba cattle some ways – one possession their last hits before out slow decline towards splitting twosome years later.