6812. ABBA - Fernando
From: Greatest Hits ; Year: 1975 (1976); Genre: Pop/Rock Yet another case of a song playing in my head.... I cannot count the amount of times I have heard this track; my Dad owned everyone of ABBA's records and for the most part played them all the way through. For some reason this track in particular is one that just catches your attention even more that usual from the Swedish superstars. Originally Benny and Bjorn along with their manager Stig Anderson wrote this one for Anni-Frid's solo album in '75 and later recorded it as a single for the band as well; the original was sung in Swedish and the entire story/lyrics were different as well. With the Swedish version the titular Fernando, (whose name was taken from a bartender at one of the band's favourite clubs in Stockholm), is being consoled after the loss of a love. In the English version Bjorn wrote the lyrics in the form of two old veterans of the Mexican Revolution reminiscing about their tour of duty as freedom ...
