“I Still Have Faith in You” by ABBA

As touched upon later in the post, “I Still Have Faith in You” is a song which was inspired by the relationship among the members of ABBA. Or more specifically it was inspired by the fact that they have found themselves officially back together after a nearly 40 year hiatus, which has to be some type of industry record. 

You can view the lyrics, alternate interprations and sheet music for ABBA's I Still Have Faith in You at Lyrics.org.

And as the title reveals, the primary sentiment being expressed is one of faith in one another. Verily, even “through all these years that faith lives on, somehow”. Or more simply explained, the quartet has managed to form the type of bond that is able to lovingly persist for a lifetime, which is in fact a rarity.

Then heading into the refrain and subsequently the second and the third verses, the vocalist(s) alludes to this whole situation not being some sort of fairytale, as it may have read earlier on. In other words, the singer acknowledges that there were doubts along the way, even if said misgivings existed solely within him or herself. 

Or stated otherwise, it wasn’t like s/he was able to perceive one day reuniting. But ABBA shares that type of love among them, as noted previously, which never dies. So it can be deduced that the singer didn’t fully appreciate this reality until actually getting back together with his and her compadres. And it was then the singer realized that the same faith s/he has in them they also have in him/her. 

Or put more into layman’s terms, even after having some serious beef with each other and accordingly not communicating for an extended period, the vocalists are able to celebrate that to the contrary they have a friendship which not only survived such challenges but also the test of time in general.

Lyrics of "I Still Have Faith in You" by ABBA

Conclusion of “I Still Have Faith in You”

And yes, at the end of the day “I Still Have Faith in You” is very much an ode to friendship. It pays homage to the kind of friendship that is a bit deeper than how it may appear on the surface. For this isn’t simply a case of ‘oh, I haven’t seen you in a long time, and that has made me realize how much I love you’. 

Rather it can be gleaned that forgiving one another, if you will, has also helped the vocalists. It has helped them realize within their own individual selves that they actually possess the strength to put the past behind them. And to be honest, forgetting about the past wasn’t an easy thing to do in the case of ABBA considering how deep the relationships within them actually ran.

ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus talks about  "I Still Have Faith in You"

ABBA

ABBA is a band we have covered pretty extensively in the past considering that they rank amongst the top-selling musicians in industry history. This is despite the fact that up until this point they have only really been active for about a decade in total. 

And that decade, of course, was primarily the 1970s (more specifically 1972 to 1982). And within that time, the quartet dropped a ton of mega hits such as:

In fact if you were to visit their discography via Wikipedia, all 50-ish of their standard singles (besides “Don’t Shut Me Down“, which was released concurrently with the song we’re covering today) have thus far earned their own respective Wikipedia pages.

One of things that makes ABBA so extraordinary is that they actually come from Sweden. Sweden is a country that’s not really known for producing internationally-recognized musicians, especially back in those days. 

More about ABBA

Also interesting to note is that the quartet were involved in the most serious types of relationships imaginable with each other. That is to say that throughout most of the ABBA’s vintage years, members Agnetha Fältskog and Bjorn Ulvaeus were actually married. They were specifically married from 1971 to 1980. 

And the other two musicians that rounded out the crew, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad (aka Frida), were themselves engaged throughout the bulk of the 1970s. They also went on to get married late in the decade. However, they divorced in the early-1980s. 

And as the legend goes, even though ABBA’s music wasn’t as poppin’ in the 1980s as it had been prior, it was the drama associated with those romances that proved to be the main factor which led to the band breaking up.

From that time to now, over 20 ABBA compilation albums have come out, a handful of them proving to be major hits themselves, as a further testament to the quartet’s stardom. 

As implied above, the first incarnation of ABBA dissolved under less-than-ideal terms, as it usually goes when you’re dealing with divorces and what have you. As such throughout the 40 years, all four members of the crew appearing together were very rare occurrences. 

In fact whereas ABBA may have been able to retain widespread appreciation as time progressed, we would venture to say that the general understanding, even based on some statements made by members themselves, was that for a time the likelihood of the entire quarter reuniting was considered to be next to nil. 

The ABBA Miracle and “I Still Have Faith in You”

Yet circa the late-2010s, to the delight of many, it appeared as if all hatchets had been buried, at least in the name of ABBA recording new songs. But by the looks of things, getting them public was not an easy process, with the coronavirus pandemic of course being a factor. 

For instance, “I Still Have Faith in You” was actually put together back in 2018. And apparently, the plan was for it (as well as “Don’t Shut Me Down”) to be released that very year. But instead, both tracks didn’t get around to being officially issued until 2 September 2021. 

And the label that put them out is Polar Music. FYI Polar Music is the same company that has been backing ABBA since day one.

I Still Have Faith in You

More Interesting Facts

“I Still Have Faith in You” alongside “Don’t Shut Me Down” serves as the (separate) lead singles from Voyage. Voyage holds the great distinction of being the band’s first studio album in 40 years. 

For the record, the last studio album ABBA came out with, which was also a products of Polar Records (as are all their studio projects), was 1981’s The Visitors. This was a UK Albums Chart topper. It also peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200, marking one of the crew’s more impressive showings in the United States.

ABBA looks pretty spiffy on the pics being released promoting their comeback. In fact the overall event is a veryvery high-tech affair, as to be expected with the reemergence of artists of ABBA’s legendary stature, even if they are seniors. 

In fact as implied by the history above, Frida, Agnetha, Bjorn and Benny are older than your average pop musician by this point. For example, Fältskog, at the age of 71, is the youngest of the crew. And Ulvaeus, being 76 years old, the eldest member of ABBA.

Writing and Recording of “I Still Have Faith in You”

The writer and producers of this song are Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. The pair has traditionally served such roles on virtually all of ABBA’s tracks. 

And according to Bjorn, upon hearing what Andersson had initially put together he ‘just knew when he played the melody that the song had to be about ABBA’. Moreover, as Ulvaeus has explained, the overall recording process, it’s as if, even after all these decades, the individual members of the group are “still the best of friends”.

According to him, the recording process, saw them thoroughly enjoy being in “each other’s company”.

Grammy Nomination

“I Still Have Faith in You” earned ABBA their first ever Grammy nomination at the 2022 Grammys. The song was nominated in the category of “Record of the Year”.

6 Responses

  1. Anonymous says:

    So good to hear ABBA new music. Love it now…loved it then 💕

  2. Karl says:

    My late father enjoyed their fresh music back in the day.. My father is the one who introduced their music to me by playing Vinyl records. Now he’s no more, but now I get to enjoy fresh music from ABBA, who my Father adorned very much….. but I wish he lived until this moment to enjoy ABBA once again for one last time…. Love you Dad….love you ABBA.

  3. Michelle L says:

    Loved them then; the resilience they portray is a true testament of their friendships, love and spirit to continue to show us they are still amazingly gifted! Thank you for showing us all that hard work and perseverance pay off♥️

  4. Anonymous says:

    Wow! Other than my love for ABBA, I admire the way you break the meaning of the song down. ABBAs songs were among those I played as I was learning how to play the guitar since I have a thing for old things (songs, cars, house designs, instruments…you name it). This song will be a good dedication to my estranged wife as well. Hope it brings her back home.

  5. Cherry A says:

    I have always loved ABBA music and so pleased they have got back together to make more brilliant music. Thank you ABBA

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