“No Doubt About It” by ABBA
It can be said that the music industry is such that men are the ones who are most often depicted as screwing up romantic relationships, which is more or less a reflection of real life. But such a position definitely isn’t ABBA’s standard. Instead, we have come across a few tracks by this outfit where the woman is rather portrayed as the knucklehead, if you will, in a romance. And so it is with the song “No Doubt About It”.
Indeed this song is quite reminiscent of another track from ABBA’s “Voyage” album entitled “I Can Be That Woman“. For here again we have a female vocalist admitting that some type of discontent that currently exists between her and her lover is “hands down” her “fault”, “no doubt about it”.
And once more, it isn’t specified exactly what she has done, only that the narrator is a penitent, anxious mess in the aftermath.
Furthermore, it can be said that this piece, in a way, centers more on her psychology than the romance itself. That is to say that the narrative is not only about her ‘making a mess this time’ but also how her spouse, in his unwavering compassion or whatever, feels that her reaction is overexaggerated. As described by Björn Ulvaeus, the subject of the song has the tendency to become angry quickly yet also promptly calm down.
And as with “I Can Be That Woman”, this song’s sentimental conclusion features the vocalist vowing to never make such a mistake against her sweetheart ever again.
In Conclusion
Romantic relationships are such that, at times, either party can do something detrimental to the perpetuation of the union. So on one hand, you have to admire ABBA for espousing, in a roundabout way, saying sorry to that special someone.
That said, it’s becoming increasingly suspicious – for lack of a better word – that in seemingly all of such songs by the quartet, the woman is the bad guy or regretful one in these situations.
And this extends beyond the fact that the group’s vocalists are themselves females, since gender pronouns and what have you are also tend to be directly utilized in such pieces.
Credits for “No Doubt About It”
“No Doubt About It” was written by ABBA bandmates and longtime homeys Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. The pair are sorta like the Swedish version of McCartney-Lennon.
And the credited vocalists are the female members of the crew, Frida Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog. In light of what has been argued above, it should be noted that these women were formerly married, respectively, to Andersson and Ulvaeus.
Said marriages were intact back during ABBA’s heyday of the 1970s. But heyday is sort of a relative term anyway. And why? This is because the septuagenarians’ LP “Voyage” has reached number one in about 20 countries, including on the UK Albums Chart.
And said project, which “No Doubt About It” is a part of, was put out by Polar Music on 5 November 2021. Polar Music, which is ABBA’s label since day one (i.e. 1972), released this project in conjunction with its parent company, the Universal Music Group.
Was “No Doubt About It” released as a single?
No. The marketing of ABBA’s “Voyage” album was done with the release of the following songs as the album’s official singles:
‘more or less a reflection of real life’…
Maybe- less, my dear WOMAN…