Thought: How ABBA Sings Himself out for Immortality | NDR.de – Culture – Broadcasts

by Claudia Kristofferson

Women get nervous when they turn 50 and ask for jeans. no kidding. Backed by a study and only recently read in a serious daily newspaper. My first engagement: Thomas Bernhard, who wrote a play called Klaus Beemann Buys Pants and Goes Out to Eat With Me. A story that tells how tiring buying pants can be. So Peyman said to Bernard, “Buying pants has always been a tragedy. I don’t know, is it awful to try Shakespeare, or six pairs of pants.”

Well, Klaus Beemann is a theater man who knows how to properly organize things, including everyday things. Thomas Bernhard is a writer who knew how to put sentences right with a good dose of sarcasm. The newspaper article I read was not about a man who buys stylish and elegant trousers, but simply about jeans for women over 50. What’s so cool about that?

ABBA’s Return: Anything But ‘Kai Out of the Box’

When you reach this age group, it’s not just a challenge to find the right pants in size, cut and color. It is also not about the fact that the body may change with an increase in the year, one or another pound on the hips and the old size no longer fit so easily. It’s about something completely different, about the memory law that’s in these pants. Jeans really started popping up in the early/mid-70s. A long time ago, a different era, a different attitude towards life. If we remember them, the images of bygone times return. Being whole is overwhelming and emotionally quivering and seems to bring tears to women today.

The music for this comes, from this time as well, from the pop group that also excites many, not just women, these days: daddy. The Swedish band has just released their new album “Voyage” after a hiatus of more than 40 years. It was founded in 1972, and two years later it was launched worldwide with “Waterloo”. And now, I just came back. Although it’s not as easy as “Kai out of the box” either.

Time traces also in ABBA

Your back is very well prepared Your music sounds like the sound it had at the time. But the effects of time simply did not pass on the four Swedes. But when ABBA hits the big stage next spring, audiences will face the so-called Avatar. Forever beautiful digital art characters, young, flexible, dynamic, without folds, wrinkles, without physical ailments. As an avatar, Agnetha, Frida, Bjorn and Benny can jump, jump, and dance as if they were forever young.

Philosopher Ernst Bloch has always been interested in the question: what does the future look like? How can the future be predicted? In his landmark work The Principle of Hope, Bloch sought and examined contrasts with the fragile present. He knew the power of daydreaming, the power of consumption, and the landscapes of dreams in painting, poetry, and music.

Is the illusion convincing or disappointing?

The incarnations of ABBA are trying to step into the future, into a utopia. They pull the future into the present and make everyday life in the present more beautiful and enduring for their fans. But one doubt remains. When the world of Avatar opens up next year: will illusion convince or will virtual reality lead to disappointment?

additional information

Abba’s new album will be called “Voyage”. In addition, the Swedes announced that they will soon return to the stage – but only virtually. more

Besides Ikea and crisp bread, ABBA is one of Sweden’s biggest exports. On April 6, 1974, the band won the Eurovision Song Contest with “Waterloo” – and became a cult.
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Our columnists review the week on their cultural themes and tell what got them excited. Personally, critically and with pleasure, it is also peppered with a little grudge. more