Thank You for the Music

 

Cast of the Mamma Mia! sequel

Last night I switched on Prime thinking I would watch the Mamma Mia movies again, but instead I decided impulsively to watch Regretting You (based on a Colleen Hoover novel). It was awful, so I am regretting that decision. This morning, while perusing blogs, I saw John Holton's Song Lyric Sunday post about Enya's song, "How Can I Keep from Singing," which reminded me of the ABBA song "Thank You for the Music." I haven't participated in Jim Adams' SLS for a billion years, so why not do one today for his music appreciation theme, while I am inspired? Not to mention avoiding the office work I had planned to do.

Here's the thing about ABBA for me: I liked them all along, but I didn't love them until the first Mamma Mia movie. The sequel Here We Go Again is even better, despite the absence of Meryl Streep as a lead (Lily James excellently portrays young Donna Sheridan.) While ABBA's music was always a treat, the singing itself didn't resonate emotionally with me until the movies ~ even on heartbreak songs I found ABBA's voices pretty but bland. The actors in the movies however, even when they aren't technically good singers (Pierce Brosnan, for example, LOL), give the songs depth and significance. No really! These movies mean a lot to me. They aren't all about silly romances but more an exploration of the deep bonds of motherhood.

At the beginning of MM2, Sophie (Donna's daughter, played by Amanda Seyfried) is sitting at a table on the patio and addressing cards to peeps telling them about the grand reopening of Hotel Belladonna, which she and her boyfriend Sky (played by Dominic Cooper) remodeled after Donna's death. Sophie sings the title song as she's working.

I'm nothing special, in fact, I'm a bit of a bore

When I tell a joke, you've probably heard it before

But I have a talent, a wonderful thing

'Cause everyone listens when I start to sing

I'm so grateful and proud

All I want is to sing it out loud

So I say

Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing

Thanks for all the joy they're bringing

Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty

What would life be?

Without a song or a dance what are we?

So I say thank you for the music

For giving it to me [...]

(Songwriters: Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus)

Here's a link to the whole song with scenes from the movies (mostly the first one). 

*

I feel the need to mention that the two movies have some retroactive continuity (retcon), but sometimes there are unresolved discrepancies. For example, in MM1, there are "old photos" of Donna with each of the "three possible fathers," but in MM2 the young versions of those guys look absolutely nothing like the photos (however, they are still a great match for the actual older actors). There is also a timeline discrepancy about which man Donna meets first, yada. But, as Sophie says to Sky, when he returns for the grand opening: I DON'T CARE!