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Welcome to SeeDarkly Sunday DisCOVERies:
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
This Second Sunday Slowly features disco done dark & downtempo... Or I suppose "doom-tempo" might be the more apropos description. :
Beseech - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! [A Man After Midnight] (ABBA)
The Swedish disco dance pop quartet ABBA released Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) as a single in early October 1979. It was one of two tracks not on any previous LP that was included on their compilation album, Greatest Hits Vol. 2, which they released before the end of that month. Its original title was Been and Gone and Done It, which co-writer/composer Björn Ulvaeus decided to change ultimately because it was "an old expression that means you have got married. It was a nice idea, but in the end I thought it was a bit too old-fashioned." Benny Andersson's and his lyrics took a turn toward a darker storyline centered on a lovelorn & dispirited single woman (characterized by Agnetha Fältskog's vocals) plagued by loneliness in the night, making that title even less appropriate. The tone of the song was far from gloomy with its flamboyant disco rhythms that led to it being not just one of their most successful tracks overall but also tremendously popular as somewhat of an anthem within the gay dance-club community. Their use of early electronic instrumentation is said to have been highly influential for many techno musicians in later years. The song was sampled by Madonna for her 2005 single, Hung Up, which it is rumored she begged the band's permission to do. Prior to that several covers had been done. Notable among the live versions are those done by Erasure and Sisters of Mercy. What might be most interesting though is that there are so many metal artists who have covered this particular track, ranging in styles from heavy metal, speed metal, folk metal, and, in this case, gothic doom metal.
Beseech, a Swedish gothic doom metal band, claim they are not "fans" of ABBA but do have a great respect for them. Their cover of Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) was first included on limited edition releases of the 2002 Souls Highway album, then later added to all pressings of the LP's 2007 reissued 2-disc compilation with Sunless Days (their 2005 album featuring a cover of Danzig's Devil's Plaything). When asked about why they chose the song, guitarist Robert Spånglund (now known as Robert Vintervind) had said in one interview, "I got a kind of dark feeling from it as I think the lyrics are pretty dark too so it could fit us very well..." Spånglund also conveyed that they would have preferred to change the lyrics a bit for the recording but could not get the approval from ABBA. They have, however, changed one prominent lyric in live performance; exchanging "a man after midnight" with "your blood after midnight," giving the song slightly more vampiric imagery. Even without that change, their version is certainly as dark and dramatic in style as you might imagine from elder vampires bemoaning their solitary and cursed existence.
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
A "Third Sunday Throwback" to the 20th century with another disco remake, this time by a late synthpop icon interested in helping you keep that body strong!
ᕙ( ͡ಠ‿↼)ᕗ
Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
(You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
I'll spin next in western Mass on the last Friday of the month. As usual, you can find details on my schedule if you like. ^_^
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Aug 06 - Solar Fake - One Step Closer (Linkin Park)
Jul 30 - Black Nail Cabaret - Shouldn't Have Done That (Depeche Mode)
Jul 23 - 4X4: HEALTH/Orkestra Obsolete/The Stitchlings/Bela Goosy - Blue Monday (New Order)
Jul 16 - Renegade Soundwave - Biting My Nails (Geneviève Waïte)
Jul 09 - You Shriek - Invisible Sun (The Police)
Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies
a weekly exploration of goth, industrial, & dark alternative cover songs!
First time here? Click here for details from first entry.
This Second Sunday Slowly features disco done dark & downtempo... Or I suppose "doom-tempo" might be the more apropos description. :
Beseech - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! [A Man After Midnight] (ABBA)
The Swedish disco dance pop quartet ABBA released Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) as a single in early October 1979. It was one of two tracks not on any previous LP that was included on their compilation album, Greatest Hits Vol. 2, which they released before the end of that month. Its original title was Been and Gone and Done It, which co-writer/composer Björn Ulvaeus decided to change ultimately because it was "an old expression that means you have got married. It was a nice idea, but in the end I thought it was a bit too old-fashioned." Benny Andersson's and his lyrics took a turn toward a darker storyline centered on a lovelorn & dispirited single woman (characterized by Agnetha Fältskog's vocals) plagued by loneliness in the night, making that title even less appropriate. The tone of the song was far from gloomy with its flamboyant disco rhythms that led to it being not just one of their most successful tracks overall but also tremendously popular as somewhat of an anthem within the gay dance-club community. Their use of early electronic instrumentation is said to have been highly influential for many techno musicians in later years. The song was sampled by Madonna for her 2005 single, Hung Up, which it is rumored she begged the band's permission to do. Prior to that several covers had been done. Notable among the live versions are those done by Erasure and Sisters of Mercy. What might be most interesting though is that there are so many metal artists who have covered this particular track, ranging in styles from heavy metal, speed metal, folk metal, and, in this case, gothic doom metal.
Beseech, a Swedish gothic doom metal band, claim they are not "fans" of ABBA but do have a great respect for them. Their cover of Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) was first included on limited edition releases of the 2002 Souls Highway album, then later added to all pressings of the LP's 2007 reissued 2-disc compilation with Sunless Days (their 2005 album featuring a cover of Danzig's Devil's Plaything). When asked about why they chose the song, guitarist Robert Spånglund (now known as Robert Vintervind) had said in one interview, "I got a kind of dark feeling from it as I think the lyrics are pretty dark too so it could fit us very well..." Spånglund also conveyed that they would have preferred to change the lyrics a bit for the recording but could not get the approval from ABBA. They have, however, changed one prominent lyric in live performance; exchanging "a man after midnight" with "your blood after midnight," giving the song slightly more vampiric imagery. Even without that change, their version is certainly as dark and dramatic in style as you might imagine from elder vampires bemoaning their solitary and cursed existence.
The Cover:
The Original:
Next week:
A "Third Sunday Throwback" to the 20th century with another disco remake, this time by a late synthpop icon interested in helping you keep that body strong!
ᕙ( ͡ಠ‿↼)ᕗ
Comments, suggestions, discussions, etc... welcome!
(You do NOT need a Dreamwidth account to comment, but all comments are screened for spam prevention.)
I'll spin next in western Mass on the last Friday of the month. As usual, you can find details on my schedule if you like. ^_^
Explore the darkness,
-Xero
Previous DisCOVERies
Aug 06 - Solar Fake - One Step Closer (Linkin Park)
Jul 30 - Black Nail Cabaret - Shouldn't Have Done That (Depeche Mode)
Jul 23 - 4X4: HEALTH/Orkestra Obsolete/The Stitchlings/Bela Goosy - Blue Monday (New Order)
Jul 16 - Renegade Soundwave - Biting My Nails (Geneviève Waïte)
Jul 09 - You Shriek - Invisible Sun (The Police)
Directory of All Previous DisCOVERies