![\"Frida](\"http:\/\/www.abacus-es.com\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/fridabenny.jpg\" "\\"fridabenny\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nFrida and Benny<\/p>\n
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So rarely is the ending of a relationship so gracious that it deserves celebration. It is a time of pain, sometimes mingled with doubt, inevitability, resentment, and so many other emotions which do not lend themselves to a celebratory conclusion and certainly rarely inspire one to immortalize it in verse or song. This is why it is so remarkable to see and experience a song that does so with such maturity, grace, and optimism as the one ABBA has given us in When All Is Said And Done<\/a><\/em>. It is not just a brilliant song, it is the ultimate tribute to love, the relationship, the participants, and their affection that they could make that culmination into such a masterpiece. It is indeed a dedication of far greater significance than any number of blindly optimistic marriage songs and vows — to be able to exult in the inevitable and timely conclusion to a love which, not only the participants, but much of the world has followed and appreciated. It is a gift to us all.<\/p>\n \n All of these brilliant elements are present:<\/p>\n The toast:<\/p>\n The autumnal migratory metaphor:<\/p>\n The ever repeated effort to salvage the relationship:<\/p>\n The inevitability, the decision:<\/p>\n The memories, the appreciation. No blame nor resentment:<\/p>\n The decision made, the leisurely departure:<\/p>\n \n The optimism and the future:<\/p>\n When All Is Said and Done<\/em> was written at the time of the breakup of Benny and Frida, after the breakup of Bj\u00c3\u00b6rn and Agnetha, and all four took part.<\/p>\n \n Listening to this song and ABBA interviews, particularly the Swedish ones, recalls many emotions. I was going through a breakup from my Swedish wife at that same time this was written, similarly gracious, appreciative, and inevitable, but in the midst of that trauma, I could no more have written and sung about it than swum to the moon. Therein lies the creative and dedicated genius and the legacy of the ABBA four.<\/p>\n \nHere's to us<\/pre>\n
one more toast\r\n\r\nand then we'll pay the bill<\/pre>\n
deep inside<\/pre>\n
both of us\r\n\r\ncan feel the autumn chill\r\n\r\nbirds of passage\r\n\r\nyou and me\r\n\r\nwe fly instinctively\r\n\r\nwhen the summer's over\r\n\r\nand the dark clouds hide the sun\r\n\r\nneither you nor I'm to blame\r\n\r\nwhen all is said and done<\/pre>\n
It's so strange<\/pre>\n
when you're down\r\n\r\nand lying on the floor\r\n\r\nhow you rise\r\n\r\nshake your head\r\n\r\nget up and ask for more<\/pre>\n
clear-headed and open-eyed<\/pre>\n
with nothing left untried<\/pre>\n
thanks for all your generous love<\/pre>\n
and thanks for all the fun\r\n\r\nneither you nor I'm to blame\r\n\r\nwhen all is said and done<\/pre>\n
standing calmly at the crossroads<\/pre>\n
no desire to run\r\n\r\nthere's no hurry any more\r\n\r\nwhen all is said and done<\/pre>\n
slightly worn<\/pre>\n
but dignified\r\n\r\nand not too old for sex\r\n\r\nwe're still striving for the sky<\/pre>\n