I Am The City - ABBA

Thread: I Am The City - ABBA

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  1. Jim Colyer's Avatar

    Jim Colyer said:

    Default I Am The City - ABBA

    ABBA's identification with the city is complete. The city throbs, and so does the beat. They are singing about Stockholm. This island city extends its invitation.

    Bjorn is obviously flying back to Stockholm and ready to land at Arlanda Airport. He is looking through the clouds at his sprawling city. It is a revelation, beautiful. It is constantly growing even if it is because of illegal immigration. The city is organic, a living thing. I came to live in bustling Nashville during the ABBA years and became familiar with crowded streets and never ending noise. I contributed to its melting pot, walking its streets and talking the language of country music. I have walked the streets of Stockholm also, and Nashville and Stockholm have much in common: people, cars, hotels, parks, cocktail bars and funny smells.

    Stockholm is worthy of worship in "I Am The City." Its citizens shop at NK, the department store on Hamngatan. By night, they dance to ABBA music in local discotheques while grabbing pieces of the fatted calf.

    This vision of Stockholm is very different from the one in the song "Tiger." In "Tiger" night life has its dangers. It could be alcoholism, prostitution or the loss of one's identity. The city becomes a jungle. Still, ABBA are city folk and cease to function without it.




    I AM THE CITY
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6PLBXCXGRQ

    Coming through a cloud you're looking at me from above
    And I'm a revelation spreading out before your eyes
    And you find me beautiful and irresistible
    A giant creature that forever seems to grow in size
    And you feel a strange attraction
    The air is vibrant and electrified
    Welcome to me here I am, my arms are open wide

    Somewhere in the middle of the neverending noise
    There is a pulse, a steady rhythm of a heart that beats
    And a million voices blend into a single voice
    And you can hear it in the clamor of the crowded streets
    People come and take their chances
    Sometimes you win sometimes you lose a lot
    Come make your own contribution to this melting pot

    I'm the street you walk
    The language you talk
    I am the city
    The skyline is me and the energy
    I am the city
    The famous hotels and the cocktail bars
    And the funny smells
    And the turmoil, the cars and the people
    The air that you're breathing is me
    Yes I am the city you let me be

    People feed me with their lives I am a hungry soul
    And they all worship me and pay their homage day and night
    Every day I knew a lot of tired shopping feet
    But come the night they will be dancing in the neon light
    Dazzled by the crazy magic
    They're grabbing pieces of the fatted calf
    And in the wind if you listen hard you'll hear me laugh

    I'm the street you walk
    The language you talk
    I am the city
    The skyline is me and the energy
    I am the city
    The famous hotels and the cocktail bars
    And the funny smells
    And the turmoil, the cars and the people
    The parks and the squares that you see
    All the sounds that you hear
    And the air that you're breathing is me
    Yes, I am the city you let me be

    I am the city
    You let me be
    I am the city

    The famous hotels and the cocktail bars
    And the funny smells
    And the turmoil, the cars and the people
    The air that you're breathing is me

    Coming through a cloud
    You're looking at me from above
    And I'm a revelation spreading out before your eyes

    I'm the street you walk
    The language you talk
    I am the city
    Yes I am the city you let me be

    And you find me beautiful and irresistible
    A giant creature that forever seems to grow in size
    The skyline is me and the energy
    I am the city
    You let me be

    Somewhere in the middle of the neverending noise
    There is a pulse, a steady rhythm of a heart that beats
    I'm the street you walk
    The language you talk
    I am the city
    Yes I am the city you let me be

    And a million voices blend into a single voice
    And you can hear it in the clamour of the crowded streets
    The skyline is me and the energy
    I am the city
    You let me be
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