“I have a dream, a song to sing, if you see the wonder of a fairy tale You can take the future even if you fail to help me cope with anything”
THE above lines are from the song “I Have a Dream” by the Swedish pop group ABBA (composed of Agnetha Fältskog, Bjí¶rn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad).
In the history of pop music, ABBA is probably one of the most popular groups of all time. Their songs remain timeless that even those of the younger generations know them. Play the song “Dancing Queen,” which was released in 1976, and watch it turn an event into a festive happening. The song has become a staple during parties and celebrations.
Aside from “Dancing Queen,” another big ABBA hit is “I Have a Dream,” released in 1979. This is my favorite.
The dictionary defines a dream as a series of events or images that happen in your mind when you are sleeping; something that you want to happen very much but that is not very likely; or something good that someone wanted very much to happen but seemed very unlikely, yet does in fact happen.
It is said that in many ancient societies people who had dreams that came true were given specific positions in the community.
According to the website: dreaminterpretation.org there are precognitive/predictive dreams, telepathic dreams and clairvoyant dreams. There are different reasons why people experience precognitive dreams such as selective recall, association of unrelated events and coincidence.
All of us had dreams when we were young, as we started our careers, and even after we retire from working 9 to 5 jobs. We look back and ask ourselves, did our dreams come true?
So much has been written about how to achieve one’s dreams. One such method is visualization; one has to think about what one wants to achieve in detail and then picture oneself as already accomplishing that goal. We are also often given this advice: Believe in yourself and don’t be discouraged by setbacks.
‘Every goal we reach has once been part of a dream we thought would never come true.’– Sandra Cooze
When I daydream, it is a goal and I work hard to achieve that dream. But the dreams at night may be foreboding or just seeing someone or something that is close to my heart. I recall that of the many dreams I had, some came true, some just remained a dream. Has this happened to you?
I was transported into this dreamland as I had the opportunity recently to watch the “Abba Mania Mama Mia” show at the Newport Performing Arts Theater with my closest friends. While it was not the original ABBA that performed but a group of young artists, including a Filipino, the group did not disappoint. It was a wonderful planned weekend capped by an overnight stay at the Solaire Hotel.
Most of the numbers were of course the group’s most popular songs from the 1970s-1980s. “Take a Chance on Me”, “Knowing Me, Knowing You”, “Chiquitita”, “Fernando,” among them. At one point, the audience was asked to stand up and dance to the music: “Money, Money, Money”, “Waterloo” and “Gimme, Gimme, Gimme.” My friends and I were at first too shy to stand up and dance, but when we saw many ladies dancing with gusto, we held hands and stood up and did our thing. It was throwing all inhibitions to the winds. And what fun it was!
When the group sang “The Winner Takes It All,” it left one of us in tears, the song being the favorite of her late husband. After the concert on our way back to the hotel, she haltingly told us her love story. Not only was she relieved of the burden she carried in her heart and told us a love story worth writing about.
“I don’t wanna talk about things we’ve gone through
Though it’s hurting me now it’s history
I’ve played all my cards and that’s what you’ve done, too
Nothing more to say, no more ace to play …
The gods may throw the dice their minds as cold as ice
And someone way down here loses someone dear
The winner takes it all…”
Many more songs were sung: “Mama Mia”, “One of Us”, “Super Trouper”, “I Do, I Do, I Do.” The audience just couldn’t get enough of them, and they were treated to more encore numbers. By then, most of the audience was up on their feet dancing and spilling over into the aisles.
The show finally ended with “Dancing Queen,” and we wanted more!
The theater was filled to the brim and when the lights went on, we were surprised to recognize many friends, mostly from our generation. In fact, I met one of my nieces who watched the show by herself. We had fun catching up on each other’s lives and made a date to watch a Bootleg Beatles show sometime in October.
Then perhaps I can write about the songs that touched us from that era. Life is a Spiral, we remember songs in our youth, in our young adult life and think about the good times we had and hope to continue having good times till we reach the end of that spiral.
