Girl From Winter Jargon's Live Cover Version of ABBA's "Knowing Me, Knowing You," which was originally intended for a BBC Live Session that was recorded back in 2020 for Rianne Thompson, (BBC Tees) until Rachel (Girl From Winter Jargon) decided against it.
Afore mentioned BBC Live Session is here:
girlfromwinterjargon.bandcamp.com/album/lockdown-sessions-for-rianne
Girl From Winter Jargon had forgotten all about the song until someone posted online about ABBA's 50th Music Anniversary:
"When I recorded 'Knowing Me, Knowing You,' I remember feeling really, really sad; it was during lockdown and I was feeling something akin to "break up vibes" and a total sense of loss - not over an actual person - but over something else that was deeply personal to me.
I had to scour through many, many Ableton sessions to locate said Abba cover. I then tweaked it, mixed it, mastered it... MYSELF... (which I don't generally do) and now it's up online and available as a (pre-order) digital download exclusive for Bandcamp Friday!"
"'Knowing Me, Knowing You' is a stripped back, "doomsday-style" raw performance; significantly less jolly than the original, but nevertheless quite charming in it's own strange, little way.
You can expect some weird pitch-shifting, glitchy guitar pedal effects and some mournful wailing in the end refrain where Benny and Bjorn's hook would normally go... (a bit of wailing can be a good thing in moderation, believe me.)
All the infamous "ah ha'" and hilarious sultry whispering backing vocals are (thankfully) missing, so you'll have to sing those bits yourself, otherwise, it's just me having a bit of fun, singing ABBA in my bedroom, whilst also feeling really sad.
(It turns out you CAN actually be sad and have fun at the same time. It's a cathartic thing. Go figure.)
It seems unlikely that I will ever release 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' on any of the major streaming platforms, therefore I think it's safe to call this a BANDCAMP EXCLUSIVE for all those curious as to what on Earth I might sound like covering Abba of all people...
FUN FACT: Anyone who knows me will know I'm very much in favour of weird cover versions, (weirder the better) and while Abba may be considered a little bit marmite-ish to taste, they also happen to be one of my ONLY musical influences growing up - reaching my young ears by some miracle in the form of Abba Gold on the cassette tape format, owned by my not-particularly-fussed-about-music parents.
As a very young child I remember being both fascinated and perplexed by how BIG the vocals sounded to my ears; knowing absolutely nothing about the band itself, (not even their name) I remember thinking it sounded as though hundreds of people were singing, and yet, somehow the melodies still managed to sound very singular.
Years later I would come to watch documentaries on ABBA's production, learning loads of helpful, interesting stuff;
I came to appreciate how complex their music really was;
how all four members of Abba DID, in fact, over-dub vocals on songs multiple times, making for that distinctively heavily-layered and slightly phasey sound;
I learned that the reason why Abba songs either sung on karaoke (or as ill advised covers!) are, for the most part, destined to be AWFUL, is all down to Agnatha and Ani-Frid having two completely different vocal ranges which meet somewhere in the middle, which means that the majority of ABBA songs are either ridiculously hard, or near impossible to sing... I know I'm possibly setting myself up for failure in saying that, but I'm also hoping my cover of "Knowing Me, Knowing You" is sufficiently far enough from ABBA, (stylistically speaking) so as not to pose too much of an issue.
Maybe I'm wrong.
Maybe ABBA songs should never be covered at all?
(Even though they are... like... all the time.)
So anyway, why not download the song and let me know if I made a huge mistake?"
Rachel,
Girl From Winter Jargon