Eamon Blog

Today's Shelf Pull: ABBA, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do / Rock Me

Five Promises and a Change of Shoes

Today's Shelf Pull: ABBA, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do. Read Eamon Lane’s story from Kilmorna in Listowel, with the people, records, art or town life behind it.

Five declarations of intent in one song title. Most of us would have stopped after the second and hoped the message had landed. ABBA, sensibly, keep going. I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do / Rock Me is today's pull, a 2025 seven-inch filed under Rock, with two songs reaching back into the group's self-titled 1975 album.

The attraction here is the difference between the sides. One puts its faith in a saxophone hook and a thoroughly unembarrassed romantic gesture. The other gives Björn Ulvaeus the microphone and lets a little rock swagger through the door. Same group, different shoes.

The catalogue notes trace the A-side's sound to European schlager and the orchestral saxophone style associated with Billy Vaughn. That is a useful starting point because the song's backward glance is part of its charm. ABBA are not treating an older sound as something that needs an apology. They are finding another use for it.

There is a peculiar bravery in being this direct. A title like I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do has nowhere to hide. No misty abstraction, no complicated escape clause. The hook has to carry the statement, and the bright saxophone gives it a proper front door.

On the shelf today

ABBA - I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do / Rock Me

7" / Rock / 2025

EUR15.95 / Available now

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