(ABBA) Benny & Björn : Love Has Its Ways - 1972

In Japan, ‘Merry-Go-Round’ was issued as an A-side, but credited to Björn and Benny only. Furthermore, it was a different mix of the song than the one issued by ABBA. The B-side of the Japanese single was ‘Tänk om jorden vore ung’, in Swedish. However, when the single was issued there was quite a bit of confusion: the A-side acquired the “Swenglish” title ‘En carousel’ while the B-side somehow was labelled as another song altogether: ‘Lycka’! To confuse matters even more, in Sweden ‘Merry-Go-Round’ was issued as the Swedish-language Björn and Benny single ‘En karusell’. However, the single B-side, ‘Att finnas till’ (“To Exist”), actually became the bigger hit.

‘Merry-Go-Round’ failed to repeat the success of ‘She’s My Kind Of Girl’ in Japan. Therefore, the Japanese record label felt that they should contribute a melody of their own for the Swedes to record, something that was closer to the melancholy tones of ‘She’s My Kind Of Girl’. The writing of the lyrics was entrusted to Björn and Benny themselves, although with the instruction that the theme had to be “lost love”. At the end of August 1972, the duo recorded their third and final Japanese single: ‘Love Has Its Ways’. The B-side featured ‘Rock’n Roll Band’, which would later acquire backing vocals from Frida and Agnetha and be included on the first ABBA album, Ring Ring.

‘Love Has Its Ways’ did not become much of a hit, however. After a November visit to a song festival in Tokyo, together with Agnetha and Frida, Björn and Benny’s Japanese adventures came to an end. However, this didn’t matter so much at the time, for the duo had other projects in the works. ‘People Need Love’ had been a fairly impressive success in Sweden – it was the first time in several years that Benny and Björn achieved a true pop hit – and so it was decided at Polar that the constellation of Björn and Benny, Agnetha and Frida would record an entire album together. Sessions began in the autumn of 1972 (which also meant that the second Björn and Benny album was cancelled). Around the same time, Björn, Benny and Stig were invited to submit a contribution to the Swedish selection for the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest. The group competed with ‘Ring Ring’ in February 1973 and released their debut album the following month, which meant that the ABBA story began for real

(https://abbasite.com/articles/lycka-the-only-bjorn-benny-album/ )

Spring in the air
The sun was shining
Still the day was cool
Saw her waiting for a bus
As she was going home from school
Looking so cold
I took her home
And that was just the start
We would meet the summer through
And she was always in my heart

Love has it′s ways
Like seasons come and go
And tomorrow
There will be another day
Love has it's ways
And soon before you know
When you turn around
It may have gone away

Early that fall
I knew I loved her
More than anything
Gave her everything I had
She even got a wedding ring
But in the end her mind was restless
And she had to go
And the love we thought would live
Was buried in the winter snow

Love has it′s ways
Like seasons come and go
And tomorrow
There will be another day
Love has it's ways
And soon before you know
When you turn around
It may have gone away

Love has it's ways
Like seasons come and go
And tomorrow
There will be another day
Love has it′s ways
And soon before you know
When you turn around
It may have gone away.#abba2shay #abba#abba2shay #abba