"Arrival" is a 1976 composition by Swedish pop group

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

from their album ''Arrival''. It is an instrumental piece, mainly the brainchild of member

Benny Andersson Göran Bror Benny Andersson (; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, composer and producer best known as a member of the pop group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duvemåla'', and ''Mamm ...

. The most widely heard cover versions are ones by French singer

Michèle Torr Michèle Torr (born Michelle Cléberte Tort 7 April 1947) is a French singer and author, best known in non-Francophone countries for her participation in the Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg in 1966 and for Monaco in 1977. Early career ...

released under the title "J'aime", British musician

Mike Oldfield Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953) is an English retired musician, songwriter and producer best known for his debut studio album ''Tubular Bells'' (1973), which became an unexpected critical and commercial success. Though primarily a gu ...

on his album '' QE2'', the singing duo Daniel Balavoine and

Anni-Frid Lyngstad Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad (born 15 November 1945), also known simply as Frida, is a Swedish singer who is best known as one of the founding members and lead singers of the pop band ABBA. Courtesy titles ''Principality of Reuss-Gera, Princess Re ...

creating a French-language song titled "Belle", and the duo Frida and

BA Robertson Brian Alexander Robertson (born 14 June 1949) is a Scottish musician, composer and songwriter. He had a string of hits in the late 1970s and early 1980s characterised by catchy pop tunes and jaunty humorous lyrics, including "Kool in the Kafta ...

, as part of the UK musical ''

Abbacadabra ''ABBAcadabra'' is a French children's musical based on songs from the pop group ABBA. It was originally produced for French television in 1983 by Alain Boublil and Daniel Boublil, which was later also transferred to an English stage version and ...

'', performing an English-language version titled "Time".

Background

"Arrival" was the second and last composition from the group not to contain lyrics, following " Intermezzo No. 1" the previous year. As with "Intermezzo No. 1", the choral tune, heavily influenced by traditional Swedish folk music, was written by

and

Björn Ulvaeus Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (; born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish musician, singer, songwriter, and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA. He is also the co-composer of the musicals ''Chess (musical), Chess'', ''Kristina från Duve ...

. It was recorded on 30 August 1976 at

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

's Metronome Studio. The title of the album, ''Arrival'', gave the instrumental its name, rather than vice versa. It was also one of the last tracks to be recorded for the album before its release on 11 October 1976.

Cover versions

Mike Oldfield version

In 1980,

recorded a cover version of the song for his album '' QE2''. The artwork for Oldfield's single is a recreation of ABBA's ''Arrival'' album artwork, depicting the artist flying in a

Bell 47 The Bell 47 is a single-rotor single-engine light helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It was based on the third Bell 30 prototype, which was the company's first helicopter designed by Arthur M. Young. The 47 became the first heli ...

G helicopter (Oldfield is a helicopter pilot); the "K" in "MIKE" is likewise mirrored as a nod to ABBA's

ambigram An ambigram is a calligraphic composition of glyphs (letters, numbers, symbols or other shapes) that can yield different meanings depending on the orientation of observation. Most ambigrams are visual palindromes that rely on some kind of symmetry ...

logo.

Track listing

# "Arrival" – 2:46 # "Polka" (live on European tour 1980) – 3:34

Personnel (Oldfield version)

* Mike Oldfield – electric guitars, African drums, Celtic harp, bass guitar, mandolin, Spanish guitar, synthesizers, vocoder, Aboriginal rhythm sticks, vocals *

David Hentschel David Hentschel (born 18 December 1952) is an English recording engineer, film score composer and music producer who engineered on George Harrison's ''All Things Must Pass'' and Elton John's ''Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'', as well as for such a ...

– synthesizers, drums, vocals *

Maggie Reilly Maggie Reilly (born 15 September 1956) is a Scottish singer best known for her collaborations with the composer and instrumentalist Mike Oldfield. Most notably, she performed lead vocals on the Oldfield songs " Family Man", " Moonlight Shadow ...

– vocals *

David Bedford David Vickerman Bedford (4 August 1937 – 1 October 2011) was an English composer and musician. He wrote and played both popular and classical music. He was the brother of the conductor Steuart Bedford, the grandson of the composer, painter ...

– arranger (strings and choir) * Dick Studt – leader (strings) * English Chorale – choir

''Abbacadabra'' versions by Frida

Duet with Daniel Balavoine

As part of the French musical

, Daniel Balavoine and ABBA member

Frida Frida, Frieda, or Freida may refer to: People and fictional characters *Frida (given name), any of several people or characters ** *Frieda (surname), any of several people or characters *Afroditi Frida (born 1964), Greek singer *Frida (singer) ...

recorded a French-language cover of Arrival, titled "Belle" () in August 1983, with lyrics written by Alain and Daniel Boublil. Released by

Barclay Records Barclay is a French Universal Music Group record label, originally owned by Eddie Barclay in 1953. Barclay previously established Riviera-LM Records in 1951. Eddie was a bandleader, pianist, producer and nightclub owner. With his wife and voc ...

, the single, backed with B-side "C'est fini", sold 80,000 copies in France, and peaked at No. 28 in the French Top 50 charts.

English-language duet with BA Robertson

Shortly after "Belle", Frida and

recorded an English-language version called “Time” for the British production of ''

'', with lyrics by Don Black and

Mike Batt Michael Philip Batt (born 6 February 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, record producer, director, and conductor. He served as the Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry. Batt created the novelty pop band T ...

. Batt also produced the song. Released on 9 December 1983 by Polar and

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

, A music video was created to promote the single. The single, backed with " I Am The Seeker" as B-side, entered the UK singles chart and peaked at No. 45.

Michèle Torr version

French singer

covered the song and added lyrics, under the title "J'aime". Released as a 1977 single, the song reached No.4 in Belgium.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arrival (Song) 1976 compositions 1976 songs 1980 singles ABBA songs Mike Oldfield songs Polar Music singles Rock instrumentals Songs written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus Virgin Records singles