Arrival (composition)

1976 composition by ABBA

"Arrival (song)" redirects here. For other uses, see Arrival (disambiguation).

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"Arrival"

Instrumental by ABBA
from the album  Arrival
Released| 11 October 1976 (1976-10-11)
Genre| Pop
Length| 3:00
Label| Polar
Songwriter(s)|

* Björn Ulvaeus
* Benny Andersson

Producer(s)|

* Björn Ulvaeus
* Benny Andersson

Audio
"Arrival" on YouTube

"Arrival" is a 1976 composition by Swedish pop group ABBA featured on their album of the same name. It is an instrumental piece, mainly the brainchild of member Benny Andersson and had the working titles of "Fiol", "Ode to Dalecarlia" and "Arrival in Dalecarlia".

## Background

[edit]

"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 Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. It was recorded on 30 August 1976 at Stockholm'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.

In 1983, a different version of the song with lyrics, called "Belle", was sung by Daniel Balavoine and Anni-Frid Lyngstad ("Frida") as part of the French musical ABBAcadabra. Also in 1983, it was re-recorded with different lyrics, and released as "Time" by B. A. Robertson and Lyngstad.

## Cover versions

[edit]

### Mike Oldfield version

[edit]

"Arrival"

Single by Mike Oldfield
from the album  QE2
Released| 12 September 1980
Recorded| 1980
Genre| Folk rock
Length| 2:46
Label| Virgin
Songwriter(s)| Benny Anderson
Björn Ulvaeus
Producer(s)| Mike Oldfield
David Hentschel
Mike Oldfield singles chronology
| "Blue Peter"
(1979)  | "Arrival"
(1980)  | "Sheba"
(1980)

|
|

In 1980 Mike Oldfield recorded a cover version of the song, which is found on his QE2 album. The artwork for Oldfield's single is a recreation of ABBA's Arrival album artwork, depicting the artist flying in a Bell 47G helicopter (Oldfield is indeed titled as helicopter pilot); the "K" in "MIKE" is likewise mirrored as a nod to ABBA's ambigram logo.

#### Track listing

[edit]

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

* "Polka" consists of a medley of one and a half traditional Irish polkas— the first part of "The 42 Pound Cheque" and the first and second parts of "John Ryan's Polka". Mike Oldfield rearranged the parts so that he is going from the A part of "42 Pound Cheque" to the B part of "John Ryan's", then to the A part of "John Ryan's", then back to the B part of "John Ryan's". He plays through the entire medley 3 times in all, with increasingly more backup and percussion each time. Also, he has transposed these tunes to the key of G, whereas they are more commonly played in D.

#### Oldfield's credits

[edit]

* Mike Oldfield: Electric Guitars, African Drums, Celtic Harp, Bass Guitar, Mandolin, Spanish Guitar, Synthesizers, Vocoder, Aboriginal Rhythm Sticks, Vocals[1]
* David Hentschel: Synthesizers, Drums, Vocals
* Maggie Reilly: Vocals
* Strings and Choir arranged by David Bedford
* Leader of Strings: Dick Studt
* Choir English Chorale

### Daniel Balavoine and Frida cover

[edit]

"Belle"

Single by Daniel Balavoine and Frida
from the album  ABBAcadabra
Language| French
English title| Beautiful
B-side| "C'est Fini"
Released| September 1983
Length| 3:10
Label| Riviera LM Barclay
Songwriter(s)| Alain Boublil, Daniel Boublil, Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus
Producer(s)| Alain Boublil, Daniel Boublil
Daniel Balavoine singles chronology
| "Soulève-moi"
(1982)  | "Belle"
(1983)  | "Pour la femme veuve qui s'éveille"
(1983)

|
|

Frida singles chronology
| "Here We’ll Stay"
(1983)  | "Belle"
(1983)  | "Time"
(1983)

|
|

As part of the French musical ABBACadabra, Daniel Balavoine and ABBA member Frida recorded a French-language cover of Arrival, under the title “Belle” in September 1983. The single sold 80,000 copies in France,[2] and peaked at No. 28 in the French Top 50 charts.[3]

### Frida and B.A. Robertson cover

[edit]

"Time"

Single by Frida and B.A. Robertson
B-side| "I Am The Seeker"
Released| 9 December 1983[4]
Length| 3:37
Label| Polar

Epic Polydor RCA Victor

WEA
Songwriter(s)| Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Don Black, Mike Batt
Producer(s)| Mike Batt
Frida singles chronology
| "Belle"
(1983)  | "Time"
(1983)  | "Shine"
(1984)

|
|

B.A. Robertson singles chronology
| "Now And Then"
(1983)  | "Time"
(1983)  | "Ceud Mìle Fàilte (A Hundred Thousand Welcomes)"
(1986)

|
|

Shortly after Belle, Frida and B.A. Robertson recorded an English-language version called “Time” for the UK musical ABBACadabra. A music video was created to promote the single. The single entered the UK charts and peaked at No. 45.[5]

Chart (1983-1984)  | Peak position

|

UK Singles (OCC)  | 45

### Other cover versions, sampling, etc.

[edit]

* French singer Michèle Torr covered the song and added lyrics, under the title "J'aime".
* Petula Clark also covered the song with lyrics in French, as "La Vallée".
* German dance group Scooter sampled "Arrival" in the song "Roll Baby Roll" on their 2003 album The Stadium Techno Experience, although some chords are slightly altered. For copyright reasons, they had to rewrite the track later, which sounds completely different, under the name of "Swinging In The Jungle". They can, however, play the original track in concerts.
* British rock band The Darkness have played "Arrival" as their opening song on headlining tours since 2003.
* Sarah Brightman recorded a vocal version for her 2008 seasonal album A Winter Symphony, with previously unused lyrics from Björn Ulvaeus, which he wrote in 1999 for possible inclusion in the Mamma Mia! musical.[citation needed]
* ABBA tribute act Björn Again have used this as their entry music when starting a gig for many years.
* The German band Gregorian made a cover of this song, using the lyrics from the Sarah Brightman version, on their album Masters of Chant Chapter VII in 2009.
* "Arrival" was used as the theme tune for the BBC TV series Robbie, presented by Fyfe Robertson.[6]
* German singer Annegret Behrend recorded a cover of this song in 1977 with the title "Wie ein Vogel auf dem Wind". The single was published on the label Elektra – ELK 12 253.
* Russian dance band "Section 1" covered the track in 2015 on their track "Roll & Ride".
* The Swedish metal band Ghost played this theme during their "A Final Gig Named Death" concert. Following the on-stage death of Papa Nihil during his final musical performance, front-man Cardinal Copia was subsequently anointed Papa Emeritus IV as several nuns fitted him with papal robes.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "QE2 notes". Tubular.net. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
2. ^ "1983 sales".
3. ^ "French singles chart: D-G".
4. ^ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 26.
5. ^ "FRIDA AND BA ROBERTSON". Official Charts. 1983-12-17. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
6. ^ "Fyfe Robertson, the great TV reporter". YouTube. 2008-11-04. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2016-10-16.

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ABBA

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Studio albums|

* Ring Ring
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* ABBA: The Album
* Voulez-Vous
* Super Trouper
* The Visitors
* Voyage

Compilation albums|

* Greatest Hits
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* Gracias Por La Música
* The Singles: The First Ten Years
* Thank You for the Music
* ABBA Gold
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* More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits
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Box sets|

* Thank You for the Music
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Concerts and tours|

* ABBA: The Tour
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Films and musicals|

* ABBA: The Movie
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* Mamma Mia! (2008 film)
* Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018 film)

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* SingStar ABBA
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Related individuals|

* Stig Anderson
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* Janne Schaffer
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Ring Ring|

* "People Need Love"
* "He Is Your Brother"
* "Ring Ring"
* "Another Town, Another Train"
* "Love Isn't Easy (But It Sure Is Hard Enough)"
* "Rock'n Roll Band"
* "Nina, Pretty Ballerina"
* "Disillusion"
* "I Saw It in the Mirror"
* "Me and Bobby and Bobby's Brother"
* "She's My Kind of Girl"

Waterloo|

* "Waterloo"
* "King Kong Song"
* "Hasta Mañana"
* "My Mama Said"
* "Honey, Honey"
* "What About Livingstone?"

ABBA|

* "Mamma Mia"
* "Hey, Hey Helen"
* "SOS"
* "Bang-A-Boomerang"
* "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do"
* "Rock Me"
* "Intermezzo No. 1"
* "I've Been Waiting for You"
* "So Long"

Greatest Hits|

* "Fernando"

Arrival|

* "When I Kissed the Teacher"
* "Dancing Queen"
* "My Love, My Life"
* "Dum Dum Diddle"
* "Knowing Me, Knowing You"
* "Money, Money, Money"
* "That's Me"
* "Why Did It Have to Be Me?"
* "Tiger"
* "Arrival"

ABBA: The Album|

* "Eagle"
* "Take a Chance on Me"
* "One Man, One Woman"
* "The Name of the Game"
* "Move On"
* "Hole in Your Soul"
* "Thank You for the Music"
* "I Wonder (Departure)"
* "I'm a Marionette"

Voulez-Vous|

* "As Good as New"
* "Voulez-Vous"
* "I Have a Dream"
* "Angeleyes"
* "The King Has Lost His Crown"
* "Does Your Mother Know"
* "If It Wasn't for the Nights"
* "Chiquitita"
* "Lovers (Live a Little Longer)"
* "Kisses of Fire"

Greatest Hits Vol. 2|

* "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)"
* "Summer Night City"

Super Trouper|

* "Super Trouper"
* "The Winner Takes It All"
* "On and On and On"
* "Andante, Andante"
* "Me and I"
* "Happy New Year"
* "Our Last Summer"
* "The Piper"
* "Lay All Your Love on Me"

The Visitors|

* "The Visitors"
* "Head over Heels"
* "When All Is Said and Done"
* "Soldiers"
* "I Let the Music Speak"
* "One of Us"
* "Two for the Price of One"
* "Slipping Through My Fingers"
* "Like an Angel Passing Through My Room"

The Singles:
The First Ten Years|

* "The Day Before You Came"
* "Under Attack"

Voyage|

* "I Still Have Faith in You"
* "Don't Shut Me Down"
* "Just a Notion"
* "Little Things"

Other songs|

* "Merry-Go-Round"
* "Elaine"
* "Put on Your White Sombrero"
* "Should I Laugh or Cry"
* "You Owe Me One"

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Mike Oldfield

* Albums
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Studio albums|

* Tubular Bells
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* Five Miles Out
* Crises
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* The Killing Fields
* Islands
* Earth Moving
* Amarok
* Heaven's Open
* Tubular Bells II
* The Songs of Distant Earth
* Voyager
* Tubular Bells III
* Guitars
* The Millennium Bell
* Tres Lunas
* Tubular Bells 2003
* Light + Shade
* Music of the Spheres
* Man on the Rocks
* Return to Ommadawn

Live albums|

* The Orchestral Tubular Bells
* Exposed
* The Art in Heaven Concert

EPs|

* Take Four
* The Singles
* The Mike Oldfield EP

Singles|

* "Mike Oldfield's Single"
* "Don Alfonso"
* "In Dulci Jubilo"
* "Portsmouth"
* "William Tell Overture"
* "Cuckoo Song"
* "Take Four"
* "Guilty"
* "Blue Peter"
* "Arrival"
* "Sheba" / "Wonderful Land"
* "Five Miles Out"
* "Family Man"
* "Mistake"
* "Moonlight Shadow"
* "Shadow on the Wall"
* "Crime of Passion"
* "To France"
* "Tricks of the Light"
* "Étude"
* "Pictures in the Dark"
* "Shine"
* "In High Places"
* "Islands"
* "The Time Has Come"
* "Magic Touch"
* "Flying Start"
* "Earth Moving"
* "Innocent"
* "(One Glance Is) Holy"
* "Heaven's Open"
* "Gimme Back"
* "Sentinel"
* "Tattoo"
* "The Bell"
* "Hibernaculum"
* "Let There Be Light"
* "Women of Ireland"
* "Man in the Rain"
* "Far Above the Clouds"
* "To Be Free"
* "Thou Art in Heaven"
* "Spheres"

Other songs|

* "Foreign Affair"
* "The X-Files Theme"
* "Introduction 2003"
* "Surfing"
* "Song for Survival"

Video albums|

* The Space Movie
* Exposed
* The Essential Live
* Live at Montreux 1981
* The Wind Chimes
* Tubular Bells II Live
* Elements
* Tubular Bells III Live
* The Art in Heaven Concert

Compilation albums|

* Boxed
* Music Wonderland
* Episodes
* The Complete Mike Oldfield
* Elements 4 CD Boxset
* Elements – The Best of Mike Oldfield
* XXV: The Essential
* The Best of Tubular Bells
* Collection
* The Complete Tubular Bells
* The Platinum Collection
* The Mike Oldfield Collection 1974–1983
* Two Sides
* Icon
* Tubular Beats
* Moonlight Shadow: The Collection
* The 1984 Suite

Other media|

* Changeling
* MusicVR
* Tres Lunas
* Maestro

Related articles|

* Sally Oldfield
* Terry Oldfield
* Anita Hegerland
* Maggie Reilly
* The Sallyangie
* Children of the Sun
* Isles of Wonder
* 2012 Olympics opening ceremony

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