Should I Laugh or Cry

"Should I Laugh or Cry" is a non-album song by Swedish pop group ABBA, released as the B-side to the 1981 singles "One of Us" and "When All Is Said and Done".

Synopsis

ABBA - Uncensored on the Record says "Should I Laugh or Cry" is "a rather bitter song" about the end of a relationship.^[1] ABBA: Let the Music Speak explains it as "reflect[ing] a failing relationship's preemptive strikes of anger and contemplation". The narrator is the "emotionally afflicted party", both "volatile and pitiless" in the verses yet "tender and forgiving" in the choruses. There is a sense that this is the last time the narrator will put up with this situation.^[2]

Composition

The chorus harmonies are "intricate" and "close-knit". Agnetha's "dreamy echo vocal" adds a sense of sadness to Frida's "fiery sentiments". The song has "deep percusive strikes" and also a "defiant electric glissando" in the verses, and a "lilting acoustic" in the chorus.^[2]

Release

While originally recorded on 4 September 1981 during sessions for the album The Visitors,^[3] "Should I Laugh or Cry" was ultimately not included. However, the song now appears as a bonus track on re-mastered reissues of The Visitors.^[1]

Critical reception

Pop.Love.Dance. gave the song an 8.5/10, and argued that it should have replaced "Two for the Price of One" on The Visitors.^[4]

References

1 2 Tobler, John (2012-01-04). "Abba - Uncensored on the Record". ISBN 9781908538239.
1 2 Tesch, Christopher Patrick ; editor: Matthew (2008). ABBA : let the music speak : an armchair guide to the musical soundscape of the Swedish supergroup (1st ed.). Fairfield Gardens, Qld.: Christopher J N Patrick. p. 81. ISBN 9780646496764.
↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-visitors-mw0000188860
↑ http://poplovedance.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/abbas-finest-hour-re-released-and.html

ABBA songs

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

Waterloo	"Waterloo" "Sitting in the Palmtree" "King Kong Song" "Hasta Mañana" "My Mama Said" "Dance (While the Music Still Goes On)" "Honey, Honey" "Watch Out" "What About Livingstone?" "Gonna Sing You My Lovesong" "Suzy-Hang-Around"

ABBA	"Mamma Mia" "Hey, Hey Helen" "Tropical Loveland" "SOS" "Man in the Middle" "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 Way Old Friends Do"

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"

Other songs	"Merry-Go-Round" "Elaine" "Put On Your White Sombrero" "Cassandra" "You Owe Me One" Unreleased songs

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