Thursday, August 21, 2008

Winner Takes It All

Today at work we had one of those fun discussions that I always miss when I'm not working. It was discovered that one of the girls in the office had not heard of Sweden's biggest export after meatballs and hockey players, ABBA. She was urged to view some clips on YouTube, and quickly declared that ABBA sucks.

Thus began a culture war in the bullpen. Arguments and personal insults were fired around the room in a messy effort to decide the merits of Bjorn, Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid. My own view - that ABBA has excellent pop instincts and can write a devastating hook while ruining all of that with cheesy performance and production - was clearly too nuanced for this group. I was forced to go to the fabled "Argument Ender". An Argument Ender is a point so strong that even the most ardent opponent would never dare challenge it. I laid it down, and it worked. The argument simply stopped in its tracks. I was forced to sell my dad down the river to do it, but I won.

The Argument Ender: "My dad doesn't like music. I don't mean he doesn't like a lot of different music, or that he doesn't listen to music as often as other people; I mean he just doesn't like music. To my knowledge, the man owns two records. One is "Perry Como's Christmas Album". The second? "ABBA Gold". ABBA, my friends, sucks."

11 metawords:

Dave Harrington said...

Mama Mia sucks, too.

Dr Zibbs said...

I must admit that for how cheesy ABBA is (if this is the same ABBA that reverses the second "B"), they're a guilty please like the Carpenters and Ann Murray. It's the 70's AM thing I guess. I admit it.

Falwless said...

I have to admit I love ABBA. Sorry. But that's an awesome Argument Ender, I gotta say.

Sid said...

Can't believe that she hasn't heard of ABBA. I kinda like ABBA. Kinda. Just coz it's catchy.

Red said...

I, too, like the ABBA. They are not great, by any means, but they are fun and sometimes fun is all I want.

BeckEye said...

Good argument ender. But it might also mean that ABBA is SO good that they have the power to make people who hate music actually like it. And apparently, Perry Como has that same power. Maybe I need to get the Perry Como Christmas album, 'cause I already have ABBA Gold.

ÄsK AliCë said...

Haha - wow.

Love the argument ender...

Anonymous said...

I don't know. I still think my favorite argument ender is "Fuck Off, You Dirty Whore".

words...words...words... said...

m in sf: That's a good one, but this person actually WAS a dirty whore, so I was afraid it would hit too close to home.

180360 said...

My dad doesn't even own a cd. He still listens to AM radio.

reb wins said...

I love Perry Como Sings Merry Christmas Music. I'll have to check out the Perry Como Christmas Album. Tell your dad thanks for the tip.