"Just a Notion" is a song by ABBA that was released as a single on 22 October 2021.
"Just a Notion" | ||||
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Single by ABBA | ||||
from the album Voyage | ||||
Released | 22 October 2021 (2021-10-22) | |||
Recorded | 1978, 2021[1] | |||
Genre |
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Length | 3:31 | |||
Label | Polar | |||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) |
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ABBA singles chronology | ||||
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Lyric video | ||||
"Just a Notion" on YouTube | ||||
Originally written and produced for the group's 1979 album Voulez-Vous, it was released over forty-three years later. "Just a Notion" was the second single to be released from ABBA's 2021 album Voyage following the dual single of "I Still Have Faith in You" and "Don't Shut Me Down" released in September 2021. The recording retains its vocals from 1978 but includes re-recorded instrumentation added much later, during the reunion.[2]
"Just a Notion" was initially recorded in September 1978 during sessions for the album Voulez-Vous. Although progressing beyond the demo stage, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus became unsatisfied with it, deeming it to be "unmixable" and therefore leaving it unreleased. However, a snippet of a rough mix by ABBA's engineer Michael B. Tretow was ultimately released on the box set Thank You for the Music in 1994. Carl Magnus Palm has also confirmed that the verse included in the "ABBA Undeleted" medley is the second verse of the song.[3][4]
After ABBA reunited, and despite Andersson and Ulvaeus' prior criticism, "Just a Notion" was revisited for the reunion album Voyage. Benny Andersson recorded a new backing track with drums and guitars for the Voyage version, but it retains the vocals from the original 1978 version.[5] "Just a Notion" was released as a single on 22 October 2021, before the November 5th release of Voyage.
Prior to the full release of ABBA’s partial re-recording, a complete version was recorded by cover band Arrival, which occasionally featured original ABBA bass player Rutger Gunnarsson as a special guest, and was included on their 1999 album First Flight. While the full version of the song had not yet been released, it still featured the same lyrics as ABBA's original, even though much of the song remained unheard and unreleased at that point.
ABBA released a lyric video on YouTube for "Just a Notion" to accompany its release. The video is directed by Mike Anderson and produced by Nick Barratt of the production company Able.
The video received 583,000 views in its first 24 hours on YouTube.[6] A brief teaser video on TikTok earned over a million views in its first few days.[7]
Emily Zemler of Rolling Stone calls "Just a Notion" "buoyant" and a "hopeful, upbeat song."[8] Devon Ivie of Vulture writes that the song is "a ridiculously happy romp that finds Agnetha, Björn, Benny, and Anni-Frid harmonizing about the joys of flirting while a power piano noodles in the background."[9]
Chart (2021) | Peak position |
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Finland Airplay (Radiosoittolista)[10] | 99 |
Germany (Official German Charts)[11] | 36 |
Japan Hot Overseas (Billboard Japan)[12] | 11 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13] | 73 |
New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[14] | 27 |
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[15] | 22 |
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[16] | 60 |
UK Singles (OCC)[17] | 59 |
Region | Date | Format | Label | Ref. |
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Various | 22 October 2021 |
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Polar | [18] |
Italy | 12 November 2021 | Contemporary hit radio | Universal | [19] |
ABBA songs | |
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Ring Ring | |
Waterloo |
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ABBA | |
Greatest Hits |
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Arrival |
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ABBA: The Album | |
Voulez-Vous | |
Greatest Hits Vol. 2 | |
Super Trouper | |
The Visitors | |
The Singles: The First Ten Years | |
Voyage | |
Other songs | |
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