Like An Angel Passing Through My Room

Infobox Song
Name = Like An Angel Passing Through My Room
Artist = ABBA
Album = The Visitors
Released = Nov 1981
Recorded = May-Nov 1981
Writer = Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus
Producer = Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus
Label = Polar (original release)PolyGram (1992 - 1997)Universal Music (1998 - )
Tracks = ;Side one
# "The Visitors"
# "Head Over Heels"
# "When All Is Said And Done"
# "Soldiers";Side two
# "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"

Like An Angel Passing Through My Room by ABBA is the last song from the group's final studio album, "The Visitors". It was written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus.

Work began on this track on 26th May, 1981 in Polar Music Studios. [Magnus Palm, C: "ABBA The Complete Recording sessions", page 110. Century 22 Ltd, 1994] At first, the track was given the title, 'Another Morning Without You'. In later recording sessions it was re-titled 'An Angel Walked Through My Room', 'An Angel's Passing Through My Room' and also 'Twinkle Twinkle'. At one point the song was turned into a disco track but this idea was eventually abandoned as the group felt it sounded too similar to Lay All Your Love On Me. [Magnus Palm, C: "ABBA The Complete Recording sessions", page 113. Century 22 Ltd, 1994] Initially the track featured vocal parts from both Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad but the final version of the song featured Anni-Frid as soloist. It is the only ABBA song to feature just one vocalist. [ [http://www.abba-world.net/songs/titles/laaptmr.htm Like An Angel Passing Through My Room ] ]

Unlike many other ABBA songs, the final mix of the track was sparsely produced - the entire track consisting of the soloist's vocals and the music box sound effects of the synthesiser. The sound of a ticking clock can be heard throughout the track and the effect was produced by Andersson's mini-moog.

The designer of the album sleeve for The Visitors, Rune Söderqvist, was partly inspired by this song's theme when he conceived the idea of photographing the group standing before Julius Kronberg's painting of an angelic-looking Eros. [Magnus Palm, C: "Bright Lights, Dark Shadows", page 445. Omnibus Press, 2001]

Cover versions

* The melody featured in the 1983 London version of the musical Abbacadabra and was re-titled "When Dreamers Close Their Eyes" with new lyrics by David Wood and Don Black.
* British singer Hazell Dean recorded a cover of the song in the 1990s for her own ABBA tribute album.
* In October 2000, Benny Andersson returned to this track when he was invited to play piano on Anne Sofie von Otter's cover version, which appears on the album "Anne Sofie von Otter meets Elvis Costello - For The Stars".
* Norwegian singer Sissel Kyrkjebø included an English language cover of the song on her 2006 album "Into Paradise".
* German singer Nina Hagen performed the song live on a TV special.
* In 1998, William Orbit recorded a version of the song with Madonna for her CD "Ray of Light" but it was never released. It was leaked onto the internet in August, 2008. [http://www.williamorbit.com/]

Notes