Today’s song is dedicated to my dear Facebook friend, Anne Lister.
My song today is, ‘Lay All Your Love on Me’. This song was recorded by Swedish pop group ‘ABBA’ in 1980 for their seventh studio album, ‘Super Trooper’. The original was released only as a 12-inch single in 1981 in limited territories, rather than as a standard 7-inch record. At the time, it was the highest-selling 12-inch record in UK chart history, where it peaked at Number 7. ‘Lay All Your Love on Me’ appears on the group's compilation ‘Gold: Greatest Hits’. ‘Slant Magazine’ placed it at Number 60 on its list of the greatest dance songs of all time. ‘Lay All Your Love on Me’ is an electro-disco song penned by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, with Agneta Faltskog singing lead
‘Lay All Your Love on Me’ is best known for a descending vocal sound at the end of the verse immediately preceding the refrain. This was achieved by sending the vocal into a harmoniser device, which was set up to produce a slightly lower-pitched version of the vocal. In turn, its output was fed back to its input, thereby continually lowering the pitch of the vocal. Andersson and Ulvaeus felt that the chorus of the song sounded like a hymn, so parts of the vocals in the choruses were run through a ‘vocorder’ to recreate the sound of a church congregation singing, slightly out of tune. The song was not originally intended to be released as a single but was issued in 12-inch form in the UK and a few other countries in 1981. ‘Lay All Your Love on Me’ has since been much covered and is also featured in the ‘Mamma Mia’ musical (and its film adaption), that showcases many of ABBA's hits.
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I dedicate today’s song to my Facebook friend, Anne Lister who lives in Brighouse. Ever since I have known Anne, she has been a walking friend to literally hundreds of Facebook contacts, through her regular visits to their homes. Anne will visit her many friends at home, in the hospital or wherever best suits them, depending on their circumstances.
Anne is capable of disarming the grumpiest of people she might visit with little more than a gentle smile and a pot of jam. She makes the best Marmalade jam I have ever tasted. This is the one type of jam that my Sheila doesn’t make. Like a veritable Mary Poppins feeding the birds and caring for all and sundry, her constant cheer brings an instant tonic that reaches the parts others never touch base with. Anne’s charitable giving of her time and Marmalade is unflinching and is done in nothing short of the true loving spirit of a gentle soul. Anne gives without any expectation and receives in return the unqualified love and respect of everyone who knows her. She affords each person she has regular contact with ‘respect’ as a matter of individual right and makes them feel happier and special by her mere presence.
Despite her own health issues over the years (which she always plays down when she is visiting the homes of many ill friends), Anne continues to do her good works without complaint or any expectation of reward. She obtains her pleasure by simply making others feel wanted, respected and important in their own right. She is a highly intelligent woman who shields her worldly wisdom from those she visits and listens, and takes in more than hogs any conversation she is part of. She is in short, what my mother used to call ‘a good egg’. I would describe her as being someone who is sound mother material, and who was undoubtedly a good wife and partner to her deceased husband, Michael, who sadly died three years ago today. Michael had suffered from the bad effects of cancer for almost 14 years, and through Anne’s care of him and his own strength of character, he outlived all the medical time spans he was given during his lengthy illness.
Indeed, merely knowing from Anne that her husband was still refusing to be beaten by his cancer for well over a decade past his ‘sell-by-date’ gave me additional courage to withstand mine during its early stages. I never had the pleasure of meeting Michael, but I attended his funeral. He was obviously a man who was well thought of by all those who knew him.
Thank you, Anne, for having been there for me through your visits and friendship over the past seven years or so. I hope that today passes peacefully for you and it gives me the greatest of pleasure to dedicate my song today to a 'woman of substance' whose actions invites all whom she meets to ‘Lay all our love on her.’ If only you knew how much love of others you carry around with you through this life, Anne, you would realise that ‘goodness carries its own reward’, and that is why my late mother’s description of ‘being a good egg’ is most fitting for a lady such as yourself. Thank you for being our Facebook friend. Bill and Sheila x
Love and peace Bill xxx
My song today is, ‘Lay All Your Love on Me’. This song was recorded by Swedish pop group ‘ABBA’ in 1980 for their seventh studio album, ‘Super Trooper’. The original was released only as a 12-inch single in 1981 in limited territories, rather than as a standard 7-inch record. At the time, it was the highest-selling 12-inch record in UK chart history, where it peaked at Number 7. ‘Lay All Your Love on Me’ appears on the group's compilation ‘Gold: Greatest Hits’. ‘Slant Magazine’ placed it at Number 60 on its list of the greatest dance songs of all time. ‘Lay All Your Love on Me’ is an electro-disco song penned by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, with Agneta Faltskog singing lead
‘Lay All Your Love on Me’ is best known for a descending vocal sound at the end of the verse immediately preceding the refrain. This was achieved by sending the vocal into a harmoniser device, which was set up to produce a slightly lower-pitched version of the vocal. In turn, its output was fed back to its input, thereby continually lowering the pitch of the vocal. Andersson and Ulvaeus felt that the chorus of the song sounded like a hymn, so parts of the vocals in the choruses were run through a ‘vocorder’ to recreate the sound of a church congregation singing, slightly out of tune. The song was not originally intended to be released as a single but was issued in 12-inch form in the UK and a few other countries in 1981. ‘Lay All Your Love on Me’ has since been much covered and is also featured in the ‘Mamma Mia’ musical (and its film adaption), that showcases many of ABBA's hits.
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I dedicate today’s song to my Facebook friend, Anne Lister who lives in Brighouse. Ever since I have known Anne, she has been a walking friend to literally hundreds of Facebook contacts, through her regular visits to their homes. Anne will visit her many friends at home, in the hospital or wherever best suits them, depending on their circumstances.
Anne is capable of disarming the grumpiest of people she might visit with little more than a gentle smile and a pot of jam. She makes the best Marmalade jam I have ever tasted. This is the one type of jam that my Sheila doesn’t make. Like a veritable Mary Poppins feeding the birds and caring for all and sundry, her constant cheer brings an instant tonic that reaches the parts others never touch base with. Anne’s charitable giving of her time and Marmalade is unflinching and is done in nothing short of the true loving spirit of a gentle soul. Anne gives without any expectation and receives in return the unqualified love and respect of everyone who knows her. She affords each person she has regular contact with ‘respect’ as a matter of individual right and makes them feel happier and special by her mere presence.
Despite her own health issues over the years (which she always plays down when she is visiting the homes of many ill friends), Anne continues to do her good works without complaint or any expectation of reward. She obtains her pleasure by simply making others feel wanted, respected and important in their own right. She is a highly intelligent woman who shields her worldly wisdom from those she visits and listens, and takes in more than hogs any conversation she is part of. She is in short, what my mother used to call ‘a good egg’. I would describe her as being someone who is sound mother material, and who was undoubtedly a good wife and partner to her deceased husband, Michael, who sadly died three years ago today. Michael had suffered from the bad effects of cancer for almost 14 years, and through Anne’s care of him and his own strength of character, he outlived all the medical time spans he was given during his lengthy illness.
Indeed, merely knowing from Anne that her husband was still refusing to be beaten by his cancer for well over a decade past his ‘sell-by-date’ gave me additional courage to withstand mine during its early stages. I never had the pleasure of meeting Michael, but I attended his funeral. He was obviously a man who was well thought of by all those who knew him.
Thank you, Anne, for having been there for me through your visits and friendship over the past seven years or so. I hope that today passes peacefully for you and it gives me the greatest of pleasure to dedicate my song today to a 'woman of substance' whose actions invites all whom she meets to ‘Lay all our love on her.’ If only you knew how much love of others you carry around with you through this life, Anne, you would realise that ‘goodness carries its own reward’, and that is why my late mother’s description of ‘being a good egg’ is most fitting for a lady such as yourself. Thank you for being our Facebook friend. Bill and Sheila x
Love and peace Bill xxx
