Voyage 2002

"Bluff!" she yelled, laughing. "You're hanging, Ulvaeus." July 2002 / Björn

THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SEXUALITY. IF IT'S NOT SUITABLE FOR YOU, DON'T READ IT / ME&I

"Yes, well, bye bye," Agnetha said, wiping the tears from her cheeks and chuckling briefly.

"Not a good idea?" asked Anna, who had just announced - with a big smile - that it was now Agnetha's turn to perform.

Agnetha shook her head needlessly, with her hand in his again. Still sobbing a little. A second ago, she had let go of Christian. Their son appeared to have drawn her for the evening and - in about five minutes - had demolished all her walls to the ground, until she was shaky and mentally naked. Frida had stood up, Linda too and soon everyone was sitting around her. Emma had offered her a glass of water. Christian, who had announced he was going to play with his back to his audience, had bravely continued with the song he had chosen for his mom. A few minutes earlier, he had taken place behind the piano and looked at her, "Dear mum... not too long ago, Linda and I found out what hell you have been through. PTSD is not something you get overnight and I can well imagine - now that I know what you've struggled through - that you must have thought at times that it was all useless, that it was so dark that you wondered what you were still doing here, with all the pain you felt... this song is about that kind of pain. And I want to sing it for you. With my back to you, though, because you're going to cry - I know you - and then I can't finish it and that would be so unprofessional..." With a nod, he had turned around, leaving Agnetha with tears in her eyes and a frown on her forehead. After the first sentence - which he sang in his voice so similar to Michael Stipe's - Agnetha already burst into sobs.

When your day is long

And the night, the night is yours alone

When you're sure you've had enough

Of this life, well hang on.

Everybody Hurts by R.E.M. A clearer plea to go on and not take your own life had never been written. Agnetha's sobbing turned into loud crying. Her arms wrapped around his neck. She clang so hard it hurt. After a while when he could barely keep his own tears from falling, as their son sang so sensitively for her, he did his best to soothe her. She broke down and fell apart into countless pieces in his arms. "Hey, honey, calm down..."

When Christian finished, a hugging session between mother and son followed during which it was no longer clear who was trying to comfort who.

"Sorry for crying all the time, I..."

"It's okay, mum, really."

After a second glass of water, while she was still shaking, a big chuckle broke through as Anna announced with a wink that Agnetha was the next to perform.

"Yes, well, bye bye."

"Not a good idea?"

"No, not exactly. Besides, I can't sing with snot in my nose and in my eyes and God knows where."

"Oh so that's why you fell for that Bear again?" Frida asked, laughing. "You have snot in your eyes!"

"Lyngstad," he told her in a warning tone.

Frida chuckled and put her arm around him. "There's no way you can deny it's weird," she cheerfully complemented herself.

"Like you've got it all sorted out nicely," returned Agnetha.

Frida pretended to think about it. "No," she said after a short silence, "I'm back to square one myself."

"Your excuse?" asked Agnetha.

"Just, general craziness," Frida's reply sounded, before she released him and wrapped her arms around Benny. "And he smells nice."

"Yes and I can play the piano," said Benny, "and that's what I'm going to do now."