(ABBA) Agnetha : It's So Nice to Be Rich (P&B Soundtrack) 1983

"It's So Nice to Be Rich" is a song by Swedish singer Agnetha Fältskog from the soundtrack to the 1983 Swedish movie P & B, starring Stellan Skarsgård, Allan Edwall and Lill Lindfors among others. Since the song was not included on Fältskog's 1985 album Eyes of a Woman, the first time the song appeared on an album was the 1996 compilation album My Love, My Life.

From abbaontv https://www.abbaontv.com/programmes/1983/39573......
Agnetha appeared in a second film in 1983 (the first being Raskenstam, released at the start of 1983 although filmed in 1982) - but this time only on the soundtrack.

She recorded two new songs for the film P&B, a remake of the 1933 Swedish film Pettersson & Bendel. The two songs were of course P&B and It's So Nice To Be Rich, both of which were featured in the film - a black comedy action thriller about two chancers in Stockholm trying to make big money as quickly as possible - and ultimately succeeding.

Written and directed by Hans Alfredsson, the lead role of Petersson was played by Stellan Skarsgård (who played "Bill Andersson" in Mamma Mia! The Movie! in 2008) with Allan Edwall playing Bendel. The film also featured Swedish singer Lill Lindfors as Agda. The film was released in Sweden on 10 December 1983. The film (no Agnetha - she's only in the PROMO for the song P&B), was released on VHS video.

Agnetha appears very briefly in the PROMO for the song P&B which mainly features scenes from the film. Also featured in the video is ABBA bassist and music producer Rutger Gunnarsson and a mystery man (is it Paris Edvinsson?).

See below the story behind It's So Nice To Be Rich

End June 2004: Last week Swedish Television showed an old TV-programme from 1985 called Två och en flygel (Two [people] and a grand piano). The host of the show Berndt Egerbladh had invited Gunnar Svensson, jazz musician, pianist, composer and performer [3 February 1920-18 August 1995]. Gunnar was the man who wrote the melody to It's So Nice To Be Rich for the movie P&B". On the show they showed a clip from the movie where the song is played and afterwards Berndt asked Gunnar about the song:

BE: Gunnar, you have just become an old age pensioner and now you're suddenly writing this kind of music. How did you ever get that idea?

GS: Well, Hasse [Alfredsson director of the movie] had written the lyrics which was called It's So Nice To Be Rich for the movie and he told me: "Now, Gunnar I want you to write a synth music melody for this." So I thought about it for a little while, listened to some of that kind of music and then I sat down and wrote the bass line. After that I came up with a melody which suited the lyrics. I recorded it on a cassette with just my piano playing. Then I told SF (Swedish Filmindustry - producer of the movie) "I might be able to get Agnetha Fältskog to sing this song." Of course no-one believed me. But I called Agnetha and we decided to meet at Stikkan's office. Just before she arrived I met Tomas Ledin at the office and asked him to listen to the melody - and *I* sang the lyrics for him. Tomas said "That's a good darn song". I said, "If you think so, can you please tell Agnetha that?" But he said "I don't think that is necessary."

"So when Agnetha arrived I sang it to her and she immediately said: "Great song - I want to record it!". So I left the material, with my arrangement to this very nice man called Rutger Gunnarsson and he finished it with Agnetha. What's funny about this song is that absolutely *no-one* believes that I have written this song."
(abbaontv.com)

It's so nice to be rich, rich, rich, rich...
Young, smart, handsome, and rich, rich, rich, rich...
To dress up in the mink again
And swim in the pink champagne,
Oh how I loathe old age, stupidity, and hunger,
I prefer to be full, cleverer, and younger,
Oh you old dumb bum in the ditch, switch, switch...
And get rich, rich, rich, rich...
Get rich, rich, rich, rich...

(REPEAT)

Mmm, get rich, rich, rich, rich...#abba2shay #abba