Go to hell IKEA
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Artist:
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Album:Abba-Esque
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I would like to preface this by saying that ABBA should only be allowed to be played during the following occasions: 1. high school prom, 2. wedding reception and 3. late night at a gay dance club. That being said, I was at neither of these today but rather at my local IKEA to do a little shopping and to get in out of the 100 degree weather we had in Minnesota today. I guess someone at IKEA thought it would be a cute idea to play ABBA, and only ABBA over the loud speakers in the store. A novel idea seeing both are from Sweden, and I want to include something else here but that is where the similarities end. Of course upon entering the store it did seem cute, and I even found myself singing along to the tune S.O.S as I took the elevator upstairs. The cuteness ended by the time I entered the sofa section, and by the time I found myself in the kitchen area I was about ready to strangle someone. I was not the only one who felt this way, and as I passed by a couple I overheard the guy say, "Seriously, play something different." I can think of so many other bands from Sweden that would be great to listen to, but this was not to be today. I think the final straw for me was when Take A Chance On Me came on, and at that point I made a bee line for the check out lanes. I asked the check out clerk how they felt having to listen to ABBA over and over and he simply said, "It is pure hell." I left the store not really wanting to go back, and I wonder if the brain power behind this decision has gone into one of their stores to get feed back from the customers on what they thought of the music. Consider this a warning people, go into IKEA and prepare yourself for the melodic sounds of ABBA during your stay there. However, I do not think there is any amount of preparation that can ready you for an hour or so of Swedish pop music at it's finest.
Comments (35)
What high school plays ABBA at their prom? At my prom, the closest thing to rock they played was "Good Riddance" by Green Day, and it got booed halfway through.
I guess our Good Riddance was Bryan Adams (Everything I Do) I Do It For You, and that was not good. I remember ABBA being played, and played often and it did not help my girlfriend at the time was a big fan.
Could have been worse, could have been playing this. And you know you'd be singing along lol.
Could have been worse, could have been playing this. And you know you'd be singing along lol.
Well, the Green Day didn't fit, for one. Seeing as the school I graduated from was the closest thing to the inner-city my hometown had to offer, it was mostly hip-hop. So yeah, it didn't go over to well.
Sorry for the double post. They could have been playing this, don't know if this is worse or not.
Maybe they misplaced their copy of Labrador 100.
RGM, you have just been banned from my mog page!
Watch, I could see how that might not have gone over well, even though it was the song of your generation!
Dale, nice but I am guessing they have no clue who they are
Well, the Hives got fairly popular, how about them? Shall we flood the IKEA inbox with requests for Hives albums to be interspersed with the ABBA?
Seeing as I graduated from high school in 2006, it's not really the song of my generation. It was in the series finale of Seinfeld, when most of us were 9 or 10.
Let em tell you about your local IKEA... first off I helped open that store, I was a full time LP agent there for 3 years and ran the quality control program for my last year there.... LP is where the controls for the music are, and I got 'Spoken to' for changing the music with in the first week of the system being operational.... after that I was responsible for it being changed on a couple of occasions where I was 'Spoken To'... but had the 'Duty manager told me to excuse'.... I always tried to get the management to play Swedish Music... and not just ABBA, but a lot of the cool stuff that I knew about and ... no dice... except for one day when I was allowed to play older Swedish folk songs for about an hour, before there were too many complaints.... I was also abel to get the Store Manager to let me play Elvis... the Swedish hits (which are pretty much the same as the US and UK hits) on his birthday... other than that there was an almost constant war of grumbling about the muzak system in the store... as far as what you experienced, the new store management must have come up with it, and either ORDERED the LP manager to do it, or it was his day off... knowing him he wasn't there this weekend.... anyway...
OH, and speaking of Swedish Music and the Twin Cities, my brother has a photo show up at the American Swedish Instititue that is worth checking out... and there was an interview with him in the most recent City Pages...
Dale, trust me anything would have been better than what I had to listen to.
Watch, I was joking.........it just seemed everything during that time grabbed on to that song and milked it for what it was worth. A similar thing happened with Semisonic's Closing Time, another song played into its grave.
Iren, wow sounds like IKEA is a bit like communist Russia. The only thing comparible was the stint I put in at Caribou Coffee. We were given cd's that we could play each month, and we were only supposed to play the ones that were given to us. One night near closing I put in some of my own music and when the area manager came in I was written up. As for the photo show, I am going to try and make it out if I can next weekend. Thanks for the heads up!
Thank goddess there isn't an Ikea near me. The closest one is just north of Oakland which is an hour & 15 mins. away. I'd have to kill someone for playing that much Abba.
I feel like shopping.... maybe something modern looking, pine, or maybe a bold color.. yeah with a solid geometric design...hmm.... blub blub blub ....
Hey, lay off ABBA... they officially invented the ass.
Are you bonkers?! I can think of at least 47128563725623532652367523,8 worst things you could have heard for an hour!
Plus, they won the Eurovision the year I was born...
*dancing to Dancing Queen*
Yeah, Kev, watch it. Those Europeans still love their ABBA. I remember a group of kids (I think they were from the UK) gained quite a bit of popularity remaking ABBA songs a few years ago.
Yes. There were people who actually CHOSE to remake old ABBA tunes...in recent years. And people who BOUGHT them.
Okay, wikipedia reveals that these kids (called the A*Teens) were actually from Sweden, and originally called the ABBA Teens. Yes. ABBA reincarnated.
"After six years together, the band announced they would take a break in 2004 after the release of their Greatest Hits album. Each song from that album became a Top 20 hit in at least one country around the world."
A greatest hits album...of covers of ABBA songs...in 2004.
Somethin' just ain't right over there.
I must admit, this almost redeems them with me.
"The band's music video for 'Dancing Queen' features a plot very similar to the 1985 John Hughes film The Breakfast Club. In addition, the principal seen in the music video was played by Paul Gleason, the same actor who was the principal in the movie. The single reached ninety-five on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold over 500,000 copies in the U.S. alone, being certified Gold."
Hey Troy, arent these the same people who said Jay-Z shouldnt headline Glastonbury? Oh yeah, I guess if its new and fresh those Euro types want nothing to do with it
lol...I am officially leaving this post before all hell breaks loose.
On second thought, in the spirit of the upstart colonies that gave birth to this great nation, "Fuck 'em". :)
Nah, really, love you guys. But, seriously...ABBA? TWICE?!!?
Wow, RK, please don't kill me for this.
Okay, so after reading about the Breakfast Club reference I absolutely HAD to see the video. Originally, I thought I wouldn't subject you to this, but for the first 60 seconds (I can't figure out why, but) this was the most hilarious thing I had seen in quite a while. Maybe had something to do with the completely out of place looking black kid. The second 60 seconds were marginally funny. I had to turn it off by the time the reached the hook the second time.
Rawkiddoh - Never really got the attraction of ABBA is the first place but many people, including my wife, seem to like them.
Troy - The last video is painfully bad. What made them think of putting together the breakfast club and ABBA? They're from completely different eras of music. Nobody in the suburban high school in the 1980's would have been caught dead playing ABBA - it didn't fit any of the stereotypes in the breakfast club.
Troy, I suddenly wish something very bad would happen to you
TBoom, I agree with you, they seem to have a certain place with the women folk here in the states. Nothing is worse than hearing them come on at a bar, and then listening to all the wanna be ABBA girls join in the song
So, Kev, can we assume that you met your "Waterloo" at IKEA?
Hey man, I think you took my my comment the wrong way, sorry bout that, I was just being silly. Ikea is what it is, and I certainly have a few things from there. In fact I will probably be looking for exactly the same thing as you (bunk bed for the kids).
I'll report on the music, and if there isn't any ABBA playing, I'll request some.
Oh no worries, I guess I feel I have to justify myself for putting up with ABBA for as long as I did. As for bunk beds, they had quite a few really cool ones, kind of wish I had more than one kid to shop for!
I've got one for sale...cheap. (kid, not bunk bed)
shit troy, I thought those were free........kid that is not bunk bed
Hey, you can go the free route, and hope you get a good one after 9 months of the wife being a pain, who knows how many hours of labor, and let's not forget daiper changing and potty training. Or, for a few bucks, you can skip all the headaches. I think it's a good deal. She even comes with a very nice wardrobe. Think it over.
Having to listen to that all day, I would expect to be met with slaughter house knives at the checkout lines. I love IKEA, but I've always suspected it was a cheap way to subversily spread Swedish culture, one meatball at a time. Hell, it's cheaper than an embassy, and more profitable too!
one meatball at a time.......hahahhahahaa
Ya know, I was reading (and thoroughly enjoying) this most recent post & the long string of hilarity that has ensued from the comments herein. I also enjoyed perusing your taste in music. I enjoyed everything so much I decided to add you as a trust Mog. And now I see one of the last songs you've listened to is Flirtin' with Disaster by Molly Hatchet. I may have to re-think your “trustability”.
Hey now, that was put up for a little bit of a joke........I say little bit because a little part of me likes that song. We all have our skeletons right?
That skeleton should stay waaaaay back in the closet, my friend. Growing up in Jacksonville, FL, Molly Hatchet and Lynyrd Skynyrd are two bands I could go the rest of my life without hearing and be happy. I've heard way too much of them in my time.