CD-ROM Interview

Also included on the CD were clips from Mitt i livet (see below YouTube clips) and the Även en blomma PROMO video.

This is mostly a happy album. Even though it isn't you who has written the lyrics (except for one song) it feels very personal. How is that possible?
I'ts because there hasn't been one single lyric that hasn't been overlooked very carefully by me. All the lyrics have some personal sides from me as a person and ideas that I've had. Then we have worked to find a special mood for each lyric and Anders has written the final result. So because of that there's a lot of my own feelings and my own experiences in the lyrics.

You have written the lyrics to 'Kvinnor som springer' yourself, which is in honour of strong women. How involved are you in womens' issues?
My involvement comes from the fact that I am a strong woman myself. I have been raised as such by a strong woman, my grandmother, so I've been taught how to be strong since childhood. But I don't only address myself to strong women. I don't want the lyrics to be interpreted that way because I want myself maybe even more to be heard by women who need to be strong. I think this song reflects the power needed to leave the things that makes one unhappy as a woman, where the woman isn't free to live her life as she chooses. It's all about how to stay alive and how to keep on going and maybe to be able to look at yourself in another way. And that is what I'm trying to express with this song. So it is a homage to those who have dared to free themselves, and maybe some encouragement to those who haven't yet dared to try.

This is the first time you have sung in Swedish since your solo album 'Frida Ensam'. Why?
This was a discussion that my colleagues and I had about how far we would go. I've had an international career for so many hears that I decided that I didn't want the publicity that it could have brought if the lyrics were in English. I wanted to keep it on a smaller scale, but most of all, I truly longed to sing in my own language again.  Like you say, it's been 21 years since the last time, and that's a long time. And it has been wonderful. Of course, you feel more "at home" with your own language than you do with a foreign language.

If I have understood correctly, a fax machine played an important role in the making of this album?
Yes, it was a must since Anders and I live in separate countries. As I said before, we worked very hard with the lyrics to make them as good as possible for me - as the woman I am today with the experiences I have had. We have worked very hard with this, so sometimes the fax became overheated!

Why have you chosen to make a musical comeback after 12 years?
Well it wasn't really a matter of choice. This was something that has been building up over the last few years. The longing for the music and singing had grown to strong and that's why I wanted to do something about it.

Have you been wanting to make a new album for a long time, but haven't dared?
No, it's not a question about daring because I am a very courageous woman. It's simply because my time has been occupied with other things that I've been doing, which have been interesting, fun and stimulating, so it just hasn't been a priority.

You have recently turned 60. Is this the best time of life?
All stages of life have their good side. I can't say that my best time is now because it might be my best time in another 10 years also. But I do lead a very good life now, with much harmony and much joy. I am a happy person.

Are you a vegetarian?
Well ... I can say that I don't eat meat. I haven't been eating meat for the last 17 to 18 years. I was a vegetarian for a long time, but now I've started to eat a little fish again. So because if that I can't say that I'm 100% vegetarian because you're not called a vegetarian if you eat any kind of meat, which fish is. But it's also a way of living. I like the diet I'm having. I think it gives me what I need. I am also a very active, outdoor person. I exercise a lot and I have many interests that are combined with nature. I like to walk in the mountains - that is actually one of my greatest passions. So I guess you can say that I keep in shape in the way that suits me best as a person.

What is the most important environmental issue right now?
There isn't just one, there are so many important environmental issues. One important thing, in my mind, is that we don't get carried away with fashionable environmental issues, and that people, companies, and the government are working for a long-term solution. And that means that there has to be a lot of involvement, it has to be something that keeps evolving, something that is developing and progressing. I see a danger that people will start to lose interest when the situation isn't so "trendy" anymore. And I feel that it's important that the environmental concerns are the centre of our attention, because the world we are living in depends on how we humans treat this world. So this isn't a responsibility that we can run away from - it's the other way around - everybody has to take that responsibility personally. And it's important that we are all working together in these issues. So as you understand, there isn't only one environmental question. Every "group" has to work with the issues that are most important to them, and that does include us as individuals - how we behave in our homes and in nature.

Do you have any dreams left to fulfil?
I don't dream that way, unless you mean that to be constantly thinking about things is to be dreaming. Because there are always things that I work with in my mind. There are always things that I want to do, and there are always things that I work with in my mind. There are always things that I want to do, and there are always things that I wonder about. But it's not like dreams where I think, "Oh, I'd like to do this and that, let's have that as a goal and start work to achieve it". I'm more like ... how shall I put it ... a person who lets things develop over time.  So I'm pretty convinced that in a while, after this album, there will be something new that I think is worth working for and taking on. So maybe that's the dream then - that it never stops - that there is always more in life. The creativity must always be kept alive. That's very important to me.

What do you long for the most when you think of about Sweden?
Most of all I long to speak my own language and I long for special places in Sweden that I think are very beautiful. I long for the culture that you can get in other big cities too, but I think it's very nice to visit Stockholm and go to the theatre and see different events. Where I live, in the countryside in Switzerland, there isn't much of that.

For several years you have lived in Switzerland. what kind of feelings to you have towards Sweden?
I have a better perspective of Sweden from this point of view than I had when I lived there. Because I don't live there all the time I can see Sweden through different eyes. I see ... and I mean both what's in Sweden and also the country as a whole place ... that my experiences are very good, maybe even more than before. It's also convenient for me to be able to move away from the crowd, not having to live where the attention is the greatest, especially now that I've done this new album. It's a relief that I don't have to put up with that kind of attention living in Switzerland.

Your feelings for the ABBA music have changed over the years. In what way?
The change came when we were going to put together songs for the ABBA box-set that came after 'ABBA Gold' and 'More ABBA Gold'. We were forced to listen to all our songs so it could be right. And then I got a new taste for ABBA's music, probably because I distanced myself from it and had a long break from all the work we did for so many years. It was great and I felt, "Oh, this is good!". I was really proud of what we had accomplished. Now I happily listen to our songs again.

Is there any possibility of an ABBA reunion?
Speaking for myself, and the way I know the other three, I don't think that will happen. I feel that if we did work together again it wouldn't be as ABBA. I mean, we had our chance through the years with our big revival, so if we felt like it we would have got together then. But it's not what we wanted. As we all know, Björn and Benny are busy working with their musicals and I guess that they have a new project right now. No, it's not the right time for us. If we do get back together it would be in a different way, not as ABBA.