For decades, the vaults of Polar Studios in Stockholm have guarded some of music’s most precious treasures — but none as mysterious, or as moving, as this one. Discovered during a recent archival restoration, an unreleased ABBA track — recorded quietly in the late 1970s — has now surfaced. And those who have heard it say it feels less like a song and more like a message from another time.
The track, simply titled “A Song for Yesterday, A Prayer for Tomorrow,” was never intended for public release. Written and recorded by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus with vocals by Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid “Frida” Lyngstad, it was reportedly laid down during a late-night studio session sometime between The Album and Voulez-Vous. The group had just finished a long day of takes when Benny began playing a soft piano refrain — melancholy, spiritual, and strangely timeless. Agnetha started humming along, and before long, they were recording something entirely unscripted.
What makes this moment extraordinary is that the lyrics were never finalized. Much of the track is improvised — a fragile blend of humming, harmony, and fragments of hope sung in both English and Swedish. Björn’s handwritten notes reveal just one complete line: “When the night grows quiet, let the light remain.”
For years, the tape gathered dust — forgotten, perhaps intentionally. But during a recent catalog preservation effort, sound engineers stumbled upon it and sent a private copy to Benny and Frida for approval. Their response was immediate — and emotional.
“None of us remembered recording it,” Frida admitted. “But when we heard it… it felt like we were standing together again, singing not to the past, but to the future.”
Benny called it “the sound of healing.”
And so, with the blessing of all four members, the song will be released this winter — not as a single, not as a hit, but as a gift. The proceeds will go toward international children’s charities — an echo of ABBA’s long-standing wish to use music for something greater than applause.
Fans who’ve heard preview clips describe it as hauntingly beautiful — Agnetha’s and Frida’s voices blending like prayer over a ghostly piano line that sounds half lullaby, half benediction.
“It was supposed to stay hidden,” Benny said quietly. “But maybe it was waiting — for a world that needed peace more than perfection.”
And so, nearly fifty years after they first sang of dreams, heartbreak, and hope, ABBA has done something they never planned to do:
They’ve given the world one last song —
a song for yesterday, and a prayer for tomorrow.