I read in this BBC piece 3 times where the writer analyzed the words of some songs as evoking “deep sadness”
Horse manure. Theirs are stylistically, musically, (never mind lyrics) the happiest songs this side of Doobies’ “Listen to the Music”.
There is a decided sense of melancholy in their records! Even “Dancing Queen” is really about impermanence. It’s not about a 17 year old girl but about a middle aged woman thinking back to her peak. And their last albums were completely morose.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nyfvl5L6JNU