The FADER’s transgender charity covers compilation FADER & Friends Volume 1 is out now, available exclusively on Bandcamp until December 1, 2023. 100% of the proceeds go towards the Transgender Law Center, Mermaids, and Rainbow Railroad. Throughout the month of November, we’re speaking to the artists who contributed to the 44-song collection about the songs they covered.
Would you be shocked to learn that ABBA wrote a vividly descriptive account of heartbreak wrapped up in a disco-pop song? The Swedish pop group has no shortage of righteous devotees, including Toronto singer-songwriter Carlyn Bezic a.k.a. Jane Inc. Her cover of "If It Wasn't For The Nights" will serve both as an introduction to a lesser-known ABBA banger and Jane Inc's own endlessly playful spirit.
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Listen to the song below and buy the full album on Bandcamp. Scroll down to read Jane Inc. on the original song and her cover.
What's your first memory of this song?
I fell in love with this song in tandem with the footage of ABBA performing it on TV in Japan. The set and costumes are wild and Frida is dancing in a really free and fun way. Also, it’s one of ABBA’s best songs and doesn’t get the cred it deserves!
Why did you decide to record it as your cover?
This song informed a lot of my last record. I love the chord changes, and I tried to weave similar ones into some of the tracks on the album. It’s that classic Swedish melancholic pop thing that felt right for what I was trying to do.
What does this song/band mean to you personally?
This song really hit for me when I started writing Faster Than I Can Take. It’s about a deep longing and heartache and continuing to march through daily life despite it. That felt very relatable to me in the early pandemic when my emotions felt really big and there was a huge global upheaval, but also a weird monotony to my day-to-day.
What's another song you'd love to cover and why?
The list is too long!
