What comes to mind when you think of Sweden?

Someone asked on BlogCatalog, “What comes to mind when you think of Sweden?” There were loads of answers, like ABBA, IKEA, blondes etc. I must say that my first thought was ABBA. I think that possibly the greatest ABBA track is The Winner Takes It All.

Nobody on BlogCatalog mentioned Volvo cars (or if they did, I missed it) and also, nobody mentioned the group, Europe.
Their song The Final Countdown is considered by many to be the greatest pop song ever. I don’t think I would quite go that far. For one thing, the lyrics are totally absurd, even preposterous. The planet Venus would be a terrible choice as a place to emigrate to. It has an atmosphere that is lethal poison, and a runaway greenhouse effect. If there were life on Venus, it would have to be very weird in order to survive, and it would almost certainly be very unpleasant. Plus the distance to Venus is not measured in light years but in millions of kilometres; it is much too close for light year units.

However, you listen to The Final Countdown, not for its silly lyrics, but for the wonderful, anthemic theme tune.