We list some of the best ABBA songs of all time. Their distinctive harmonies and intricate production (combining folk, pop, rock, and even classical) introduced on songs from their 1973 debut album, Ring Ring, have won them countless fans.
Bio: Who is ABBA?
ABBA is a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group’s name is an acronym of the first letters of their first names. The first records credited to ABBA surfaced in October 1973, though the band’s complete transformation wouldn’t come until the launch of the 1974 Eurovision contest. This time, clad in their glam rock finest as they performed the irresistibly catchy “Waterloo,” the Swedish quartet blew away the competition with their look and sound, walking away with a contest victory and a smash record that announced their arrival as international pop stars. They became one of the most commercially successful acts in the history of popular music, topping the charts worldwide from 1974 to 1982. ABBA are among the best-selling music artists in history, with record sales estimated to be over 150 million worldwide and are the best-selling Swedish band of all time. The group were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010, the first and only recording artists to receive this honour from outside an English-speaking country. In 2015, their song “Dancing Queen” was inducted into the Recording Academy’s Grammy Hall of Fame.
Top 10 Best ABBA Songs
1. Dancing Queen
“Dancing Queen” is one of ABBA’s most beloved songs, with its biggest fan probably being the band’s own Anni-Frid Lyngstad. During the recording sessions for the song, Benny brought home the backing track to Anni-Frid, who began crying when she heard it. She has said, “I found the song so beautiful. It’s one of those songs that goes straight to your heart.” Agnetha has reflected in later years that, “It is often difficult to know what will be a hit. The exception was Dancing Queen. We all knew that was going to be massive”. The song was written by ABBA guitarist Bjorn Ulvaeus and keyboardist Benny Andersson and became a worldwide hit. Today, the song has become ABBA’s most recognizable and popular song. In 2015, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Stream “Dancing Queen”
2. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
“Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” was the thirteenth track from Swedish pop group ABBA sixth studio album Voulez-Vous. The song was written and producers by members Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus. The song is about a lonely woman who just wants a man (after midnight) to satisfy her for a night. The US and Canada had traditionally been tough territories to crack, but the song’s success in the clubs established it as one of ABBA’s most popular songs over there. It became notable as being one of two works in ABBA’s discography (the other being Dancing Queen) that have gone on to become gay anthems.
Stream “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)”
3. Mamma Mia
“Mamma Mia” is the opening track off of the group’s third album, the self-titled ABBA. The song’s name is derived from Italian, where it is an interjection used in situations of surprise, anguish, or excitement (literally, “My mother”). ABBA’s manager Stig Anderson would often come up with titles that musicians Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson would write lyrics around, and this song was an example of that workflow. The song was ABBA’s first number one in the UK since “Waterloo” in 1974.
Stream “Mamma Mia”
4. The Winner Takes It All
“The Winner Takes It All” is about the divorce between a couple. The song reminisces about the couple’s lives when they made sense and how it is so chaotic now. ABBA member Bjorn Ulvaeus wrote this after separating from his wife and fellow band member, Agnetha Fältskog. Bjorn Ulvaeus denied that the song is about his and Agnetha’s divorce, but said it’s about divorce in general and the emotions that come with it. The song put Agnetha in the strange situation of being asked to sing a breakup song, written by her ex-husband, just a short period afterwards. However, Bjorn didn’t intend it to happen this way. The song peaked at No.1 in several countries, including the UK, where it became their eighth chart-topper. It was also the group’s final top 10 hit in the United States.
Stream “The Winner Takes It All”
5. Take A Chance On Me
“Take A Chance On Me” was originally titled “Billy Boy”, and came from Ulvaeus who would sing a “tck-a-ch” rhythm to himself while he would go running. Eventually, this rhythm turned into the lyrics “take a chance”. It was also one of the first songs where manager Stig Anderson did not partake in the song writing process, which lead to Andersson and Ulvaeus developing their own process and partnership. The song was another huge hit, getting to No. 3 in the U.S.
Stream “Take A Chance On Me”
6. Lay All Your Love On Me
“Lay All Your Love On Me” is a track by Swedish group ABBA, and it appeared on their seventh studio album Super Trouper, which was released 1980. The song explores the high emotions and passions that can emerge when falling in love, and documents one woman’s shift into erratic behaviors as she falls under the spell of her new lover. The song hit number one in the US dance charts in 1981, but has lasted in popularity over the years, becoming an ABBA staple. It was featured in the band’s jukebox musical (and its movie adaption), Mamma Mia, and in 2006 was named the 60th greatest dance song of all time by Slant magazine.
Stream “Lay All Your Love On Me”
7. Waterloo
“Waterloo” is a Europop song that tells the story of a woman who “surrenders” to her lover and promises to love them, while using Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 as a reference. The song was originally called “Honey Pie” and was also first written to rock and jazz beats, which wasn’t ABBA’s original sound. “Waterloo” won the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 for Sweden, beginning ABBA’s path to worldwide fame. It topped the charts in several countries, and reached the top 10 in the United States.
Stream “Waterloo”
8. Chiquitita
“Chiquitita” (a Spanish term of endearment for a woman meaning “little one”) is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released in January 1979 as the first single from the group’s Voulez-Vous album. The song was also featured in a 1979 UNICEF charity event, the Music for UNICEF Concert, broadcast worldwide from the United Nations General Assembly. As a direct result of this event, ABBA donated half of all royalties from the song to UNICEF.
Stream “Chiquitita”
9. Super Trouper
“Super Trouper” was a hit single for Swedish pop group ABBA, and was the title track from their 1980 studio album Super Trouper, written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. The song, with lead vocals by Anni-Frid Lyngstad, was the last to be written and recorded for this album. “Super Trouper” is included on the Gold: Greatest Hits compilation, as well as in the Mamma Mia! musical. The name “Super Trouper” referred to the spotlights used in stadium concerts and such. ABBA were not always fond of performing onstage, preferring the confines of the studio to being on tour. This is reflected in the lyrics, which, in typical ABBA style, are presented as happy and upbeat, yet tinged with a hint of sadness. “Super Trouper” would become ABBA’s ninth (and final) No. 1 in the United Kingdom.
Stream “Super Trouper”
10. Fernando
“Fernando” is a song written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. Originally released as an Anni-Frid Lyngstad solo song in 1975, ABBA re-released this song in 1976 and eventually turned this into one of the best-selling songs of all time. Ulvaeus recalled writing the song in the book 1000 UK #1 Hits: “That lyric is so banal and I didn’t like it. It was a love lyric, someone who loved Fernando, but I inherited the word ‘Fernando’ and I thought long and hard, what does Fernando tell me? I was in my summerhouse one starry evening and the words came, ‘There was something in the air that night’ and I thought of two old comrades from some guerrilla war in Mexico who would be sitting in the porch and reminiscing about what happened to them back then and this is what it is all about. Total fiction.” The song is one of ABBA’s best-selling singles of all time, with six million copies sold in 1976 alone. It is one of fewer than forty all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) physical copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.
Stream “Fernando”
Honorable mentions
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