Waterloo (song)
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| "Waterloo" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by ABBA | ||
| from the album Waterloo | ||
| Released | March 12, 1974 | |
| Format | 7" single | |
| Genre | Europop, Pop | |
| Length | 2:42 | |
| Label | Polar Music | |
| Writer(s) | Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson, Björn Ulvaeus | |
| Producer(s) | Michael Tretow | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| ABBA singles chronology | ||
| "Waterloo (Swedish version)" (1974) |
"Waterloo" (1974) |
"Honey, Honey" (1974) |
"Waterloo" is the first single from ABBA's album Waterloo, which was their second album for Polar and their first for Epic and Atlantic. "Waterloo" was the song that won ABBA the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest and began their path to worldwide fame. The single was coupled with "Watch Out" as the B-side.
Contents |
[edit] The song
"Waterloo" was originally written as a song for the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, after the group placed third with "Ring Ring" in the previous year's national heats. Since it focused on lead vocalists Frida Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson chose it in place of another of their songs, "Hasta Mañana". It is about a girl who is about to surrender to romance, as Napoleon Bonaparte had to surrender at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
The song proved to be a good choice. It sailed through the Swedish heats (in Swedish) in February 1974 and won the 1974 Eurovision Song contest final on April 6 by six points.
"Waterloo" was one of ABBA's few songs to be written with simultaneous rock and jazz beats, something later discarded in favor of more disco-esque rhythms.
[edit] Chart success
The "Waterloo" single introduced the world to the phenomenon that was ABBA. The song shot to the UK number one spot and stayed there for two weeks in May. This was the first of the band's nine UK number-ones. Amazingly for a Eurovision winner, the song was a Top Ten hit in the United States and Canada. It also reached number one in Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland, and West Germany; number two in Sweden (with the Swedish version of the song), Austria, Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) and the Netherlands; number three in Canada, France, New Zealand, Spain, and Sweden (the English version); and number four in Australia.
The "Waterloo" album also performed well in Europe, although in the U.S. it failed to match the success of the single. Though it would be another eighteen months before the group repeated their success, Waterloo introduced the world to a fresh-faced and vibrant group of individuals who were determined not to be Eurovision one-hit wonders.
In 1994, the song - together with several other ABBA hits - was included in the soundtrack of the film Muriel's Wedding. It was re-released in 2004, with the same B-side, to celebrate its thirtieth anniversary, reaching number twenty on the UK charts.
On October 22, 2005, during the fiftieth celebration of the Eurovision Song Contest, "Waterloo" was chosen as the best song in the competition's history.
[edit] Comprehensive charts
| Chart (1974) | Position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | 1 |
| Belgian Singles Chart (BRT) | 1 |
| Belgian Singles Chart (Humo) | 1 |
| Finland Singles Chart | 1 |
| West German Singles Chart | 1 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 1 |
| South African Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 2 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 2 |
| Zimbabwe Singles Chart | 2 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 3 |
| French Singles Chart | 3 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart | 3 |
| Spanish Singles Chart | 3 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 3 |
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart | 4 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 6 |
| U.S. Cash Box Chart | 10 |
| U.S. Record World Chart | 9 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 14 |
[edit] Miscellany
- Pedants have pointed out that, contrary to what the song claims, Napoleon did not surrender at Waterloo; he surrendered at Rochefort on the French Atlantic coast four weeks later.
- The song made an appearance on The Simpsons in the episode "Mother Simpson".
- The Swedish heavy metal band Black Ingvars covered "Waterloo" on their album Schlager Metal.
- In 1998, UK girl group Bananarama reunited to record "Waterloo" for the Eurovision parody A Song For Eurotrash on Channel 4. Their music video featured the girls waking up from a hang-over, dancing around in wedding dresses at an altar (with male back-up dancers in military uniform), and getting into a food fight at a wedding reception.
- The song is featured in the encore of the musical Mamma Mia!.
| Preceded by: Tu Te Reconnaîtras |
Eurovision Song Contest Winners | Succeeded by: Ding Ding-A-Dong |
| Preceded by: "Seasons In The Sun" by Terry Jacks |
UK Singles Chart number one single May 4, 1974 |
Succeeded by: "Sugar Baby Love" by Rubettes |
