Thank You for the Music

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"Thank You for the Music"
"Thank You for the Music" cover
Single by ABBA
from the album The Album
Released November 6, 1983
Format 7" single
Genre Europop, Pop
Length 3:51
Label Epic
Writer(s) Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus
Producer(s) Michael Tretow
Chart positions
  • #33 (UK)
ABBA singles chronology
"Under Attack"
(1982)
"Thank You for the Music"
(1983)

"Thank You for the Music" was the twenty-fifth and apparently final hit for ABBA when released in November 1983. The song was actually recorded six years before in 1977, and released as the B-side of "Eagle", which itself was only released in limited territories, namely Germany, France, Austria, Australia and Switzerland. "Thank You for the Music" was also included on The Album, and formed part of the ABBA film that was released to coincide with the album.

"Thank You for the Music"'s lead singer was Agnetha Fältskog, while Anni-Frid Lyngstad joined Agnetha on the chorus. The song was intended to form part of a "mini-musical" that songwriters Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson had planned, but later scrapped, along with "I Wonder (Departure)" and "I'm a Marionette", both of which also appear on The Album.

The single was only released in the UK at the time, and reached number thirty-three on the charts there. The low placing could be attributed to the fact that ABBA's popularity had declined since their last top three hit in 1981, where their previous three singles had peaked at numbers twenty-five ("Head over Heels"), thirty-two ("The Day Before You Came") and twenty-six ("Under Attack"). Also, the song had been heard many times before, having been included on the aforementioned album and was a concert favourite for many years.

"Thank You for the Music" was the last single release from the group until the re-issue of "Dancing Queen" in September 1992.