The Winner Takes It All
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| "The Winner Takes It All" | ||
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| Single by ABBA | ||
| from the album Super Trouper | ||
| Released | 1980 | |
| Format | Single | |
| Genre | Pop | |
| Length | 4:54 | |
| Label | Polar Music | |
| Writer(s) | Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus | |
| Producer(s) | Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus | |
| Certification | — | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| ABBA singles chronology | ||
| "I Have A Dream" (1979) |
"The Winner Takes It All" (1980) |
"Super Trouper" (1980) |
"The Winner Takes It All" is a song recorded by Swedish group ABBA and was the first single to be released from the Super Trouper album. Over twenty-five years after its release, it still remains a favourite among music listeners and reviewers. It is a bittersweet ballad, reflecting the end of a romance, and is assumed to mirror the divorce of band-members Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog. Sometimes, however, the song is used as a sports song. The single's B-side was called "Elaine," and is considered by many to be one of ABBA's better B-sides.
In a 1999 poll for Channel Five, "The Winner Takes It All" was voted Britain's favourite ABBA Song.
In a 2006 poll for a Channel Five programme, "The Winner Takes It All" was voted "Britain's Favourite Break-up Song".
[edit] The song
"The Winner Takes It All" was written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, with the lead vocal sung by Agnetha Fältskog, accompanied by Andersson playing piano. The song was originally titled "The Story of My Life," before it was later changed. The lyrics were written by Björn Ulvaeus, and were apparently personally inspired by his divorce from his wife and fellow ABBA band member Fältskog the previous year (though Ulvaeus himself denies this, claiming that "there were no winners" in his and Fältskog's divorce). Allegedly, Ulvaeus was drunk on brandy while quickly writing the song's lyrics.
"The Winner Takes It All" was something of a deviation from ABBA's previous singles. Earlier ABBA songs to focus on break-ups and relationship problems, such as "Mamma Mia" and "Knowing Me, Knowing You", typically contrasted their themes with a happier feel to the music. "The Winner Takes It All," though, was a much more sorrowful and poignant song, very much unlike anything that ABBA had done before. The lyrics are one of ABBA's most dramatic and are said to accurately describe the heartbreak and pain of a marriage that has ended. The song consists of several subdued sections in the verse, contrasted with a hugely dramatic build-up to the powerful chorus.
[edit] Chart Success
"The Winner Takes It All" was released in mid-1980. It topped the UK charts, staying at number one for two weeks. An attempt to keep the single at number one for a third week by releasing it in a 12-inch single form failed, when David Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes" replaced the song at number one. "The Winner Takes It All" also hit number one in Ireland, South Africa, Belgium and The Netherlands. It hit number two in Norway, Finland and ABBA's native Sweden, and hit number three in Switzerland and Austria. It hit number four in West Germany and Zimbabwe. It also hit number five in Mexico, number seven in Australia and Italy, and number eight in France and the United States. In the United States, the song was also ABBA's second number one single on the Adult Contemporary chart, the first being "Fernando." The single was a top ten hit in Canada and Spain as well, making it one of ABBA's most successful hits in terms of sales and chart performance.
"The Winner Takes It All" is also one of the showstopper moments in the ABBA-based musical Mamma Mia!.
| Preceded by: "Use It Up And Wear It Out" by Odyssey |
UK number one single August 3, 1980 |
Succeeded by: "Ashes To Ashes" by David Bowie |
