The song "Waterloo" is ambiguous enough that you can apply it to several situations, but I think it's clear that it was NOT intended to refer to domestic violence in any way (in the early 70's? No chance) OR to surrendering oneself to Jesus (nice thought, but ABBA's not a religious group). Nor is it about Napoleon (it's just using Napoleon's legendary defeat as a metaphor).
I think it's clearly just a song about a girl letting herself fall for someone else - for one reason or another, she resisted having a relationship with them, but they hung in there, and now she gives up and admits she likes them. It reminds me of countless "Will They, Won't They?" romantic subplots in the movies and other media, where the couple starts out antagonistic towards each other, but have obvious Unresolved Sexual Tension, and finally end up together.
Glimmerings of ABBA
Emerging global fantasies turned blonde for me in ‘seventy-six. Bjorn, Benny and the flikas sailed the radio waves from East to West. Santa Lucia’s crowning princess never shone so blessed on midnight fjords as she did in my own Eurovision-mix.
Perfect pop intensifies the longing for that feminine fix. Cassette wheels whirred - first branding, finally impressing deep grooves upon the brain; my pre-pubescent thrall confessing helpless love for Nordic light (in thumping Disco metrics).
The names (still humming) strike flames, and kindle bright renown: “Bang a Boomerang”, “SOS”, “I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do” — and will forevermore. Those Viking visages sacked and razed a quiet little harbor town.
Frida Lyngstad, Agnetha Fältskog — your longships linger where syllables flicker, portaging hope to every shipwrecked singer Revealing smiles in evergreens and helping us reach our further shore.
@NomadMonad who talks like this?
@NomadMonad who talks like this?
You can say what you like about the Eurovision song contest, but without it, would the world have heard of Abba?
This song won the Eurovision in 1976 and the rest, as they say, is history.
It wasn't 1976 but 1974. I remember my first experience of Abba vividly.
It wasn't 1976 but 1974. I remember my first experience of Abba vividly.
I think this song's about someone who was suddenly pursued by a person that she didn't want to give in to, whether because she wasn't looking for a relationship, didn't like him, or whatever. Like a in a battles in a war, she put up a fight and tried to resist and get away from him, but in the end, gives in and "loses", ("...I tried to hold you back but you were stronger") proclaiming her "Waterloo", just like Napoleon finally lost at Waterloo. And along with proclaiming her defeat, she also proclaims her loyalty and love for the guy, who earned it by "winning" the war ("...I was defeated, you won the war... Promise to love you for ever more").
The original title of the song was "Honey Pie", perhaps comparing the pleasures of love to eating sweets, penned by the group after eating an especially large desert. Perhaps initially concerned after a friend suggested it might be mistaken for a Beatles cover, the group listened to the White Album to hear if there were any musical similarities to their work in progress. They would have discovered another song on the album, "Savoy Truffle" was more similar and decided changes had to be made. George Harrison's line about needing "to have them all pulled out" referring to the dentistry consequences after indulging in sweets would lead to numerous conversations and the group eventually learning that in Napoleonic times, dentures were made from real human teeth, a particularly large number of such teeth being obtained from dead soldiers at the Battle of Waterloo. After further rewriting, the group would have decided to rewrite the song from the point of view of a dead Napoleonic soldier's tooth, singing to the new mouth that it would be a denture in. Although their record company's A&R people would have found this highly original, they would express concern over what the public's reaction would be, and after many listeners in focus groups express alarm and leave the listening booth grimacing and massaging their jaws, it would have been suggested the lyrics be made more subtle. With very few changes (reportedly only 5 words were altered), the final lyrics were ambiguous enough that most people interpreted the song as mainly one about a relationship, and not a philosophical question of whether a living being's body parts have their own soul and will. With no one the wiser, the song is a hit, and history is made!
@madscijr I feel I ought to add a disclaimer that this is a "fringe theory" pieces together from various clues, in order to explain how this song came to be. It has not been verified as fact, or corroborated by the group or their record company. We would not wish to disparage the good people of ABBA, their management, or the poor soldiers who lost their lives (and teeth!) at Waterloo, or their families! This certainly is not a condoning of body snatching or desecration of deceased people for the purpose of dentistry and profit, of any sort! It's just...
@madscijr I feel I ought to add a disclaimer that this is a "fringe theory" pieces together from various clues, in order to explain how this song came to be. It has not been verified as fact, or corroborated by the group or their record company. We would not wish to disparage the good people of ABBA, their management, or the poor soldiers who lost their lives (and teeth!) at Waterloo, or their families! This certainly is not a condoning of body snatching or desecration of deceased people for the purpose of dentistry and profit, of any sort! It's just that if you listen to the lyrics, and put two and two together, you might come to some conclusions, especially if you are at a wedding and have eaten one too many magic mushrooms. This is not a condoning of eating magic mushrooms! Those things are very easy to confuse with a poisonous variety, and they will mess up your mind, so it is advised that you avoid those outside of the care of a doctor or trained shaman! Good day, sirs and madams!
According to the book 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner &Spencer Leigh, Abba considered submitting two songs for Eurovision, ‘Waterloo’ and ‘Hasta Manana’. In the end they chose the former which ingeniously compared romantic surrender to Napoleon Bonaparte’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo. They won by six points, beating Italy into second place. Abba’s manager Stig Anderson was so confident they would win that he had placed a bet, even though the bookies odds were 20-1 and he had wondered if people might feel it was too aggressive for Eurovision. ‘Waterloo’ was also recorded in French, German and of course Swedish.
Someone correct me if I am wrong. . .
I believe that the UK awarded Abba 0 points for this song during the contest.
A song about a battle the British won. Against the French.
Abba must have been wondering what they had to do. . .
@altsain If you watch the voting, it was all politics. The UK thought they had a winner in Olivia Newton John, so they voted for other countries with little chance of winning, and made sure not vote for Sweden. Most of Sweden's votes came from countries that knew their country wasn't going to win. The system was changed the next year.
@altsain If you watch the voting, it was all politics. The UK thought they had a winner in Olivia Newton John, so they voted for other countries with little chance of winning, and made sure not vote for Sweden. Most of Sweden's votes came from countries that knew their country wasn't going to win. The system was changed the next year.
I believe that it was in 1974 when they won the Eurovision contest.
If you hear the song in German you'll understand it's not about Napoleon but comparing a love situation. "And how could I ever refuse I feel like I win when I lose" The person singing is saying they were trying to refuse the flirtings of the oither person but couldn't, hence lost like Napoleon in Waterloo, and yet it feels good. Again, the German version is a lot clearer about this~
I found a French/Swedish version of that song, made by ABBA. I'm french and i've tried hard to understand the french part... Awesome! Everyone envies us our Napoleon ... haha i'm joking