ABBA REVEALED THEIR PERSONAL FAVORITES — AND EACH CHOICE SAYS SOMETHING DIFFERENT ABOUT THE BAND
Ask four members of ABBA to choose one song from their own catalog, and you don’t get the same answer four times. Instead, you get four different windows into what made the group extraordinary: connection, emotion, craftsmanship, and heartbreak.
Agnetha Fältskog has pointed to “Fernando” for the way it brings people together. Released in 1976, the song became one of ABBA’s biggest international successes, and its broad, singalong quality made it especially powerful in front of large audiences. It is easy to understand the appeal: when thousands of voices join the chorus, “Fernando” stops feeling like a recording and becomes a shared memory.
Background
Anni-Frid “Frida” Lyngstad has spoken with particular affection about “Dancing Queen.” Her connection goes back to the recording itself. Benny Andersson once played her an early backing track, and Frida later recalled being so moved by its beauty that she cried. The song, recorded beginning in 1975 and released in 1976, would eventually become ABBA’s only No. 1 single in the United States.
For Benny Andersson, “Chiquitita” stands among the group’s finest achievements. Released in 1979, the song paired a gentle opening with one of ABBA’s grandest melodic builds and was famously connected to UNICEF’s International Year of the Child. Its enduring strength lies in something Benny has always valued deeply: a melody strong enough to survive any era or arrangement.
Introduction
Then there is Björn Ulvaeus, whose choice of “The Winner Takes It All” feels almost inevitable. Written with Benny and released in 1980, the ballad tells the story of two lovers separating, with Agnetha delivering one of ABBA’s most emotionally devastating performances. Björn has said the song was not a literal account of his divorce from Agnetha, but he has acknowledged that it drew on the emotional experience of divorce.
Video
Lyrics
🎵 Let’s sing along with the lyrics! 🎤
How I hate to see you like this
There is no way you can deny it
I can see that you’re oh, so sad, so quiet[Verse 2]
Chiquitita, tell me the truth
I’m a shoulder you can cry on
Your best friend, I’m the one you must rely on
You were always sure of yourself
Now I see you’ve broken a feather (How it hurts to see you cry and how it hurts to see you sad)
I hope we can patch it up together[Chorus]
Chiquitita, you and I know
How the heartaches come and they go and the scars they’re leaving
You’ll be dancing once again and the pain will end
You will have no time for grieving
Chiquitita, you and I cry
But the sun is still in the sky and shining above you (Even though you cry, the sun is shining in the sky)
Let me hear you sing once more like you did before (So let me hear you sing some more the way you used to do before)
Sing a new song, Chiquitita
Try once more, like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita