6 april 1974 - 6 april 2025 - 51 years of Waterloo

 

"Waterloo" was originally written as a song for the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, after the group finished third with "Ring Ring" the previous year in the Swedish pre-selection contest, Melodifestivalen 1973. Since it focused on lead vocalists Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson chose it in place of another of their songs, "Hasta Mañana". "Waterloo" is about a girl who is about to surrender to romance, as Napoleon had to surrender at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. (Actually, Napoleon did not surrender at Waterloo; he surrendered at Rochefort on the French Atlantic coast four weeks later.)

The song proved to be a good choice. It won Melodifestivalen 1974 (in Swedish) in February and won the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 (ESC) final on 6 April by six points.

"Waterloo" was originally written with simultaneous rock music and jazz beats (unusual for an ABBA song); this was later discarded in favour of more disco-esque rhythms. The song broke the "dramatic ballad" tradition of the Eurovision Song Contest by its flavour and rhythm, as well as by its performance: ABBA gave the audience something that had never been seen before in ESC: flashy costumes (including silver platform boots), a group not singing in their native language, plus a catchy uptempo song and even simple choreography.
 


Eurovision

Eurovision After Winning

The "Waterloo" single introduced the world to the phenomenon that was to become ABBA. The song shot to #1 in the UK and stayed there for two weeks, becoming the first of the band's nine British #1's, and the 16th biggest selling single of the year in the UK[2] It also hit the top of the charts in Belgium, Finland, West Germany, Ireland, Norway, South Africa and Switzerland, while reaching the Top 3 in Austria, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and ABBA's native Sweden. (The tune didn't reach #1 in their home country, its Swedish (#2) & English (#3) versions were beat out for the top spot by the Waterloo album [At the time Sweden had a combined Album and Singles Chart].) The song also spent 11 weeks on Svensktoppen (24 March - 2 June 1974), including 7 weeks at #1.[3] Surprisingly, the song never made a huge impact in Italy, only reaching #14. In fact, ABBA would only achieve Top 10 success in Italy 3 times.

But the song's appeal transcended Europe; unlike other Eurovision-winning tunes, which are usually ignored outside the continent, "Waterloo" also reached the Top 10 in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and even the United States (it remains the only Eurovision winner to be an American Top 40 hit, peaking at #6). "Waterloo" is the only Eurovision song to reach the Top 10 in 15 countries


 (EP) - Australia

Austria

(Red) Denmark

(Green) Denmark

France

France in French

Germany

(Sung in German) Germany

 

The Netherlands

(1st Pressing) Italy

(2nd Pressing) Italy

Mexico

Portugal

South Africa

(1nd Pressing) Spain

(2nd Pressing) Spain

Sweden

(Sung in Swedish) Sweden

Turkey

United Kingdom

(30th Anniversary) United Kingdom

(30th Anniversary Picture Disc)
United Kingdom

U.S.A.

(Oldies Series) USA

(Oldies Series 1987 Re-issue) U.S.A.

Yugoslavia

Canada
 

 

Officials Versions

 

 


Melodifestivalen


Melodifestivalen (After Wining)


Auftakt für Brighton



Eeurovisoon


Eurovision after Winning

Top Of The Pops (10 April 1974)


Die Aktuelle Schaubude

Studio B

Domino

Toppop


Top Of The Pops (May 1974)


Drehscheibe


Star Parade


Señoras Y Señores

VideoClip

Ein Kessel Buntes


Ein Kessel Buntes (In German)

Top of the Pops {December 1974}


Eddy-Go-Round Show (June 1975)

Momarkedet

Seaside Show


Don Kirschner Rock Concert


Saturday Night Live


Musikladen 1976


ABBA in Australia


ABBA in Studio 2

Don Kirshner'S New Rock Concert


La Noche de Lina Morgan

The Movie 1977

Top Club 1978

Japanese TV Special


Live in Concert London 1979

 

 

Tributes to Waterloo

All Versions



BAO at Rival



Benny at Ludvig Wedding



Benny at Allsang Pa Skansen 2015

Versions on YouTube

Marga Luz (1974)
ABBAcadabra (1984)
Dr. & The Medics Featurimg Roy Wood (1986)
Muriel's Wedding (1994)

Bjorn Again (1998)
Banarama (1999)
Anna Eriksson (2002)
Michelle HARDWICK & Will MELLOR & Vicky GATES & Lee OTWAY (2004)
Helena Paparizou & Carola Live at Skansen (2005)
Carola & Marie Bergman (2005)
Meryl Streep and the Cast of Mamma Mia The Movie (2007)
Raffael Carrá (2008)
Sofia Jannok (2009)
Monika Hoffman (2009)

Basilic (2009)
Olson Brothers (2010)
Johmmy Logan (2013)

Olivia Newton-John (2013)
Sound Of Strings (2013)
André Rieu (2013)
Symphonic ABBA (2014)
ABBA The Show (2014)
Conchita Wurst & Dana International (2015)
K3TYVANA (2015)
Dami Im (2016)
Alizée (2017)

Garou, Amir, Isabelle Boulay & Christophe Willem (2018)
The Kik (Dutch, 2021)

 

Versions in the World
 

Nilgün ATÝLGAN - Oldu Mu (Turkey, 1974)
Ami Aspelund (Finland, 1974)
GERD MICHAELIS CHOR (Germany, 1974)
Lecia & Lucienne (Denmark, 1974)
Eva Neoton (Hungary, 1992)
K & K Singers (Poland, 1993)
Richard Clayderman (France, 1993)
Black Ingvars (Sweden, 1998)
Tiiu Varik (Estonia, 197?)
Conjunto Movimento - Manhã (1975)
Elvira Voca (Serbo-croatian, 1974)
Irena Vrckovnik & Damjana Golavšek - Sneg je Tu (1998)
Eva Kostolányiová (Slovak)
Bunny Girls (Korean, 1974)
Margareta Pâslaru - As Vrea (Romanian, 1974)

Miluška Voborníková (Czech, 1974)
Transtomatik (Italian, 2004)

 

 

 

An Excellent Page for all Tributes to Waterloo EuroCovers