Topic summary
Waterloo (song)
"Waterloo" (reprise) on YouTube
"Waterloo" is a song recorded by Swedish pop music group ABBA, with music composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and lyrics written by Stikkan Anderson. It is the first single of the group's second album of the same name, and their first under the Atlantic label in the United States. This was also the first single to be credited to the group performing under the name ABBA. The title and lyrics reference the 1815 Battle of Waterloo and use it as a metaphor. The Swedish version of the single was backed with the Swedish version of "Honey, Honey", while the English version featured "Watch Out" on the B-side.
In 1974, after winning the of the Melodifestivalen, "Waterloo" represented Sweden in the of the Eurovision Song Contest held in Brighton, England, winning the contest and beginning ABBA's path to worldwide fame. It topped the charts in several countries, and reached the top 10 in the United States.
In 2005, at Eurovision fiftieth anniversary competition Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest, "Waterloo" was chosen as the best song in the contest's history.