ABBA’s Best Lyrics on Life and Love
The Swedish pop group ABBA dominated the charts in the 1970s, releasing eight studio albums in that time. Their upbeat, dance-friendly songs hit at the height of the disco era, turning the group into a global phenomenon. From dance anthems to heartbreak ballads, ABBA offered a little something for everyone, never holding back the emotion that makes their music so relatable. As U2 singer Bono said in 1992: “I think ABBA have a pure joy to their music — and that’s what makes them extraordinary.”
But while ABBA is now celebrated as one of the most successful pop groups in history, the musicians had a winding road to stardom. Keyboardist Benny Andersson and guitarist Björn Ulvaeus — who also wrote the band’s songs — were the first to meet and collaborate musically. In 1969, they met their musical and romantic matches in vocalists Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. After several middling releases, the foursome’s song “Ring Ring” qualified in the Swedish round of the legendary Eurovision competition, but got no further. Undeterred, the band returned to Eurovision the following year with “Waterloo.” This time, they won outright — and the rest, as they say, is history.
ABBA’s music was true to life, in all its ups and downs: Their 1980 hit “The Winner Takes It All” was written about Ulvaeus and Fältskog’s divorce that year. A year later, Andersson and Lyngstad also divorced, and the strain led the band to finally split in 1982. But that wasn’t the end of ABBA — not really. Their music has lived on in soundtracks for movies such as Muriel’s Wedding (1995) and Johnny English (2003), and even inspired the smash jukebox musical Mamma Mia!, which opened on Broadway in 1999 and hit the big screen in 2008. And to the delight of insatiable fans, in November 2021 the band put out their first new album in 40 years, “Voyage,” which topped the charts within weeks of its release, going platinum across Europe.
In honor of their return, we’ve gathered some of ABBA’s most poignant lyrics, on everything from living life fully to getting through tough times — things that, through their music, the four have helped countless other people to do.
On embracing life
On friendship
On the ups and downs of love
On the power of music
