Waterloo (song)

"Waterloo"
US single of the English version
Single by ABBA
from the album Waterloo
B-side	"Honey, Honey (Svensk Version)" (Swedish-language release) "Watch Out" (English-language release)
Released	4 March 1974[1]
Recorded	1973
Studio	Metronome, Stockholm, Sweden
Genre	Europop[2][3] pop rock[4] rock and roll[5] rock[6]
Length	2:42
Label	Polar Epic Polydor Atlantic
Composer(s)	Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus
Lyricist(s)	Stikkan Anderson
Producer(s)	Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus
ABBA singles chronology
"Nina, Pretty Ballerina" (1973) "Waterloo" (1974) "Honey, Honey" (1974)
Audio sample
Waterloo (English version) file help
Music video
"Waterloo" on YouTube
Eurovision Song Contest 1974 entry
Country	Sweden
Artist(s)	Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus Agnetha Fältskog Anni-Frid Lyngstad
As	ABBA
Language	English
Composer(s)	Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus
Lyricist(s)	Stikkan Anderson
Conductor	Sven-Olof Walldoff
Finals performance
Final result	1st
Final points	24
Entry chronology
◄ "You're Summer" (1973)
"Jennie, Jennie" (1975) ►
Official performance video
"Waterloo" on YouTube "Waterloo" (reprise) on YouTube

"Waterloo" is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA, with music composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and lyrics written by Stikkan Anderson. It is 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 for a romantic relationship. 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 14th edition of the Melodifestivalen, "Waterloo" represented Sweden in the 19th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest held in Brighton, 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.