Song Analysis - Waterloo

My my!  

For many, Waterloo is by far one ABBA's most classic and well known songs (aside from Dancing Queen of course.)  When the word Waterloo is mentioned, ABBA are among the first things to come to mind.  That is unless you're actively discussing the battle of Waterloo or just the place Waterloo in general.

ABBA began working on this song in December of 1973, with lyrics written Bjorn, Benny, and Stig.  The song seems to have been written and recorded simultaneously in Swedish and English.  Both lyrics are essentially about the same thing, with the only differences being one is in Swedish and one is in English.

Many people make the mistake of assuming that ABBA's song is literally about the actual Battle of Waterloo, the battle that marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars.  I remember one time watching this episode of Legends of Tomorrow when the character of Mick Rory says in reference to ABBA (They had an ABBA themed episode and it was... full of inaccurate information and  I'm not going to get into it beause it makes me mad), "Why would anyone write a song about a war?"  In fact even in 1974, after ABBA won Eurovision, a reporter asked Stig if ABBA's song was making light of the amount of deaths at the battle of Waterloo.

The song starts with the line, "My, my, at Waterloo Napoleon did surrender, "or in the Swedish version, "Well, well, at Waterloo Napoleon had to surrender."  And that, along with the title of the song which repeats throughout the song, is the only connection to the actual battle of Waterloo.  

In reality, the song is a song about someone who is like "Fine, I give up.  I'm done playing hard to get, I'll give this relationship a try," or "Fine, I give up.  I accept, I'm trapped in this relationship, and I won't fight it anymore." With lines in the first verse such as: Swedish lyrics roughly translated to English: "but, but, one can meet one's fate in so many different ways. I feel myself since I met you. history repeats itself."  English lyrics: "oh yeah, and I have met my destiny in quite a similar way. The history book on the shelf is always repeating itself." or in the second verse- Swedish lyrics: "Yes, yes, you defend yourself and fight for the longest time but, but, against emotions the gods fight in vain has been said it's like I heard a song I think there is love going on", English lyrics: "My, my, I tried to hold you back but you were stronger oh yeah, and now it seems my only chance is giving up the fight and how could I ever refuse I feel like I win when I lose."  

The song is comparing the main character's feeling of defeat, or acceptance, in this relationship, to Napoleon surrendering at Waterloo.  It's a very interesting metaphor? allegory?.  English lyrics: "Waterloo – couldn’t escape if I wanted to. Waterloo – knowing my fate is to be with you."  Swedish lyrics: "Waterloo - everything feels right, and that's my belief Waterloo - you are my destiny, my Waterloo."

The song is fun, catchy, and as we all know, nearly 50 years ago, ABBA submitted this song into the Melodifestivalen, the Swedish selections of the Eurovision Song Contest, won that, and then performed it at the Brighton Dome on April 6th, 1974, and won that as well.  Waterloo ended up skyrocketing ABBA into overnight success, and that's where ABBA's claim to success really starts.  Waterloo was completely different from any other song performed in Eurovision prior, which absolutely added to their success, but also their performance - dressed up in bedazzled costumes with sparkly sequins, metal shoulder pieces, and lots of satin/silk and velvet - added to that as well.  ABBA had achieved something new and unique, and they hard work was well earned.

Of course, with the newfound success with Waterloo, ABBA went on to record the song in two more languages, such as French and German.  Again, the songs are all generally about the same thing.  The first verse to the French version is: "Already, at Waterloo Napoleon had to surrender. And I believe that my destiny takes today the same path. History books and life tell the same comedy", the chorus being, "Waterloo - you are victorious and I lose the war. Waterloo - I make myself your prisoner.  Waterloo - I can no longer run away and escape you.  Waterloo - for life I promise to love you Wa Wa Wa Wa Waterloo, my Waterloo has arrived", and the second verse, "However, I tried to resist but in vain. So I think my only chance is to give up the fight.  How to still believe it when I wish for your victory".  

And the German version is, fist verse: "Like you, when you looked at me, I was already lost. And now I'm head over heels in love and I want to just be your prisoner.  From today on you are mine for me!", chorus: "Waterloo, no one took me by storm like you did. Waterloo, I came away like Napoleon.  Waterloo, I give up and I'm coming to you.  Waterloo, even if I lose my heart. Wa-Wa-Wa-Waterloo Even if I lose my heart, " and second verse: "First I thought I had to resist you. You have fought for myself and I have come to terms with time.  It's much nicer together than to definitely be a winner."

 Generally, all versions of the song are the same, and as you can tell from the snippets and rough translations, the song is not about the war of Waterloo, with blood and gore and senseless fighting.  None of that.  It shows that sometimes you just need to read the lyrics if you truly want to understand, otherwise you're just looking dumb for being ignorant.  (Sorry I've come across too many people saying ignorant things about Waterlooo and eugghhhhhh it makes me so maddddd lol)

Naturally, with Waterloo being ABBA's first major hit, we have so many different versions of the song and so many different performances.  They peformed this song live the most -  we have bootleg audio from ABBA's 1975 performance in Eskilstuna, Waterloo performed live in 1977, Waterloo performed live in 1979 and finally in the last leg of their world tour in 1980.  They have probably performed and promoted this song more than any of their other songs.

Here I have compiled all of ABBA's televesion/recorded performances that I could find.  (Technically some of the performances are slightly out of sync and I accidentally forgot one performance of the German version of the song on the show Ein Kessel Buntes, so I will have to make an update to the video at some point... juts not now because it takes a lot of work to try to sync up performances lol.)  As you can see, there are a LOT of performances, even more than Dancing Queen!  My favorite thing about this video is that you can see their first ever performance of the song in early 1974 and then the last visual recording we have of it from Japan, 1980.  6 years of performing this song.   Too bad they stopped performing live much after 1980, because I would have LOVED to see ABBA in their 1982 looks singing this song haha.