"Waterloo" is the first single from the Swedish pop group ABBA's second album of the same name, and their first under the Atlantic label in the US. 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.
"Waterloo" won the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 for Sweden, beginning ABBA's path to worldwide fame. It topped the charts in several countries, and reached the top 10 in the United States.
At the 50th anniversary celebration of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005, it was chosen as the best song in the competition's history. It received the same honour in a 14-country open vote in the run-up to the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, placing first above Sweden's winning songs in 2012 and 2015, Loreen's "Euphoria" and Måns Zelmerlöw's "Heroes", respectively.
Writing, recording and meaning
"Waterloo" was written specifically to be entered into the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, after the group finished third with "Ring Ring" the previous year in the Swedish pre-selection contest, Melodifestivalen 1973.
The original title of the song was "Honey Pie". "Waterloo" was originally written with simultaneous rock music and jazz beats (unusual for an ABBA song).
Recording of the song commenced on 17 December 1973, with instrumental backing from Janne Schaffer (who came up with the main guitar and bass parts), Rutger Gunnarsson and Ola Brunkert. The song's production style was influenced by Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound": prior to recording "Ring Ring", engineer Michael B. Tretow had read Richard Williams' book Out of His Head: The Sound of Phil Spector, which inspired him to layer multiple instrumental overdubs on the band's recordings, becoming an integral part of ABBA's sound. Furthermore, ABBA had also originally cited the song "See My Baby Jive", by English glam rock band Wizzard, as a major influence (it was produced in the same style); in the wake of their Eurovision victory, they were quoted as saying that it would not surprise them if artists such as Wizzard would consider entering the Eurovision in the future.
Subsequently, German and French versions were recorded in March and April 1974 respectively: the French version was adapted by Alain Boublil, who would later go on to co-write the 1980 musical Les Misérables.
The song's lyrics are metaphorical and are about a woman who "surrenders" to a man and promises to love him, likening it to Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
At Eurovision
The band considered submitting another song to Eurovision, "Hasta Mañana", but decided on "Waterloo" since it gave equal weight to both lead vocalists Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, while "Hasta Mañana" was sung only by Fältskog.
ABBA performed the song at Melodifestivalen 1974 in February, singing it in Swedish. The song won, and therefore advanced to Eurovision.
The song differed from the standard "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 rarely been seen before in Eurovision: flashy costumes (including silver platform boots), plus a catchy uptempo song and even simple choreography. The group also broke from convention by being the first winning entry in a language other than that of their home country; prior to , all Eurovision singers had been required to sing in their country's native tongue, a restriction that was lifted briefly for the contests between 1973 and (thus allowing "Waterloo" to be sung in English), then reinstated before ultimately being removed again in . Compared to later ABBA releases, the singers' Swedish accents are decidedly more pronounced in "Waterloo".
The song scored 24 points to win the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 final on 6 April, beating runner-up Gigliola Cinquetti of 's entry "Sì" by six points.