In 1980, Abba is a group already at the top. The Swedes in lamé combinations have already won Eurovision with "Waterloo" six years earlier, released "Dancing Queen" two years later, then "Gimme Gimme Gimme". At the dawn of a new decade, a new hit will ignite summer, "The Winner Takes It All".
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However, the theme of the song is not very summery. The lyrics focus on the divorce between two members of the group, Bjorn and Agnetha. "I don't want to talk about what we went through," writes Bjorn, devastated, with his partner Benny. "Although it hurts me, it is now ancient history," proclaims the song again. And then "The Winner Takes It All", "the winner takes it all" in French.
Another divorce song
The song remains in the charts in Belgium for two months, is voted favorite song of Abba in Great Britain. Bjorn and Agnetha were married for nine years, so it's not for nothing that "The Winner Takes It All" would normally be called "The Story of My Life".
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A year later, the other duo of the group divorced, Benny and Frida. They also publish their separation song, "When All Is Said and Done", included in the group's latest album released in 1981, The Visitors .
If today Abba has entered a sacrosanct list of essential groups and adored by almost all, it must be remembered that this was not entirely the case at the time, where we judge their outfits to be alluring , very kitsch disco and colorful synthesizers. The group is lambasted by rock critics, who love to hate them.
This will not prevent the four accomplices from selling 370 million records during their careers, making Abba the group that has sold the most albums in the world.