OK the time has come! In this thread I’ll be ranking every song ever recorded by ABBA 😊🥰🥳💃🏼🎶

A few ground rules before we get started:

1. Only songs officially released by the group are up for consideration (sorry Just Like That...I do love you though)
2. Early songs released by some members of the band before they became ABBA are not up for consideration (apologies to Hej Gamle Man...it’s not me it’s you)

3. The solo careers of Agnetha and Frida are not up for consideration (but if they were, whew...there are some real gems!)
4. Their first new songs in 30+ years are not up for consideration because, despite assurances we’d have them by now, Don’t Shut Me Down and I Still Have Faith in You are nowhere to be found 😤

5. Official mixes of released songs are not up for consideration (sorry Doris Day)
6. From a Twinkling Star to a Passing Angel is truly wonderful. But how do you rank something that’s essentially showing the band’s homework? Like I’m so glad this exists and wish we had one for each of their songs, but I’m not ranking this.
With these rules in place we end up with a cool 100 songs spread over eight albums and a collection of B-sides. I’ll post a few of these each day, always in this thread so you know where to find them. And now, without further ado...
100. I SAW IT IN THE MIRROR (from “Ring Ring” • 1973). There's a fair bit of dreck in those early years, but this stands out as the worst thing they ever did. Blander than a stale, unsalted Zesta cracker.
99. MERRY-GO-ROUND (B-side to “People Need Love” • 1972). Fun fact - at 3:25 this is the longest song from the “Ring Ring” era. It's at least three minutes too long.
98. CRAZY WORLD (B-side to “Money, Money, Money” • 1976). Ah yes, the classic tale: Boy suspects girl is cheating on him but it's really just her brother Joe. *This* was a B-side. To one of their major worldwide hits!
97. SUZY-HANG-AROUND (from “Waterloo” • 1974). "Nobody wants you around here and that's for sure" is a sick burn, but its appearance in a song this bad smacks of a real lack in self-awareness.
96. WHAT ABOUT LIVINGSTONE (from “Waterloo” • 1974). This one's just far too cute. I can practically hear a Mormon family with eight kids performing this exuberantly and unironically at the ward talent show.
95. ME AND BOBBY AND BOBBY’S BROTHER (from “Ring Ring” • 1973). Bobby ain't no McGee, and the wildest thing this threesome did was climb some apple trees. Next.
94. MEDLEY: PICK A BALE OF COTTON/ON TOP OF OLD SMOKEY/MIDNIGHT SPECIAL (B-side to “Summer Night City” • 1978). I want to love this rambling, high-energy hoedown throwdown but the optics of four white people singing "Pick a Bale of Cotton" are just...not good.
93. MAN IN THE MIDDLE (from “Abba” • 1975). Read it as a critique of capitalism if you wish, I just think it's a lazy song with a boring melody that never really gets off the ground.
92. THE WAY OLD FRIENDS DO (from “Super Trouper” • 1980). They could've ended the album on a high note with the banger to end all bangers, "Lay All Your Love on Me." Instead, the closing track was this gloopy mess, their least interesting bit of music in several years. To top it
all off it's live, and it's not even a particularly good live recording. Hard pass.
91. SANTA ROSA (B-side to “He Is Your Brother” • 1972). Of all the California locales to get a shout-out from 70s singer-songwriters, Santa Rosa seems an odd choice for a group of Swedish hucksters looking for a hit.
90. HAPPY HAWAII (B-side to “Knowing Me, Knowing You” • 1977). This early version of Why Did It Have to Be Me subs out a boisterous piano and sax for chintzy wave sounds and tinkling noises. Pass.
89. I HAVE A DREAM (from “Voulez-Vous” • 1979). A few weeks ago I asked you, Twitter friends, to name one (1) good song featuring a children’s choir. I notice none of you named this one.
88. I AM JUST A GIRL (from “Ring Ring” • 1973). A real snooze, but it’s fun to make your own harmonies when you sing along with the chorus.
87. ARRIVAL (from “Arrival” • 1976). I used to work with a guy who wore kilts and hummed this song loudly at his desk.
86. GONNA SING YOU MY LOVE SONG (from “Waterloo” • 1974). It’s a little too earnest, and the structure of the chorus is pretty awkward.
85. TROPICAL LOVELAND (from “Abba” • 1975). I understand why they made it—Sweden is hella cold in the winter when they were recording and they just wanted to be in Saint Barthélemy. I *don’t* understand why they released it; this is not a good song.
84. I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU (from “Abba” • 1975). This one just misses the mark for me. That chorus doesn’t deserve showstopper treatment but they’re out here going full fortissimo anyway 🤷🏼‍♂️
83. ROCK’N’ROLL BAND (from “Ring Ring” • 1973). Things you will never hear anyone say outside of this song: “Come on baby let’s dance to the rock and roll band.” Still, they sound like they’re having fun and if this pops up on shuffle I have a hard time resisting its charms.
82. NINA, PRETTY BALLERINA (from “Ring Ring” • 1973). If you’re not careful those “just like Cinderella”s will lodge in your auditory cortex forever.
81. ROCK ME (from “Abba” • 1975). Björn’s vocals are truly bothersome but underneath the chutzpah is a pretty decent little tune with hooks aplenty.
80. PEOPLE NEED LOVE (from “Ring Ring” • 1973). Björn was in a group called The Hootenanny Singers before he joined ABBA. You can really hear the hootenanny in songs like “People Need Love.”
79. SHE’S MY KIND OF GIRL (from “Ring Ring” • 1973). The song isn’t great and the rhymes are awful but I like doing the backing vocals.
78. SITTING IN THE PALMTREE (from “Waterloo” • 1974). ABBA dabbled in tropical themes on three consecutive albums. The results are generall mediocre, but I kind of go crazy for the harmonies on the “Jeanie, Jeanie on my mind” line.
77. LOVE ISN’T EASY (BUT IT SURE IS HARD ENOUGH) (from “Ring Ring” • 1973). The working title apparently made it to google translate, went for a few spins, and then got spit out in whatever language this is.
76. LOVELIGHT (B-side to “Chiquitita” • 1979). Pretty generic effort. I do like the triplets in the verse.
75. HASTA MAÑANA (from “Waterloo” • 1974).Almost selected for Eurovision instead of Waterloo (!), this Spanish-inflected number—the first in a long line ofABBA songs to which this descriptor applies—was unfortunately covered by Debby Boone as the B-side to “You Light Up My Life”
74. KING KONG SONG (from “Waterloo” • 1974). Zany little tune featuring an inhuman scream from Agnetha that will curdle your blood.
73. KISSES OF FIRE (from “Voulez-Vous” • 1979). More craven imitation than homage, this Barry-Robin-Maurice pastiche has never really worked for me.
72. DANCE (WHILE THE MUSIC STILL GOES ON) (from “Waterloo” • 1974). I’m a sucker for a good key change, but this melody isn’t robust enough for the “Love on Top” treatment.
71. INTERMEZZO NO. 1 (from “Abba” • 1975). Very distinct Mannheim Steamroller vibes. It’s not bad, but I’m rarely in the mood.
70. HE IS YOUR BROTHER (from “Ring Ring” • 1973). The ahhhhs in the pre-chorus are a revelation, and there’s an unusual downward key change that works well.
69. ANOTHER TOWN, ANOTHER TRAIN (from “Ring Ring” • 1973). This was my go-to karaoke song for awhile. Obscure, sentimental album cut from a pop juggernaut *and* it’s in my (very limited) range? Alright Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.
68. ANDANTE, ANDANTE (from “Super Trouper” • 1980). This is clearly a S E X song but I have no idea what it means to “tread lightly on my ground.” And I don’t want to know, thanks!
67. DISILLUSION (from “Ring Ring” • 1973). Agnetha’s sole writing credit for the group, and a real highlight from the debut album.
66. YOU OWE ME ONE (B-side to “Under Attack” • 1982). A silly little tune, one of the last they recorded, about needing to escape life’s “daily little dramas” with a trip to the Bahamas. It’s cute enough.
65. SUMMER NIGHT CITY (Non-album single • 1978). A case of the whole being less than the sum of its parts. Everything works on paper but the song doesn’t sparkle the way most ABBA singles do.
64. DOES YOUR MOTHER KNOW (from “Voulez-Vous” • 1979). Does a grown man singing about the sexual desires of a “child” creep me out? Yes. Do I skip this song most of the time? Yes. Do I get lost in the music every time I listen? Yes. Are those harmonies simply perfect? Yes.
Did I rank this too low? I don’t know? Probably?
63. CASSANDRA (B-side to “The Day Before You Came” • 1982). I love the glossy production but this lingers a bit too long for me. Didn’t need the third verse. Sorry, Cassandra.
62. FERNANDO (Non-album single • 1976). Pretty weak chorus for what is probably their biggest worldwide smash, and the story honestly bores me. I’m not your babe, Fernando.
61. HAPPY NEW YEAR (from “Super Trouper” • 1980). ABBA are no strangers to distressing lyrics, but I’m not sure they ever got darker than they did on Happy New Year. “Seems to me now that the dreams we had before are all dead, nothing more than confetti on the floor.” Brutal.
60. TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE (from “The Visitors” • 1981). I’m just here for the layered chorus y’all - wow, it is so good! And I’d love to have an array of horns underscore my punch lines but I’ve never successfully landed one of those.
59. MY MAMA SAID (from “Waterloo” • 1974). Unlike anything else in the ABBA catalog. Sparse, elemental, with a stuttering baseline and the aura of early disco.
58. DREAM WORLD (from “Thank You for the Music” • 1994). Eighty-five percent of this grand arrangement works wonderfully well but the part that doesn’t work (which was recycled for Does Your Mother Know) drags the whole number down several spots.
57. MOVE ON (from “The Album” • 1977). Björn’s spoken-word verse kills the whole vibe. What’s left is a monster chorus and some of the lushest harmonies in the ABBA oeuvre.
56. THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC (from “The Album” • 1977). Great sing-along chorus, but a song treacly enough to get a “Doris Day Mix” was never going to rank among my favorites. Bonus points for the Davis-like “golden hayuh.”
55. PUT ON YOUR WHITE SOMBRERO (from “Thank You for the Music” • 1994). We all have an ABBA song that we rate higher than we probably should. This is mine. That final chorus just bowls me over every time.
54. BANG-A-BOOMERANG (from “Abba” • 1975). Benny’s sprightly melodies achieved layers of complexity long before Björn’s lyrics caught up. Nowhere is that more apparent than on this self-titled album cut, a lovely tune you can’t help but “hum-de-hum-hum.”
53. I LET THE MUSIC SPEAK (from “The Visitors” • 1981). You can really hear Benny angling for Broadway on this one. It’s no surprise that Chess came about just a few years later.
52. UNDER ATTACK (from “The Singles: The First Ten Years” • 1982). ABBA’s foray into synth pop produced some masterpieces in league with the best of the decade. Other numbers like this, their last single, were pleasant if middling by comparison.
51. I WONDER (DEPARTURE) (from “The Album” • 1977). Look, I cannot confirm that I broke down listening to this song while walking through some aspens in the mountains above my home, ok? I CANNOT CONFIRM THAT.
50. SLIPPING THROUGH MY FINGERS (from “The Visitors” • 1981). “Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture and save it from the funny tricks of time” is such a mood 😭.
49. SHOULD I LAUGH OR CRY (B-side to “One of Us • 1981). I’ve asked myself this question every day of quarantine. Usually it’s a bit of both, occasionally at the same time.
48. CHIQUITITA (from “Voulez-Vous” • 1979). I can’t hear this song without thinking of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and that honestly drags it down a few spots.
47. RING RING (from “Ring Ring” • 1973). Hotline Bling for the Boomers. This somehow makes each song both better and worse than they really are.
46. TIGER (from “Arrival” • 1976). All playlists about cannibalism are incomplete without it.
45. HONEY, HONEY (from “Waterloo” • 1974). You know those things at the beach or an amusement park where you stick your face in a cutout and you and your date become surfer bois and gurls with comically enlarged muscles and boobs? Honey, Honey has that kind of energy.
44. WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE ME? (from “Arrival” • 1976). I thought I placed this too high, then I remembered there’s a live version where Frida does shoulder presses with the mic stand and now I think I’ve placed it too low.
43. IF IT WASN’T FOR THE NIGHTS (from “Voulez-Vous” • 1979). Perfect for those occasions when you can’t sleep because you’re thinking about some awkward thing you said to a crush 12 years ago.
42. ON AND ON AND ON (from “Super Trouper” • 1980). One of those songs that slaps hard at a roller rink.
41. WATCH OUT (from “Waterloo” • 1974). Björn in an interview said that ABBA’s immediate post-Waterloo singles were semi-glam rock a la sweet, “which was stupid because we were always a pop group.”
Watch Out wasn’t released as a single but it’s more glam rock than anything else they did and I love the hell out of it.
40. I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO (from “Abba” • 1975). Almost universally loathed by ABBA stans and I've never understood why. Sure it's not their best, but “I Do” showcases the jubilance that infused so much of their early work. Not a skip!
39. HEAD OVER HEELS (from “The Visitors” • 1981). That chorus is so erratic you’ll either love it or hate it. I’m firmly in the love camp.
38. AS GOOD AS NEW (from “Voulez-Vous” • 1979). There's something magical about the way those strings disappear into an absolutely nasty disco groove. Their most clever album opener, even if it's not their best.
37. HEY, HEY HELEN (from “Abba” • 1975).Clever feminist anthem that silences jeering skepticism of the crowd with persistent rejoinders of "Yes you can!"Helen rocks hard—she even gives us a Wonderesque funk breakdown on the bridge.The cover from shoegazing staple Lush is sublime
36. I AM THE CITY (from “More Abba Gold” • 1993). The city planner in me delights in this urban fantasia, an ode to the places that draw you in with opportunity, excitement, and neon lights.
35. THE PIPER (from “Super Trouper” • 1980). I’ll have lyrical foreshadowing for $800 please, Alex.
34. OUR LAST SUMMER (from “Super Trouper” • 1980). A meditation on the loss of youth and youthful ideals, with “flower power” politics and philosophy giving way to dull family man/banker/football stuff. We never learn if Frida is the disaffected spouse or just a wistful ex-lover
But her aching delivery on the final chorus makes it clear she wishes they’d chosen a different life.
33. SO LONG (from “Abba” • 1975). So Long flopped as a single and ABBA dropped all semblance of a harder edge in pursuit of its world-conquering Europop dynasty.What we gained as a result far outweighs what we lost,but it’s fun to imagine a grittier ABBA had this been a success.
32. ME AND I (from “Super Trouper” • 1980). I have no idea what this is about but it sounds SO GOOD.
31. THE KING HAS LOST HIS CROWN (from “Voulez-Vous” • 1979). High on the melodrama, great dynamic contrast, and some fun little surprises tucked away in this top-notch production. Of course I’m going to love this.
30. LOVERS (LIVE A LITTLE LONGER) (from “Voulez-Vous” • 1979). I can’t find anyone else who loves or really even likes this song. So I think I’m in the wrong but every time I listen it feels so right.
29. HOLE IN YOUR SOUL (from “The Album” • 1977). NOTHING WILL FILL THE HOLE IN MY SOUL EXCEPT SOMETIMES THIS CAN.
28. LIKE AN ANGEL PASSING THROUGH MY ROOM (from “The Visitors” • 1981). Their only track to feature a single vocalist. Frida’s gender melody, backed by little more than a ticking clock and some synthesized strings, is the perfect way to conclude what became their last album.
27. EAGLE (from “The Album” • 1977). Musical proof that flight is the greatest superpower. Catch me outside breezin over mountains and forests and seas.
26. ONE MAN, ONE WOMAN (from “The Album” • 1977). I love this song but I’m fully prepared to hate it if the alt-right co-opts it for straight pride.
25. DUM DUM DIDDLE (from “Arrival” • 1976). Ever the purveyors of relatable content, in this ditty we find ABBA pining to be the fiddle that rests on the jaw of a moody violinist who can’t see past his scroll and tuning pegs. Sad guitar bois are out, somber orchestra kids are in
24. MONEY, MONEY, MONEY (from “Arrival” • 1976). Interesting choice for a single in that it doesn’t follow any of the dominant trends in pop music at the time. Frida’s apathetic delivery sells this baroque pop curio.
Even in her fantasies she can’t be bothered to get too excited about the prospect of money. And she doesn’t need to - the propulsive Jets generate plenty of excitement on their own.
23. ONE OF US (from “The Visitors” • 1981). In addition to being their best work, The Visitors is really an odd album.
It’s dark and paranoid and swimming in isolation, and its most successful single was this accordion-backed ode to lying in your bed, staring at the ceiling, wishing you were somewhere else instead. Ok, maybe *this* is my new quarantine anthem.
22. ANGELEYES (from “Voulez-Vous” • 1979). Not me pretending ABBA didn’t warn me not to fall for that little trick guys do where they look into your eyes and make you think they love you. ☺️
21. MY LOVE, MY LIFE (from “Arrival” • 1976). It took them awhile to figure out how to do a ballad right, but they struck gold with “My Love, My Life.” Agnetha’s yearning, resigned plea to an ex-lover is heartbreaking.
20. ELAINE (B-side to “The Winner Takes It All” • 1980). Laugh at me all you want when I say ABBA is metal, just be sure to queue up “Elaine” before you do. “It’s a dead end street, they tie your hands and tie your feet.” Y’all, that is metal af.
Also, the first 12 seconds sound like a not-yet-written “Sweet Child O’ Mine.”
19. SOLDIERS (from “The Visitors” • 1981). An anthem that conjures a scene of shrapnel and snow against a dark red sky. As gripping as a cold December.
18. WATERLOO (from “Waterloo” • 1974). “Waterloo” feels like a minor miracle. It’s leagues ahead of anything else on the group’s sophomore album (not to mention their underbaked debut) and it pointed the way to the classic ABBA songs we all know and love today.
17. WHEN I KISSED THE TEACHER (from “Arrival” • 1976). This one’s for you, Mr. [REDACTED], my illustrious former physics teacher. You can teach me about quarks and strings anytime you like.
16. SUPER TROUPER (from “Super Trouper” • 1980). I used to work at a 📰 and called local politicians for interviews. Claudia, a county commissioner, had her ringback tone set to “Super Trouper.” I often wished she wouldnt answer so I could keep listening to this polished pop gem
15. I’M A MARIONETTE (from “The Album” • 1977). Remember when Marilyn Manson covered “Sweet Dreams” and it wasn’t half as dark as the Eurythmics original? You’ve got the same thing going on here with a “Marionette” cover by Swedish doom metal group Ghost.
In my estimation, it doesn’t even approximate the dread and paranoia inherent in the ABBA original.
14. THAT’S ME (from “Arrival” • 1976). This shimmering slice of Europop, the B-side to their only American #1 hit, is relentlessly upbeat, masking some *interesting* lyrics delivered by Carrie, not the kind of girl you marry.
13. VOULEZ-VOUS (from “Voulez-Vous” • 1979). Sweaty disco romp punctuated with crisp “ah-ha”s and a rollicking saxophone. This one always gets me dancing.
12. THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL (from “Super Trouper” • 1980). Agnetha sings the hell out of this. It’s the traditional verse/chorus pattern, but no two choruses are identical and each v/c couplet builds on the one that came before.
So you get a series of heartrending confessions culminating in a defeated protagonist declaring she has “no self-confidence.” Damn.
11. WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE (from “The Visitors” • 1981). Breakup songs dealing in denial, anger, bargaining, and depression are commonplace, and some of ABBA’s best work fits these themes. Here’s a breakup song that leans hard into acceptance, and it’s one of my favorites.
10. SOS (from “Abba” • 1975). Their earliest masterpiece. Each succeeding album would have at least one but few would match the intensity, desperation, and charisma of SOS. Famously "transported" Pete Townshend.
9. THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME (from “The Singles: The First Ten Years” • 1982). Agnetha’s recollections of the humdrumm details of her day seem unremarkable until the chilling music sets in.
Then you’re all ears, waiting to learn if Frida’s ethereal wails signify romance with an unexpected suitor or portend a murder. You never find out, but you’ll keep coming back all the same.
8. KNOWING ME, KNOWING YOU (from “Arrival” • 1976). Benny said it's one of the finest songs ABBA ever recorded, and he's not wrong.
Frida's stately verse gives way to a bridge that sounds like a chorus, the bridge grows into a chorus with harmonies so lush you'll think you're at a symphony, and the chorus erupts into an electrifying guitar section that fades into the horizon. Sheer perfection.
7. TAKE A CHANCE ON ME (from “The Album” • 1977). What started out as a running mantra became this world-conquering pop behemoth, a song so perfect I can’t help but slam the repeat button. 10/10, and it ain’t no lie.
6. MAMMA MIA (from “Abba” • 1975). More hooks than a tackle box. Has this song been stuck in my brain every day for the past 20 years? You bet. Am I mad about it? No, I am not.
5. THE NAME OF THE GAME (from “The Album” • 1977). All the best that ABBA has to offer: palpable despair, a layered chorus, solos for both women, and a glorious funk bassline later sampled by the Fugees.
Top it all off with their single most devastating lyric: "Would you laugh at me if I said I care for you?" Folks, we have a real winner.
4. GIMME! GIMME! GIMME! (A MAN AFTER MIDNIGHT) (from “Voulez-Vous” • 1979). The man after midnight is strictly parenthetical—this is all about what Agnetha wants, and she Wants! It! Now!
This lustful banger is eternal; the central hook was repurposed for Madonna's "Hung Up" 15 years ago. It'll probably be sampled in a Dua Lipa cut five years from now.
3. LAY ALL YOUR LOVE ON ME (from “Super Trouper” • 1980). You've got your club anthems that are celebrated for generations, but only a handful of these are elevated to sacred.
“Lay All Your Love on Me”, with its driving bassline undergirding an ornate, quasi-monastic chorus, is one of them. A worthy progenitor to "Like a Prayer."
2. THE VISITORS (from “The Visitors” • 1981). By their final album ABBA were full-fledged storytellers. It’s filled with memorable scenes,but they never wrote anything more gripping than this authoritarian fever dream.If the panic doesnt sweep you away the sumptuous synths will.
1. DANCING QUEEN (from “Arrival” • 1976). You already knew this. It’s the most perfect pop song.
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