The Winner Takes It All - wikipedia The Winner Takes It All `` The Winner Takes It All '' Single by ABBA from the album Super Trouper B - side `` Elaine '' Released 21 July 1980 Format Single Recorded 1980 Genre Pop Length 4 : 54 Label Polar Records ( Scandinavia ) ; RCA Victor ( South America, Central America, Caribbean and Oceania ) ; Atlantic Records, WEA ( North America ) ; Epic Records ( United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy ) ; Polydor ( Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands ) ; RCA Victor or WEA or Epic Records or Polydor ( Africa and Asia ) Songwriter ( s ) Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus Producer ( s ) Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus ABBA singles chronology `` As Good as New '' ( 1979 ) `` The Winner Takes It All '' ( 1980 ) `` On and On and On '' ( 1980 ) Music video `` The Winner Takes It All '' on YouTube Super Trouper track listing Side one `` Super Trouper '' `` The Winner Takes It All '' `` On and On and On '' `` Andante, Andante '' `` Me and I '' Side two `` Happy New Year '' `` Our Last Summer '' `` The Piper '' `` Lay All Your Love on Me '' `` The Way Old Friends Do '' `` The Winner Takes It All '' is a song recorded by the Swedish pop group ABBA. Released as the first single from the group 's Super Trouper album on 21 July 1980, it is a ballad in the key of F - sharp major, reflecting the end of a romance. The single 's B - side was the non-album track `` Elaine ''. Contents 1 History 2 Music video 3 Reception 4 Chart performance 4.1 Year - end charts 5 See also 6 References 7 External links History `` The Winner Takes It All '' - which had the original demonstration title `` The Story of My Life '' - was written by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, with Agnetha Fältskog singing the lead vocal. Ulvaeus denies the song is about his and Fältskog 's divorce, saying the basis of the song `` is the experience of a divorce, but it 's fiction. ' Cause one thing I can say is that there was n't a winner or a loser in our case. A lot of people think it 's straight out of reality, but it 's not ''. American critic Chuck Klosterman, who says `` The Winner Takes It All '' is `` ( the only ) pop song that examines the self - aware guilt one feels when talking to a person who has humanely obliterated your heart '' finds Ulvaeus ' denial hard to believe in light of the original title. And the booklet for the double CD compliation The Definitive Collection states `` ' The Winner Takes It All ' is the song where Bjorn admits that the sad experience of his and Agnetha 's divorce the previous year left its mark on the lyrics. '' Fältskog has also repeatedly stated that though `` The Winner Takes It All '' is her favorite ABBA song and that it has an excellent set of lyrics, the story is not that of her and Ulvaeus : there were no winners in their divorce, especially as children were involved. In a 1999 poll for Channel 5, `` The Winner Takes It All '' was voted Britain 's favourite ABBA song. This feat was replicated in a 2010 poll for ITV. In a 2006 poll for a Channel Five programme, `` The Winner Takes It All '' was voted `` Britain 's Favourite Break - Up Song. '' The Societetshuset in Marstrand town, where the music video was filmed in the summer of 1980. Photography from 2013. Music video A music video to promote the song was filmed in July 1980 on Marstrand, an island on the Swedish west coast. It was directed by Lasse Hallström. Reception `` The Winner Takes It All '' was a major success for ABBA, hitting # 1 in Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, South Africa and the United Kingdom. It reached the Top 5 in Austria, Finland, France, West Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Zimbabwe, while peaking in the Top 10 in Australia, Canada, Italy, Spain and the United States ( where it became ABBA 's fourth and final American Top 10 hit, peaking at # 8 ; the song spent 26 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, more than any other ABBA single ). It was also the group 's second Billboard Adult Contemporary # 1 ( after `` Fernando '' ). `` The Winner Takes It All '' was also a hit in Brazil : it was included on the soundtrack of `` Coração Alado '' ( `` Winged Heart '' ), a popular soap opera in 1980, as the main theme. The track was listed as the 23rd most popular single on the US Billboard year - end chart for 1981. The song is also featured in the ABBA - based musical and film, Mamma Mia ! where it is performed by Meryl Streep. Cher later covered the song for her album, Dancing Queen, which was used to promote the film 's sequel, which she starred in. Chart performance This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( January 2018 ) Charts ( 1980 -- 81 ) Peak position Australian Singles Chart 7 Austrian Singles Chart Belgian Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart 10 Netherlands ( Dutch Top 40 ) Netherlands ( Single Top 100 ) Finnish Singles Chart French Singles Chart 5 German Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart Italian Singles Chart 7 Japanese Singles Chart 33 New Zealand Singles Chart 16 Norwegian Singles Chart South African Singles Chart Spanish Singles Chart 10 Swedish Singles Chart Swiss Singles Chart UK Singles Chart US Billboard Adult Contemporary US Billboard Hot 100 8 US Cashbox Top 100 Singles 11 Zimbabwean Singles Chart Year - end charts Chart ( 1980 / 81 ) Rank Australia 56 NL UK 18 US Billboard Hot 100 23 US Cash Box 74 See also List of number - one adult contemporary singles of 1981 ( U.S. ) References Jump up ^ McLean, Craig ( 13 July 2008 ). `` Knowing Mia knowing you ''. The Guardian. London. Jump up ^ Klosterman, Chuck ( 2009 ). Eating the Dinosaur. New York : Scribner. pp. 170 -- 71. ISBN 978 - 1 - 4165 - 4421 - 0. Jump up ^ `` United States of America ''. Home.zipworld.com.au. Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2014. Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel ( 2002 ). Top Adult Contemporary : 1961 -- 2001. Record Research. p. 15. Jump up ^ ( http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1981.htm ) Jump up ^ `` Nederlandse Top 40 -- week 34, 1980 '' ( in Dutch ). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved 2017 - 12 - 31. Jump up ^ `` Dutchcharts.nl -- ABBA -- The Winner Takes It All '' ( in Dutch ). Single Top 100. Retrieved 2017 - 12 - 31. Jump up ^ Roberts, David ( 2006 ). British Hit Singles & Albums ( 19th ed. ). London : Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 383 -- 4. ISBN 1 - 904994 - 10 - 5. Jump up ^ Downey, Pat ; Albert, George ; Hoffmann, Frank W ( 1994 ). Cash Box pop singles charts, 1950 -- 1993. Libraries Unlimited. p. 1. ISBN 978 - 1 - 56308 - 316 - 7. Jump up ^ David Kent 's `` Australian Chart Book 1970 - 1992 '' Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` Top 100 Hits of 1981 / Top 100 Songs of 1981 ''. Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 17. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2015. CS1 maint : Archived copy as title ( link ) External links Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics ABBA songs Discography Unreleased songs Ring Ring `` Ring Ring '' `` Another Town, Another Train '' `` Disillusion '' `` People Need Love '' `` I Saw It in the Mirror '' `` Nina, Pretty Ballerina '' `` Love Is n't Easy ( But It Sure Is Hard Enough ) '' `` Me and Bobby and Bobby 's Brother '' `` He Is Your Brother '' `` She 's My Kind of Girl '' `` Rock'n Roll Band '' Waterloo `` Waterloo '' `` King Kong Song '' `` Hasta Mañana '' `` My Mama Said '' `` Honey, Honey '' `` What About Livingstone ? '' ABBA `` Mamma Mia '' `` Hey, Hey Helen '' `` SOS '' `` Bang - A-Boomerang '' `` I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do '' `` Rock Me '' `` Intermezzo No. 1 '' `` I 've Been Waiting for You '' `` So Long '' Greatest Hits `` Fernando '' Arrival `` When I Kissed the Teacher '' `` Dancing Queen '' `` My Love, My Life '' `` Dum Dum Diddle '' `` Knowing Me, Knowing You '' `` Money, Money, Money '' `` That 's Me '' `` Why Did It Have to Be Me ? '' `` Tiger '' `` Arrival '' ABBA : The Album `` Eagle '' `` Take a Chance on Me '' `` One Man, One Woman '' `` The Name of the Game '' `` Move On '' `` Hole in Your Soul '' `` Thank You for the Music '' `` I Wonder ( Departure ) '' `` I 'm a Marionette '' Voulez - Vous `` As Good as New '' `` Voulez - Vous '' `` I Have a Dream '' `` Angeleyes '' `` The King Has Lost His Crown '' `` Does Your Mother Know '' `` If It Was n't for the Nights '' `` Chiquitita '' `` Lovers ( Live a Little Longer ) '' `` Kisses of Fire '' Greatest Hits Vol. 2 `` Gimme ! Gimme ! Gimme ! ( A Man After Midnight ) '' `` Summer Night City '' Super Trouper `` Super Trouper '' `` The Winner Takes It All '' `` On and On and On '' `` Andante, Andante '' `` Me and I '' `` Happy New Year '' `` Our Last Summer '' `` The Piper '' `` Lay All Your Love on Me '' The Visitors `` The Visitors '' `` Head over Heels '' `` When All Is Said and Done '' `` Soldiers '' `` I Let the Music Speak '' `` One of Us '' `` Two for the Price of One '' `` Slipping Through My Fingers '' `` Like an Angel Passing Through My Room '' The Singles : The First Ten Years `` The Day Before You Came '' `` Under Attack '' Other songs `` Merry - Go - Round '' `` Elaine '' `` Put On Your White Sombrero '' `` You Owe Me One '' Portal Beverley Craven Studio albums Beverley Craven Love Scenes Mixed Emotions Close to Home Change of Heart Compilations The Very Best of Beverley Craven Legends Singles `` Promise Me '' `` Woman to Woman '' `` Holding On '' `` Love Scenes '' `` Mollie 's Song '' `` The Winner Takes It All '' `` I Miss You '' Related articles Discography Susan Boyle Discography Studio albums I Dreamed a Dream The Gift Someone to Watch Over Me Standing Ovation : The Greatest Songs from the Stage Home for Christmas Hope A Wonderful World Singles `` Wild Horses '' `` I Dreamed a Dream '' `` Perfect Day '' `` I Know Him So Well '' `` Enjoy the Silence '' `` Unchained Melody '' `` The Winner Takes It All '' `` You 'll See '' Other songs `` Who I Was Born to Be '' Television I Dreamed a Dream : The Susan Boyle Story Susan Boyle : An Unlikely Superstar Theatre I Dreamed a Dream ( musical ) Concert tours Susan Boyle in Concert Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Winner_Takes_It_All&oldid=866293013 '' Categories : 1980s ballads 1980 singles ABBA songs European Hot 100 Singles number - one singles UK Singles Chart number - one singles Irish Singles Chart number - one singles Billboard Adult Contemporary number - one singles Dutch Top 40 number - one singles Single Top 100 number - one singles Pop ballads Songs written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus Hazell Dean songs Polar Music singles Music videos directed by Lasse Hallström 1980 songs Hidden categories : All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from June 2018 Articles with permanently dead external links Webarchive template wayback links CS1 maint : Archived copy as title Use dmy dates from February 2012 Music infoboxes with deprecated parameters Articles with hAudio microformats All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from June 2018 Articles needing additional references from January 2018 All articles needing additional references Singlechart usages for Dutch40 Singlechart called without artist Singlechart called without song Singlechart usages for Dutch100 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Español Français Հայերեն Italiano עברית Nederlands Polski Português Română Русский Sicilianu Suomi Svenska ไทย Türkçe 8 more Edit links This page was last edited on 29 October 2018, at 13 : 48 ( UTC ). 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Question: who wrote the winner takes it all lyrics
Answer: Björn Ulvaeus