# Nina, Pretty Ballerina

"Nina, Pretty Ballerina" is a song recorded in November 1972 by Swedish pop group ABBA and released on their debut album Ring Ring.

## Background

"Nina, Pretty Ballerina" is a third-person story song written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. The song describes a mundane lifestyle of a young woman who works at an office, but on a Friday night, she transforms and lives her dream on the dancefloor.
The initial recording took place on 17 October 1972 alongside "He Is Your Brother" in Europa Film Studios, Stockholm, but the end result of this song was unsatisfactory. The song was re-recorded in 2 November 1972 at Kungliga Musikhögskolan, Stockholm’s Royal College of Music. This is considered to be the first ABBA song to have the ABBA sound, where Agnetha Fältskog and Frida Lyngstad have lead vocals in unison.
Several sound effects are used including a train whistle and cheering. Andersson and sound engineer Michael B. Tretow pioneered a technique similar to Vari-speed, where the song tape had been slowed down and the piano score had been overlayed. With the song back in the original speed, this resulted in the instrument being sped up, so fast that it would not be possible to play.
"Nina, Pretty Ballerina" was released on 7" vinyl record in France in October 1973 without any chart success. After radio success in Austria, the song was released in February 1974, serving as the seventh and final single from the band's debut album Ring Ring. The single reached #8 on the singles chart in Austria.
The song was also the theme song of Sirius talk-show host Lynn Samuels. Lynn Samuels only played "Nina, Ballerina," as she called it, on Friday, to reward herself for working all week, when she was on Sirius Radio in New York.

## Personnel

* Agnetha Fältskog – lead and backing vocals
* Anni-Frid Lyngstad – lead and backing vocals
* Björn Ulvaeus – electric guitar and backing vocals
* Benny Andersson – piano and backing vocals

### Additional musicians

* Ola Brunkert – drums
* Rutger Gunnarsson – bass
* Janne Schaffer – electric guitar

## In popular culture

The song is mentioned in Haven, a book by Mia Dalia.

## Charts

| Chart (1973) | Peak position |
| Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) | 8 |

## Release history

| Region | Date | Title | Label | Format | Catalog |
| France | Oct 1973 | "Nina, Pretty Ballerina" / "He Is Your Brother" | Vogue | 7-inch vinyl | 45. X. 3027 |
| Austria | 1974 | "Nina, Pretty Ballerina" / "I Am Just A Girl" | Polydor | 7-inch vinyl | 2040 111 |
| Kenya | 1977 | "Nina, Pretty Ballerina" / "Dance (While The Music Still Goes On)" | Polydor | 7-inch vinyl | 2001 736 |
| Philippines | 1977 | "Nina, Pretty Ballerina" / "So Long" | Polydor | 7-inch vinyl | PRO-3512 (2001 741) |

## Cover versions

* The song in covered in Swedish-language, titled "Nina Fina Ballerina" in 1974 by several groups including Jigs, Sewes and singer Dick Zetterlund. The version by Sewes reached number 5 in the Svensktoppen charts on 27 October 1974.
* The song was covered by Hong Kong-born Filipino singer Rowena Cortes for her 1977 album Sweet Fairy.
* German girl group Pretty Maid Company released a cover of the song as a single in 1977.
* Jawadde, a group from Ghent, East Flanders, released Mina, schuune ballerina in December 1979.