About This Quiz
Everything old is new again! At least, that's the case with Swedish pop group ABBA. Decades after their 1970s wonder years, they're recording new songs for release late in 2018. Meanwhile, a sequel to "Mamma Mia," the ABBA-inspired and -soundtracked film, is hitting theaters in mid-2018.Â
The Swedish foursome broke through in the 1970s, winning the Eurovision song contest, and went on to be one of the most successful pop bands of the 1970s. The quartet's name is composed of the first letters of their names: Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny and Anni-Frid. Sadly, ABBA broke up in 1982, but not before making an indelible mark on the music world. Their music would be resurrected to feature prominently in 1990s films like "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert "and "Muriel's Wedding." (Not to mention the musical "Mamma Mia.")
Maybe you're Boomer or Gen-X fan who remembers ABBA from their 1970s heyday. Or you're a millennial who learned about their music from their '90s renaissance. But do you really remember the lyrics to the hit songs? Sure, everyone can sing along with "Dancing Queen" and "Take a Chance on Me," but ABBA produced far more singable, danceable hits than that. Test your ABBA recall now with our quiz!
Of course, it's "Dancing Queen." The lyrics are famous: "You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen." Downer side-note: Given the song's release in 1976, the girl in the song is now 59 years old and has probably quit dancing due to bunions.
This is a classic breakup song. The refrain goes, "Knowing me, knowing you/There is nothing we can do/Knowing me, knowing you/We have to face it, this time we're through." It's from the 1976 album "Arrival."
"Dum Dum Diddle" came from the 1976 album "Arrival." The song's narrator wants to "be your fiddle," as she calls his violin.
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Hey, this lyric is famous! Perhaps only "Dancing Queen" rivals the popularity and hum-ability of this 1977 hit.
No, this isn't the famous song that played over the opening of "The Apprentice." ABBA's song was about a gold-digger's dreams.
"Like a dreadful mighty killer" is the tip-off here. If the opening lyrics are to be believed, the songwriter was inspired by seeing "King Kong" on TV.
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This track came off the 1980 album of the same name. The exhaustion suggested by the lyrics pretty clearly forshadowed the band's breakup, two years later.
Despite the word "chance," this lyric isn't from "Take a Chance on Me" but the later "Our Last Summer." This one's from the "Super Trouper" album.
The singer goes on to say, "Jerry works at the office, Sue lies by the pool." But all the friends get together to listen to rock-and-roll, which will fill the "hole in your soul."
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This line comes from an early ABBA song and album, "Ring Ring." The group's huge success was still a few years away.
Yup, it's the song that gave its name to a hit musical! The song itself isn't that cheerful in topic -- it's about a lover who always takes her unreliable man back.
This song came from the self-titled album "ABBA." It's about a woman striking out on her own after a divorce.
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This is another breakup song, as the lyric suggests. It came from the 1976 album "Arrival."
In this track, the singer compares herself to her lover's "song," which he should play "andante." "Andante" is a musical instruction in Italian meaning, "at a gentle or walking pace."
"I'm Carrie not-the-kind-of-girl-you'd-marry/That's me." We're not entirely sure what the girl in this song is apologizing for. Being easy? Not being easy enough? Listen to it yourself and take a guess.
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"Bang-a-Boomerang" -- just more of the deeply cerebral songwriting we've come to expect from ABBA, right? (Just kidding ... but really, it was probably best that they sat out the grunge era).
The verses to this song describe a relationship in trouble. But the chorus, from which the above lyric is taken, suggests a commitment to get through the troubles together.
As the title suggests, this is a distress call for a failing relationship. It comes from the 1975 album "Arrival."
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We imagine this 1976 song was played at more than one wedding reception. Frothy and light, the refrain goes, "I love you/ I do, I do, I do, I do."
Yes, we put this one in twice, it's so famous! This is more of the female speaker's attempts at persuasion -- the man of her dreams is afraid of taking their relationship "to the next level," as people say nowadays.
What's this, a little bit of socially conscious songwriting? Strike us pink! This song condemned the rich man who has everything, but can't buy friendship.
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More lyrics: "Rock me, give me that feeling/Roll me, rocking and reeling." Whatever could they *possibly* have meant by this? This song is just another reminder that the expression "rock and roll" was originally a slang term for sex.
The word "geometry" might have tipped you off here. The girl in the song did in fact kiss her teacher: "I held my breath, but he just smiled ..." These were more innocent times!
This song, from 1977's "The Album," is a song of gratitude. The singer calls herself kind of a bore -- "If I tell a joke, you've probably heard it before" -- except for the gift of song, which makes everybody happy.
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The man in the song is no one's brother! It's a warning to a young girl who is falling for a womanizer, by whom the singer has already been cast aside.
This 1977 song has the speaker wondering if her new guy is playing a game. She's beginning to open up to him, as she does with no one else: "If I trust in you, would you let me down?"
The lyric above makes it pretty obvious, eh? The singer complains of being viewed as "so free" when she feels that she's not free at all.
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Pretty racy stuff, this song was. More lyrics: "I thought I would no more/Manage to hit the ceiling/You brought it back to me/That old feeling."
Did the couple in this breakup song have children? Or were they only planning on it? The word "would" leaves room for interpretation.
We're not sure what the point of this song is -- the lyrics start out serious, but end up advocating partying the night away. It does, however, remind us of our favorite 12-step group, the one for nonstop talkers: On and On and On Anon.
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"Slightly worn, but dignified, and not too old for sex." Isn't this AARP's motto?
Really, the title of this 1980 song could have been compacted to "Winner Takes All." It's like the scene in "Inglourious Basterds" when Christoph Waltz's character says "That's a bingo!"
She's "young and sweet," but a little bit of a tease. At least, that's what the lyrics to this smash hit suggest.
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Someone really ought to do a mash-up of choices #2 and #3. Wouldn't you listen to a dance track called "Honey Honey Money Money Money"? (No? Fair enough).
"Welcome to the Jungle" it wasn't, but "Tiger" was ABBA's attempt at urban-grit rock. More lyrics: "The city is a nightmare, a horrible dream/Some of us will dream it forever."