ABBA - Gold: Greatest Hits Rankdown (Complete)

[Ginger Spice]

13. "Chiquitita"
from Voulez-Vous (1979)
"Let me hear you sing once more // like you did before."




Although "Summer Night City" was originally meant to be the lead single for 1979's Voulez-Vous album, B&B's personal distaste for the track led them to remove it from the final track-listing and start over with "Chiquitita". While "City" reintroduced ABBA as a disco band, "Chiquitita" was a classic ABBA ballad. With lead vocals by Agnetha, the song's lyrics have her consoling a heartbroken friend. The song was featured in a 1979 UNICEF charity event, and half of all royalties from the song to this day go to UNICEF. The song was a huge hit worldwide, and was also recorded in Spanish for their album Gracias Por La Música.

This is our first elimination in which multiple people lose their #1. Quite a few people ranked it below the top 10, but it actually has the second highest standard deviation in the rankdown.

Average: 11.458
Standard Deviation: 5.853

1 - BackwoodsBarbie
1 - Leo ✔
2 - mamooshka
2 - Juanca
5 - Mirago
7 - Daryl the Beryl
8 - sergejdordij
10 - fearlessarrow
11 - Disco🌶️📖
11 - Lux ◢ ◤
12 - crazyb
12 - samo🦕
12 - Unhinged
13 - Glove Slap
14 - matteeeb
14 - .indulgecountry
17 - Ginger Spice
17 - ry4n
17 - newpower
17 - Troublemaker
17 - bat1990
17 - born
19 - God
19 - singingrulebritannia


Cody Wants Out...
bboat11

[Leo ✔]

WHAT!?!?

[Ginger Spice]

12. "Money, Money, Money"
from Arrival (1976)
"It's a rich man's world."



"Money, Money, Money" was the second single from the album Arrival. Following "Dancing Queen", the group were a worldwide phenomenon. This song was their sixth consecutive #1 in Australia, and was also a top 3 hit in the UK, but it was also their only single from "Mamma Mia" (1975) to "Take a Chance on Me" (1978) to not hit #1, and the song failed to make the top 40 in the US. The song was a precursor to Benny & Björn's work in musical theatre (starting with Chess in 1984), and was, of course, featured in Mamma Mia! 

This one looked like it was going to rank really low at first, with almost all the scores being in the bottom five, however, this song proved to be polarizing, with many high scores as well. No one loses a #1 here, but there is a #2, plus several more top 5 votes. Personally, I really like the song, but I never seek it out. It's fun, but it doesn't hold up to the greater moments on Gold.


Average: 10.833
Standard Deviation: 5.239

2 - God
3 - samo🦕
5 - Daryl the Beryl
5 - bat1990
5 - Lux ◢ ◤
6 - crazyb
6 - Unhinged
7 - Troublemaker
8 - matteeeb
9 - newpower
9 - fearlessarrow
11 - singingrulebritannia
11 - sergejdordij
11 - born
13 - Juanca
14 - BackwoodsBarbie
16 - Ginger Spice
16 - Disco🌶️📖
16 - ry4n
16 - Leo ✔
17 - Glove Slap
18 - Mirago
18 - mamooshka
18 - .indulgecountry


Cody Wants Out...
bboat11

[Ginger Spice]

Any guesses on what the final song to miss the top 10 will be?

[bboat11]

Mar 18, 2018 19:41:15 GMT -5 Ginger Spice said:

Any guesses on what the final song to miss the top 10 will be?

I'm going to go ahead and guess "Voulez Vous"!

[Leo ✔]

Mar 18, 2018 19:41:15 GMT -5 Ginger Spice said:

Any guesses on what the final song to miss the top 10 will be?

Waterloo, pls thnx.

[Leo ✔]

I still shocked and mad with the ellimination of "Chiquitita" but the spanish version is one of the most gorgeous performances ever in the spanish music, at least to me.
Sad to see it missing top 10.

[Glove Slap]

Money Money Money has some great moments in it, mainly Frida's vocal, but overall it leans too much into the kitsch even for them.

Chiquitita is cute, and serves its purpose well. The Voulez-Vous album is probably my second favorite from them as a whole, but the singular highs don't reach those on the previous two albums.

[Juanca]

ABBA wings a lot of memories to me, as my parents loved them, my mom would ask me to get the lyrics so that she could sing songs like TYFTM or IHAD, and I have memories dancing to songs like VV or DQ or GM GM GM as a little kid.

19. The Name of the Game (19): This wasn't popular back home when released, so I only listened to it for the first time when Gold was released. Still, it's a clear bottom 2 on that album for me. Not a bad song, but not up to par with most of their material.

18. I Have a Dream (7): OH, NOOOO!! Back home, this was a big hit. I still have the 45 RPM. This was the B side to Voulez-Vous. I've always liked this song. In the 1900s I considered this as a super sweet song, with great, subdued but effective vocals, the warm instrumentation, plus the children choir that gives it extra warmth. I'm quite sad that it is this low in the RD. Deserved at least a top 15 placement. This was a song my mom and I liked and sang together. In the early 2000s, this song turned into an even more important song to me, as the lyrics "I believe in angels / Something good in everything I see / I believe in angels / When I know the time is right for me" were part of the soundtrack to my accompanying mom in her last 2 years before becoming an angel herself...

17. Does Your Mother Know? (18): I was doubting between this and TNOTG, but in the end I ranked this one higher due to the rockier sound being more appealing than the more boring sound of TNOTG.

16. Thank You For the Music (10): Another song that brings back lots of memories with mom. Plus, I've always liked the 'musical' type of style of this song, and I loved Frida's take of this, especially during the bridge. The melody is superb as well. The effervescence of the chorus with the piano melody sort of lifts my spirit. Unfortunately, I'm not too surprised at it being this low. I still love this, which back home is considered Abba's swan song.

15. One of Us (16): I do like this song, especially the lyrics and emotional vocals, the intro, the overall musical arrangement that fits the lyrics. Still, it's in the low middle zone for me compared with other strong songs in Abba's catalog.

14. Fernando (11): I love the music here, especially the epic intro and the strong verses... the chorus sort of cheapens the song for me, though.

13. Chiquitita (2): This is a CLASSIC! Back home the English and Spanish versions are really popular and were among the top songs of the 1900s. I love the melody (geez, Abba's melodies are just soooooo good), the vocal complements between Agnetha and Frida, including the background 'how it hurts to see you cry' in the verse, or the second layer of melodies in the chorus (cryyyy / the sun is shining...), the piano melody throughout the song, and then the final instrumental after the second chorus. Honestly, one of the strongest pop melodies. Of course, the fact that this was popular in Spanish and the original title is in Spanish, would've made it recipient of bonus points from me. But I didn't need to give it extra points, as it's already one of my all-time favorite songs. (WTF is Waterloo doing higher than this?!)

12. Money, Money, Money (13): The first time I heard about this song was actually in 1990 thanks to Erasure :) I like the fact that this song uses more of lower registers, and the overall darker vibe of this song especially in the verses and pre-chorus. I also like the change at 2:30.

[Ginger Spice]

Mar 18, 2018 19:41:59 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

I'm going to go ahead and guess "Voulez Vous"!

Mar 18, 2018 19:48:08 GMT -5 Leo ✔ said:

Waterloo, pls thnx.

And the final song to miss the top 10 is...

11. "Waterloo"
from Waterloo (1974)
"The history book on the shelf is always repeating itself."



If you don't know the story behind this song, basically, in 1974 ABBA made their second attempt to represent Sweden in Eurovision (their first was "Ring Ring" in 1973, but it was not selected). The group almost changed the song last minute to the lighter "Hasta Mañana", but stuck with, what they viewed as, the riskier and more memorable cut. This time, not only were they selected, but they won. The song was a massive hit all over the world (even in countries where Eurovision had no effect), though it took ABBA quite a few tries to break away from the Eurovision stigma. ABBA was finally able to break Eurovision's curse with (depending on the country) "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" and "S.O.S." Consequently, ABBA are (by far) the most successful act to ever win Eurovision.

These scores range all over the place. Several people losing a top 5, while three people have this dead last. This must be one of those songs that people either love or hate, but personally, I think it's fun. There was a point in time where this would've made my top 5, but in recent years a few other songs have surpassed it in my ranking of ABBA songs.


Average: 10.291
Standard Deviation: 5.699


2 - .indulgecountry
2 - born
3 - Unhinged
4 - sergejdordij
4 - fearlessarrow
5 - singingrulebritannia
6 - God
6 - Lux ◢ ◤
8 - Ginger Spice
8 - Mirago
9 - mamooshka
9 - ry4n
9 - Daryl the Beryl
11 - crazyb
12 - BackwoodsBarbie
13 - samo🦕
15 - Disco🌶️📖
15 - Leo ✔
15 - Juanca
16 - Troublemaker
18 - newpower
19 - matteeeb
19 - bat1990
19 - Glove Slap


Cody Wants Out...
bboat11

[Glove Slap]

Good, this is the only big ABBA single I outright don't like.

[Leo ✔]

YES! Glad it missed top 10!

[God]

Love "Waterloo"! I just can’t believe "Chiquitita" outranked "Fernando" lol

Gold and ABBA will forever remind me of Muriel’s Wedding, one of the realest movies ever. Essential listening + viewing!

[singingrulebritannia]

Can the only remaining song I don't like aka. Lay All Your Love on Me please not go much further

[born]

Love "Waterloo" and that's mostly because of Eurovision. Iconic.

[bat1990]

Not sad at any departures in the bottom 9!

Well done all.

[samo🦕]

Not really mad at any of these, aside from Money, Money, Money, which y'all did dirty.

[BackwoodsBarbie]

Noooooooooooo Why was Chiquitita eliminated in the bottom half?!? How did this happen?!?

One of Us - This song is perfect from the beginning - intro is amazing (one of my all-time favourite intros). I also love the melody, lyrics and vocal performance - so everything I really started to love this song after watching Mamma Mia - The musical. It's my favourite part of that musical.

Fernando - another song eliminated way too soon. 

Waterloo - This song will always have a special place in my heart. It was the first ABBA song I've ever heard (thanks to Eurovision) and my love for ABBA music has only grown since then.

Chiquitita - This is my all time favourite song (or my second all-time favourite song - I can't decide between this one and Light Of a Clear Blue Morning). Like with One of Us intro is simply perfect but this one just get's better and better with every verse, with every word. Melody and vocals are perfect but lyrics are the thing that stand out the most.  I love, love, love the lyrics. I could write a whole essay about them. The thing I like the most about them is that they are really uplifting - Bjorn and Benny found the perfect way to tell the listener that everything is going to be alright, that there are better days ahead - I mean the part of the chorus that I bolded.... <3.

Chiquitita, you and I know
How the heartaches come and they go and the scars they're leaving
You'll be dancing once again and the pain will end
You will have no time for grieving
Chiquitita, you and I cry
But the sun is still in the sky and shining above you
Let me hear you sing once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita
Try once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita

[Unhinged]

Sad to see "Waterloo" leave before the Top 10. Its cheesy as f**k, yes, but just so much fun! I may have under-ranked "One Of Us" too.

[Ginger Spice]

10. "Super Trouper"
from Super Trouper (1980)
"All I do is eat and sleep and sing // wishing every show was the last show."





"Super Trouper" was released as the second single from the 1980 album of the same name. It became a hit in many countries, including the UK where it was their final #1. The title refers to a certain brand of spotlights, and the lyrics are sung from the perspective of a woman who is fed up with constantly having to perform and tour. The song was written about a year after ABBA finished what was the biggest tour of their career, so it's not hard to see where B&B found the lyrical inspiration. Following the disco experimentation of the Voulez-Vous album, this song brought the group back to their pure pop roots.

Average: 9.917
Standard Deviation: 5.081

2 - BackwoodsBarbie
3 - matteeeb
3 - .indulgecountry
4 - mamooshka
4 - bat1990
5 - newpower
6 - Mirago
8 - Daryl the Beryl
8 - singingrulebritannia
8 - Juanca
9 - Ginger Spice
9 - Unhinged
9 - Glove Slap
11 - fearlessarrow
12 - Leo ✔
13 - ry4n
13 - crazyb
13 - God
13 - Lux ◢ ◤
14 - sergejdordij
16 - born
17 - samo🦕
19 - Disco🌶️📖
19 - Troublemaker



Cody Wants Out...
bboat11

[born]

Bye bye!

[BackwoodsBarbie]

Oh come on!! This song is a pure perfection!! The discrepancy between how happy and cheery the melody sounds and the lyrics that talk about loneliness is something only ABBA can do.

Also I can't believe that songs like One of Us, Chiquitita and Super Trouper are out already while songs like gimme! gimme! gimme! and voulez vous are still in.

[samo🦕]

Very happy to see this gone. It's good, but doesn't really stand up to the rest of their songs on here.

[Ginger Spice]

Mar 18, 2018 22:50:40 GMT -5 singingrulebritannia said:

Can the only remaining song I don't like aka. Lay All Your Love on Me please not go much further

9. "Lay All Your Love on Me"
from Super Trouper (1980)
"I wasn't jealous before we met // now every woman I see is a potential threat."




Now presenting, the most polarizing song in the entire rankdown! It was the only song with a standard deviation higher than six, with many high and low votes causing it to land almost exactly in the middle. Seriously, of the first fourteen voters, seven had this in their top 5, and seven had it in their bottom 5, with no in between. Personally, it's one of my most played ABBA tracks and I think it's when they absolutely perfected their disco sound. 

This song was something of a wild-card in its inclusion on Gold, because it was never actually meant to be a single. After two UK #1's, ABBA stopped promoting the Super Trouper album as their personal lives became more tumultuous and, if the lyrics of "Super Trouper" were any indication, they were burnt out. It wasn't until an extended remix of "Lay All Your Love on Me" caused the song to top the US Hot Dance Club Play chart in early 1981, that Epic saw single potential and decided to release a 12" single in the UK (and a few other select territories), without any involvement from the band itself. The single charted at #7. Oddly enough, the commercial single was not released in the US, despite being such a big hit in the clubs here. Why this song was included on Gold over bigger UK hits like "Summer Night City" and "Angeleyes," or the international hit "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" is unknown. It likely came down to having being covered by Erasure on their ABBA-esque EP, which was a defining moment in sparking rejuvenated interest in ABBA's music.  

Average: 9.833
Standard Deviation: 6.034

2 - ry4n
2 - crazyb
3 - Ginger Spice
3 - Disco🌶️📖
3 - newpower
4 - God
4 - Unhinged
5 - Juanca
6 - bat1990
6 - Glove Slap
6 - Leo ✔
7 - .indulgecountry
12 - sergejdordij
12 - matteeeb
13 - fearlessarrow
14 - Troublemaker
15 - BackwoodsBarbie
16 - mamooshka
16 - Daryl the Beryl
16 - Lux ◢ ◤
17 - Mirago
17 - singingrulebritannia
18 - samo🦕
19 - born



Cody Wants Out...
bboat11

[samo🦕]

yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssssssss Forgot this was still in, but I never really felt this one. Idk what my lowest remaining rank is now.

[born]

My #19 was still in? Wow! What in the world?

I think that was one of the 2-3 songs I actually disliked.

[Ginger Spice]

8. "Voulez-Vous"
from Voulez-Vous (1979)
"Here we go again // we know the start // we know the end."




The title track from Voulez-Vous was released in the summer of 1979 as the third single from the album. In some territories, it gave ABBA yet another top 5 hit, while places like the US and Australia were not exactly keen on ABBA's new, glossy disco makeover. In the UK and Ireland, this song was released as a double a-side with "Angeleyes," with many radio programmers opting to play the latter. The double A-side reached #3 on the charts. If you really wanna dance, check out the extended remix, which was the first and only ABBA single to be officially remixed for club play.


Average: 9.75
Standard Deviation: 4.954

2 - samo🦕
2 - singingrulebritannia
3 - ry4n
3 - fearlessarrow
5 - Ginger Spice
5 - matteeeb
7 - crazyb
7 - Lux ◢ ◤
8 - Disco🌶️📖
8 - God
8 - .indulgecountry
9 - Juanca
10 - bat1990
12 - Troublemaker
12 - Glove Slap
12 - born
13 - Unhinged
13 - sergejdordij
13 - Leo ✔
14 - newpower
15 - Daryl the Beryl
17 - BackwoodsBarbie
17 - mamooshka
19 - Mirago


Cody Wants Out...
bboat11

[Ginger Spice]

The remaining songs:

Dancing Queen
Knowing Me, Knowing You
Take a Chance on Me
Mamma Mia
The Winner Takes It All
SOS
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)

... which two aren't making the top 5?

[God]

Mar 19, 2018 21:20:07 GMT -5 Ginger Spice said:

Knowing Me, Knowing You
Take a Chance on Me

... which two aren't making the top 5?

Those two pls

[Juanca]

Mar 19, 2018 12:01:14 GMT -5 BackwoodsBarbie said:

Noooooooooooo Why was Chiquitita eliminated in the bottom half?!? How did this happen?!?

One of Us - This song is perfect from the beginning - intro is amazing (one of my all-time favourite intros). I also love the melody, lyrics and vocal performance - so everything I really started to love this song after watching Mamma Mia - The musical. It's my favourite part of that musical.

Fernando - another song eliminated way too soon. 

Waterloo - This song will always have a special place in my heart. It was the first ABBA song I've ever heard (thanks to Eurovision) and my love for ABBA music has only grown since then.

Chiquitita - This is my all time favourite song (or my second all-time favourite song - I can't decide between this one and Light Of a Clear Blue Morning). Like with One of Us intro is simply perfect but this one just get's better and better with every verse, with every word. Melody and vocals are perfect but lyrics are the thing that stand out the most.  I love, love, love the lyrics. I could write a whole essay about them. The thing I like the most about them is that they are really uplifting - Bjorn and Benny found the perfect way to tell the listener that everything is going to be alright, that there are better days ahead - I mean the part of the chorus that I bolded.... <3.

Chiquitita, you and I know
How the heartaches come and they go and the scars they're leaving
You'll be dancing once again and the pain will end
You will have no time for grieving
Chiquitita, you and I cry
But the sun is still in the sky and shining above you
Let me hear you sing once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita
Try once more like you did before
Sing a new song, Chiquitita

Totally agree. I Have a Dream and Chiquitita have been far too important to me, as they not only connected in terms of my memories with my parents when I was a kid, but also turned into soundtracks to hard times around the loss of both of my parents --especially Chiquitita. If I listen to the song and pay attention to the lyrics, I just open the eye - faucets. One of the most beautiful and connecting songs I've ever heard and lived...