Abba - The Winner Takes It All

'The Winner Takes It All' is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA. Released as the 1st single from the group's Super Trouper album on July 21, 1980, it is a ballad, reflecting the end of a romance. The single's B-side was the non-album track 'Elaine'.

'The Winner Takes It All', originally 'The Story of My Life', was written by both Björn Ulvaeus & Benny Andersson, with Agnetha Fältskog singing the lead vocal. The lyrics to the song were thought to mirror the divorce between Ulvaeus and Fältskog in 1979, similar to the song 'When All Is Said And Done', which details the divorce between Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson.

However, Ulvaeus himself denies this, saying the basis of the song "is the experience of a divorce, but it's fiction. There wasn't a winner or a loser in our case. A lot of people think it's straight out of reality, but it's not". He also mentioned that "There were no winners" when he and Agnetha went throught their rather bitter divorce.

In a 1999 poll for Channel Five, 'The Winner Takes It All' was voted Britain's favorite ABBA song. In a 2006 poll for a Channel Five program, 'The Winner Takes It All' was voted "Britain's Favorite Break-Up Song."

'The Winner Takes It All' was yet another major success for ABBA. It hit number 1 in Belgium (where it stayed on top for 2 months), Great Britain, Ireland, The Netherlands & South Africa while reaching the Top 10 elsewhere throughout the world, including the United States, where it peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, ABBA's 4th & last American Top 10 hit. The song was also the group's 2nd Billboard Adult Contempary number 1 (after 'Fernando'). 'The Winner Takes It All' was also a hit in Brazil: it was included on soundtrack of a very famous soap opera in 1980 called "Coração Alado" ("Winged Heart") as the main theme.

'The Winner Takes It All' also features in the ABBA-based musical & film, Mamma Mia!.

Click the link below to download the following:
Video
Single Version
Elaine - B-Side

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=2ccb7d0cd98a6267aaca48175a79d1c3e498db493b36fa4638538f5672f1b9df

Abba - The Winner Takes It All - Video