Music Review: ABBA "The Winner Takes It All"
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ABBA
The Winner Takes It All
Album: Super Trouper
Year: 1980
Agnetha Falkstog’s marriage falls apart in the wistful “The Winner Takes It All.”
Solemn synths open the single, setting a longing tone. She removes the wedding band on finger. She kept it on for as long as she could, believing things could be fixed. Her soon-to-be ex husband asks her if she’s okay with everything. She says yes but her mind is full of so many questions: when did he stop loving her? What made him leave? She did try talking, taking him back to their favorite places and recapturing their spark. To his credit, he started some long discussions and it was his idea to relieve their early years. However, nothing worked. No big change of heart happened. (“I don't wanna talk/About the things we've gone through/Though it's hurting me/Now it's history/I've played all my cards/And that's what you've done too/Nothing more to say/No more ace to play.”)
In the chorus, she says it’s her ex-husband who will walk away from the marriage unscathed. He will be able to fall in love again. However, she will be left feeling incomplete, searching for something she may never find. (“The winner takes it all/The loser standing small/Beside the victory/That's her destiny.”)
She thought they would last forever. They didn’t start out with much. They bought their first home together. It was where she felt safe and wanted. She made his dinner and let him hang out with his friends whenever he wanted. She didn’t realize he needed more. It’s such a cruel twist of fate – the one thing that bound them together is what destroyed them. It doesn’t seem real. (“I was in your arms/Thinking I belonged there/I figured it made sense/Building me a fence/Building me a home/Thinking I'd be strong there/But I was a fool/Playing by the rules/The gods may throw a dice/Their minds as cold as ice/And someone way down here/Loses someone dear.”)
In the second chorus, she says what is done is done. She has take some responsibility. (“The winner takes it all/The loser has to fall/It's simple and it's plain/Why should I complain?”)
She thinks of the other woman in his life. How could he toss the years away? How could he develop the same feelings with the other woman he once had with her? He has to see it’s wrong and not true love like theirs. Nonetheless, tomorrow she will go to court and they will have their hearing. She will let him have whatever he wants. Meanwhile, their family and friends will be there for support. (“But tell me does she kiss/Like I used to kiss you?/Does it feel the same/When she calls your name?/Somewhere deep inside/You must know I miss you/But what can I say/Rules must be obeyed/The judges will decide/The likes of me abide/Spectators of the show/Always staying low.”)
In the third chorus, now they have to decide if they have a part in each other’s lives at all. (“The game is on again/A lover or a friend/A big thing or a small/The winner takes it all.”)
In the bridge, her ex-husband tells her he didn’t mean for it to happen. He’s sorry and hopes she will be able to forgive him someday. She says nothing. She just wants him to leave and be left alone to cry. (“I don't wanna talk/If it makes you feel sad/And I understand/You've come to shake my hand/I apologize/If it makes you feel bad/Seeing me so tense/No self-confidence.”)
In the final section, she says he is the one who is going to get what he wants out of the divorce. She is stuck trying to put herself back together again. (“But you see/The winner takes it all!/The winner takes it all!/So the winner takes it all/And the loser has to fall/Throw a dice/Cold as ice/Way down here/Someone near/Takes it all/Has to fall.”)
Falkstog wishes she could go back to their early days and forget what it is going on. She’s struggling to come to terms with it but only imagines what could have been. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
The nuanced “Winner Takes It All” lets people in on the big picture.