Angeleyes

About Angeleyes

"Angeleyes" is a song written and recorded in 1979 by Swedish pop group ABBA. The lyrics and music were composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, with the lyrics sung by both Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, typical of most ABBA compositions. In the lyrics, a woman is out walking when she sees her ex-boyfriend with his new girlfriend. The man apparently has strikingly beautiful, bewitching eyes- if you look into them, you become "hypnotised", in other words, fall madly in love with him- this happened to the narrator. The relationship is now over, and the woman worries that he will let his new girlfriend down in the same way as he let her down.

In the United Kingdom, "Angeleyes" was released as a double A-side with "Voulez-Vous". This was because Epic, ABBA's British record label, believed that with its classic ABBA arrangement, "Angeleyes" would be the song record buyers would want. "Voulez-Vous" received less radio airplay than "Angeleyes" in the UK. The popularity of "Angeleyes" is proven by its inclusion on Greatest Hits Vol. 2 which did not feature "Voulez-Vous." However, later official ABBA compilations The Singles: The First Ten Years and ABBA Gold included "Voulez-Vous" instead. This has distorted the facts somewhat, and has falsely created the impression that "Voulez-Vous" was the more popular track of the two in the UK during the original single's chart life. This was not the case.

"Angeleyes" was included in the official ABBA compilations More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits (1993) and The Definitive Collection (2001), as well as the 1994 four-CD boxed set Thank You for the Music. However, the phenomenal success of the "Angeleyes"-less ABBA Gold in reaching a mass audience means that the track's UK single success is largely forgotten except in the UK where it is still regarded with fondness.