History YMMV / Abba

* CargoShip: "Dum Dum Diddle" from ''Music/{{Arrival|Album}}''. Some guy/violin.
* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: It is widely believed ABBA entered Eurovision to represent Sweden twice, once in 1973 for "Ring Ring" (and came third) and another for "Waterloo" in 1974 (when they won), which is slightly wrong. Their first entry actually refers to them entering Swedish music festival Melodifestivalen, the winner of which goes forward to the Eurovision Song Contest. The confusion arises from people failing to make the distinction between a song being in ''contention'' for the [=ESC=] (which "Ring Ring" was) and actually being entered into the [=ESC=] itself (which it wasn't). [[note]]In reality, Nova & The Dolls entered Eurovision that year to represent Sweden and came fifth, while Ciff Richard came third in said festival that year[[/note]] Carl Magnus Plum (ABBA's official historian) is a regular victim of this error.

* EarWorm: Just about ''every'' song.

* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: Benny and Björn admitted that they intentionally wrote "So Long" from ''Music/ABBAAlbum'' in the same style and structure of "Waterloo" in the belief that it would a guaranteed hit. It instead performed badly on the charts, seemingly ''exactly'' because it was too similar to "Waterloo". Fortunately for them, "SOS" from the same album ended up being the song that became a hit, which they credited with cementing the band's style.

* TrueArtIsAngsty: Many critics who diss ABBA tend to sing praises for ''[[CerebusSyndrome The Visitors]]''.

* CargoShip: "Dum Dum Diddle" from ''Music/{{Arrival}}''. Some guy/violin.

* MemeticMutation: Keep in mind that ABBA memes are only known within the fandom.
** ABBA: The X.[[note]]Started with ''The Album'', then ''The Movie'', ''The Folio'', ''The Scrapbook'', and nowadays there's ''The Forum'', ''The Site'', etc.[[/note]]
** "What does kinky mean?"[[note]]A line spoken by Benny in the movie, used whenever someone says "kinky" for whatever reason.[[/note]]
** "Sweaty, obsessive fans."[[note]]A general description of (usually) hardcore Agnetha fans.[[/note]]
** "How can I answer to that. I do not know, I haven't seen it."[[note]]Agnetha's response to Greg Evan's question.[[/note]]

** The ''"alright, alright, alright, alright"'' from "So Long", which would later become MemeticMutation attributed to ''Film/DazedAndConfused'' and Music/OutKast's "Hey Ya!"

* HilariousInHindsight: The song "Nina, Pretty Ballerina" from ''Ring, Ring'' has two:
** The song is about a shy woman who wows night club crowds with her dancing every Friday night. Almost 40 years later, the movie ''Film/BlackSwan'' starring Creator/NataliePortman was released, which was about a trainee ballerina with self-esteem issues called Nina.
** The song includes the line "Just like Cinderella!" ''Film/MammaMiaHereWeGoAgain'' would feature among its main cast Creator/LilyJames, who among her best-known roles is playing the title character in ''Film/Cinderella2015''.

* AmericansHateTingle: Not ''hate'' exactly but still a difference in appeal - North America: pretty successful, but just another group. Rest of the World: popularity rivaled that of the Beatles. One factor could've been that, at the time ABBA was most popular worldwide, Music/FleetwoodMac had the prime position in the North American market, so to speak, on melodic, harmonic pop. It was pretty hard for ''anyone'' to compete against the Mac at the time of ''Music/{{Rumours}}''. For that matter, the parallel between the two groups in terms of couples that broke up but kept on working together is pretty eerie. Another factor could have been Americans weren't that used to hearing foreign sounding singers at the time. Even most British pop/rock artists sing with an American accent. It also doesn't help their American popularity that one of their {{Signature Song}}s, "Dancing Queen", is a disco song, and it was released during the height of the "Disco Sucks" backlash.

* AmericansHateTingle: Not ''hate'' exactly but still a difference in appeal - North America: pretty successful, but just another group. Rest of the World: popularity rivaled that of the Beatles. One factor could've been that, at the time ABBA was most popular worldwide, Music/FleetwoodMac had the prime position in the North American market, so to speak, on melodic, harmonic pop. It was pretty hard for ''anyone'' to compete against the Mac at the time of ''Music/{{Rumours}}''. For that matter, the parallel between the two groups in terms of couples that broke up but kept on working together is pretty eerie. Another factor could have been Americans weren't that used to hearing foreign sounding singers at the time. Even most British pop/rock artists sing with an American accent. It also doesn't help their American popularity that one of their {{Signature Song}}s, "Dancing Queen", is a disco song.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Music videos that featured a vehicle at fast speed, like "Money, Money, Money", "That's Me", and "Tiger" could fall under this when one thinks about Agnetha Fältskog getting involved in a bus crash in 1983, [[OnlyAFleshWound with a minor concussion]] considering the fact [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat she was thrown out a window from the force of impact and lived]]. "Tiger" in particular has them driving at high speed, with the male members as backseat passengers and the ladies at the front, with the boys looking worried.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Music videos that featured a vehicle at fast speed, like "Money, Money, Money", "That's Me", and "Tiger" could fall under this when one thinks about Agnetha Fältskog getting involved in a bus crash in 1983, [[OnlyAFleshWound with a minor concussion]] considering the fact [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat she was thrown out a window from the force of impact and lived]]. "Tiger" in particular has the male members as backseat passengers (with the ladies at the front) looking worried, seeminly at the speed.

** This was the general hit-buying public's reaction to ''The Visitors''' DarkerAndEdgier sound. It's regarded as one of their best works, but remains their most traded in album.

* InternetBackdraft: Criticism of this group is near impossible due to the fans.

* ValuesDissonance: "When I Kissed The Teacher" is a laid-back and cheerful look at a TeacherStudentRomance situation. Guess how that goes down nowadays. [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Then again]], given that the student is ''pushing'' herself on her ''male'' teacher, some may now see it as a TakeThat to the DoubleStandard presented with most {{Teacher Student Romance}}s. It's also possible to view an element of UnreliableNarrator on the student's part, as the teacher seems more than a bit taken aback by the situation.

** Though the group were extremely popular in other places in Europe outside Scandinavia (the UK included), for a time in Australia they were greeted by the type of hysterical mania commonly associated with Music/TheBeatles. A special they made for the country had viewer figures outnumbering the moon landing, and at any given time from 1975 to 1977, an ABBA album or single (or both!) was always sitting in the top five. A movie was even made about their tour of Australia when the excitement reached fever pitch. Ironically, "Take A Chance On Me", their second highest-chartin song in America (after "Dancing Queen"), didn't even crack the top ten in Australia.

** The band's particular situation of being composed of two couples makes their [[BreakUpSong Break-Up Songs]] like "SOS" and "Knowing Me, Knowing You" much harder to listen to while having in mind what happened afterwards to them

* SampledUp: The riff of "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" is nowadays recognizable for how Music/{{Madonna}} sampled it for her song "Hung Up".[[note]]This is the fact one of only two times the band authorized sampling of their songs, the other being when Music/TheFugees sampled "The Name of the Game" for "Rumble in the Jungle".[[/note]]

* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: It is widely believed ABBA entered Eurovision to represent Sweden twice, once in 1973 for "Ring Ring" (and came third) and another for "Waterloo" in 1974 (when they won), which is slightly wrong. Their first entry actually refers to them entering Swedish music festival Melodifestivalen.[[note]]In addition, Nova & The Dolls entered Eurovision that year to represent Sweden and came fifth, while Ciff Richard came third in said festival that year[[/note]] Carl Magnus Plum (ABBA's official historian) is a regular victim of this error.

** Though the group were extremely popular in other places in Europe outside Scandinavia (the UK included), for a time in Australia they were greeted by the type of hysterical mania commonly associated with Music/TheBeatles. A special they made for the country had viewer figures outnumbering the moon landing, and at any given time from 1975 to 1977, an ABBA album or single (or both!) was always sitting in the top five. A movie was even made about their tour of Australia when the excitement reached fever pitch. Ironically, "Take A Chance On Me", their second most popular song in America (after "Dancing Queen"), didn't even crack the top ten in Australia.

** They were very popular in Latin America, especially in Mexico in the 80s, to the point that they recorded [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gracias_Por_La_Música an album exclusively in Spanish for the region]], and their ''Gold: Greatest Hits'' album got [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oro:_Grandes_Éxitos its own Spanish equivalent.]]

** "Knowing Me, Knowing You", a song about a break-up, is already hard to listen to while having in mind what happened afterwards to the group, but is even harder when one realizes that it was made while both couples were still together.

* HilariousInHindsight: The song "Nina, Pretty Ballerina" from ''Ring, Ring'' is about a shy woman who wows night club crowds with her dancing every Friday night. Almost 40 years later, the movie ''Film/BlackSwan'' starring Creator/NataliePortman was released, which was about a trainee ballerina with self-esteem issues called Nina.

* SampledUp:
** Music/TheFugees sampled "The Name of the Game" for their song "Rumble in the Jungle".
** Music/{{Madonna}} sampled "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" for her song "Hung Up".
* SignatureSong: "Dancing Queen", "Mamma Mia".

** It has also been made clear that rather than a faceless pop band, ABBA played pop and disco music because they were the most popular amongst the various styles they did. Bjorn and Benny could easily have been a hard rock band as evidenced by such songs as "Watch Out", experimented in funk with "Man in the Middle", not to mention the progressive rock stylings of "Hole in Your Soul".
** Furthermore, Bjorn And Benny's self-deprecating sense of humor regarding most of their songs means that you know their cheesiest moments are just as cheesy to them too.

** It's hard to listen to "Under Attack", already a dark song, without thinking about how Agnetha was in a romantic relationship with her stalker some 15 years later ...

** "SOS"'s opening riff (which Björn credited as solidifying the band's style), which was famously used as the basis for the opening riff of "Pretty Vacant" of the Music/SexPistols (of all bands) after Glen Matlock heard it on the radio.

* AmericansHateTingle: Not ''hate'' exactly but still a difference in appeal - North America: pretty successful, but just another group. Rest of the World: popularity rivaled that of the Beatles. One factor could've been that, at the time ABBA was most popular worldwide, Music/FleetwoodMac had the prime position in the North American market, so to speak, on melodic, harmonic pop. It was pretty hard for ''anyone'' to compete against the Mac at the time of ''Music/{{Rumours}}''. For that matter, the parallel between the two groups in terms of couples that broke up but kept on working together is pretty eerie... Another factor could have been Americans weren't that used to hearing foreign sounding singers at the time. Even most British pop/rock artists sing with an American accent. It also doesn't help their American popularity that one of their {{Signature Song}}s, "Dancing Queen", is a disco song.

** Even some of their more disco/dance songs had pretty rockin' riffs. The opening arpeggios from "Gimme Gimme Gimme" and the main riff from "Voulez-Vous" are good examples.
*** "Gimme Gimme Gimme" gets bonus points for having been covered by none other than the Swedish virtuoso guitar-player ''Yngwie Malmsteen''. And yes, he sweep picks those arpeggios on a guitar, instead of having a keyboard play them as done in the original!

* HarsherInHindsight: It's hard to listen to "Under Attack", already a dark song, without thinking about how Agnetha was in a romantic relationship with her stalker some 15 years later ...

* NarmCharm: Their videos.

* VindicatedByHistory: The more pretentious type of rock critic (and rock fan) liked to deride Abba during their heyday as being little better than bubblegum pop; as Björn pointed out in a 2002 Australian interview, "for the main part of the group's lifespan, the critics despised us". These days, a lot of people appreciate the group for their musical and vocal craftsmanship, and for their innovation in the field of music video (see TropeCodifier).
** Specifically people like to mention how dark ''The Visitors'' is, [[TrueArtIsAngsty 'dark' being a codeword for cool]] amongst music critics.
*** It has also been made clear that rather than a faceless pop band, ABBA's playing pop and disco music because they were the most popular amongst the various styles they did. Bjorn and Benny could easily have been a hard rock band as evidenced by such songs as Watch Out, experimented in funk with Man In The Middle, not to mention the progressive rock stylings of Hole In Your Soul.
*** Furthermore, Bjorn And Benny's self-deprecating sense of humor regarding most of their songs means that you know their cheesiest moments are just as cheesy to them too.

* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Agnetha and Frida, in some cases.

* AmericansHateTingle: Not ''hate'' exactly but still a difference in appeal - North America: pretty successful, but just another group. Rest of the World: popularity rivaled that of the Beatles. One factor could've been that, at the time ABBA was most popular worldwide, Music/FleetwoodMac had the prime position in the North American market, so to speak, on melodic, harmonic pop. It was pretty hard for ''anyone'' to compete against the Mac at the time of ''Music/{{Rumours}}''. For that matter, the parallel between the two groups in terms of couples that broke up but kept on working together is pretty eerie... Another factor could have been Americans weren't that used to hearing foreign sounding singers at the time. Even most British pop/rock artists sing with an American accent. It also doesn't help their American popularity that their SignatureSong, "Dancing Queen", is a disco song.

** GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: On the flipside, they were especially successful in Japan and Australia. Just take a look at the massive, screaming crowds in ''ABBA: The Movie''. Ironically, "Take A Chance On Me", their second most popular song in America (after "Dancing Queen"), didn't even crack the top ten in Australia.
** They were very popular in Latin America, especially in Mexico in the 80s.
%%AngstWhatAngst: Frida.

* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Agnetha and Frida, in some cases. Baffling to some.
* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Though the group were extremely popular in other places in Europe outside Scandinavia (the UK included), for a time in Australia they were greeted by the type of hysterical mania commonly associated with Music/TheBeatles. A special they made for the country had viewer figures outnumbering the moon landing, and at any given time from 1975 to 1977, an ABBA album or single (or both!) was always sitting in the top five. A movie was even made about their tour of Australia when the excitement reached fever pitch.

* SampledUp: {{Music/Madonna}} sampled "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" for her song "Hung Up".

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Some fans blast ''Voulez Vous'' for being more disco-oriented.
** This was the general hit-buying public's reaction to "The Visitors" DarkerAndEdgier sound. It's regarded as one of their best works, but remains their most traded in album.

* ValuesDissonance: "When I Kissed The Teacher" is a laid-back and cheerful look at a TeacherStudentRomance situation. Guess how that goes down nowadays.
** [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Then again]], given that the student is ''pushing'' herself on her ''male'' teacher, some may now see it as a TakeThat to the DoubleStandard presented with most {{Teacher Student Romance}}s. It's also possible to view an element of UnreliableNarrator on the student's part, as the teacher seems more than a bit taken aback by the situation.

** Specifically people like to mention how dark The Visitors is, [[TrueArtIsAngsty 'dark' being a codeword for cool]] amongst music critics.

** ABBA: The X[[note]] Started with ''The Album'', then ''The Movie'', ''The Folio'', ''The Scrapbook'', and nowadays there's ''The Forum'', ''The Site'', etc.[[/note]]
** "What does kinky mean?"[[note]] A line spoken by Benny in the movie, used whenever someone says "kinky" for whatever reason.[[/note]]
** "Sweaty, obsessive fans."[[note]] A general description of (usually) hardcore Agnetha fans.[[/note]]
** "How can I answer to that. I do not know, I haven't seen it." [[note]]Agnetha's response to Greg Evan's question[[/note]].
* MoodWhiplash: The hodgepodge of styles on the album ''Waterloo'' resulted in the hard rocking "Watch Out" being placed immediately between the bubblegum pop numbers "Honey Honey" and "What About Livingstone". Notably, the original CD release of the album swapped "Watch Out" and "Livingstone", though whether this was done intentionally is uncertain.