Mamma Mia Song: The Story ABBA Almost Gave Away

The mamma mia song almost became someone else's hit before ABBA ever recorded a note of it themselves.

It ended up doing something no other ABBA single managed.

It knocked Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" off the top of the UK singles chart.

In the US, the story went the opposite way entirely.

The song peaked at a modest number 32, quiet enough that this site's own ABBA post doesn't even mention it among the group's biggest American hits.

ABBA photographed during a 1974 Dutch TopPop television appearance, the group behind the mamma mia song that would knock Bohemian Rhapsody off the UK's number one spot two years later

ABBA on Dutch television, TopPop, April 26, 1974.

Image credit: AVRO, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Mamma Mia Song ABBA Almost Gave Away

Written in a Home Library, Recorded Last

The mamma mia song came together in Björn Ulvaeus's own home library, not a studio.

Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson wrote the melody there together.

Manager Stig Anderson contributed the title itself.

ABBA recorded the track on March 12, 1975, at Metronome Studio in Stockholm.

It was the very last song added to the self-titled ABBA album.

The album itself arrived in stores that April, just weeks after the recording session wrapped.

Brotherhood of Man Passed, and Won Eurovision Anyway

ABBA nearly gave the song away before it ever became their own.

British group Brotherhood of Man had first shot at it.

Singer Martin Lee later said they knew it was a potential hit.

They chose to prioritize a different song instead.

That other song was "Save Your Kisses for Me."

ABBA kept the mamma mia song for themselves.

Brotherhood of Man's own choice paid off just as well.

Their song won the Eurovision Song Contest outright in 1976.

How the Mamma Mia Song Knocked Bohemian Rhapsody Off the Top

The mamma mia song reached number one in Britain on January 31, 1976.

It replaced Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" at the top of the UK singles chart that week.

Read the full story of that song's own nine-week reign in this site's own Bohemian Rhapsody post.

It held the top spot itself for two weeks before making way for the next single in line.

It was ABBA's second UK number one, following Waterloo two years earlier.

The song went on to reach the top five in more than ten countries.

Australia had already sent it to number one two months earlier, in November 1975.

Ireland, Switzerland, and West Germany all did the same.

A Modest US Peak Explains a Real Gap on This Site's Own ABBA Post

America barely noticed the song that dethroned Bohemian Rhapsody.

It entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 83 on May 22, 1976.

It peaked at number 32 that July.

This site's own ABBA post names five of the group's biggest US singles: Waterloo, Dancing Queen, Knowing Me Knowing You, Take a Chance on Me, and The Name of the Game.

The mamma mia song isn't one of them.

Now the reason is clear: its real US peak is the weakest of that entire stretch.

The self-titled ABBA album that housed the song fared just as modestly in America.

It peaked at only number 174 on the Billboard 200.

Europe and Australia treated the same record as a genuine phenomenon.

What the Mamma Mia Song Is Actually About

The title itself isn't really about anyone's mother.

"Mamma mia" is an Italian exclamation, roughly equivalent to "oh my," used to express surprise.

The lyrics describe someone caught in a relationship they keep leaving and returning to.

Love, regret, and a pull back toward someone who's already hurt them once, all inside one bright, danceable melody.

That contrast between the sound and the subject became something of an ABBA signature.

Not to Be Confused With the Movie

Most people today know the phrase from a different source entirely.

The 2008 film Mamma Mia! and its stage-musical predecessor borrowed the title, not the story.

Neither one existed yet in 1975.

Producer Judy Craymer first had the idea for a stage musical built around ABBA's songs in the early 1980s.

It took until April 6, 1999, for Mamma Mia! to actually open, at London's Prince Edward Theatre.

Playwright Catherine Johnson built an entirely new story around the songs, one that never existed when this single was written.

This post covers the original single, written and recorded a full three decades before that franchise began.

Curious which 70s act matches your own mood today?

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the mamma mia song actually about?

The mamma mia song describes someone caught in an on-and-off relationship, pulled back toward a partner who has already hurt them once.

The title itself is an Italian exclamation of surprise, not a reference to anyone's actual mother.

That contrast between a bright, danceable melody and genuinely conflicted lyrics became something of an ABBA trademark.

Did ABBA almost give the mamma mia song to another band?

ABBA came close to losing the song entirely.

British group Brotherhood of Man had first option on it but chose to prioritize a different song, "Save Your Kisses for Me," instead.

That decision worked out for both acts: ABBA kept the song and turned it into a UK number one, while Brotherhood of Man's own choice went on to win Eurovision in 1976.

Did the mamma mia song reach number one anywhere?

It topped the UK singles chart on January 31, 1976, replacing Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" at number one.

That made it ABBA's second UK chart-topper, after Waterloo two years earlier.

The song also reached the top five in more than ten other countries that year.

How did the mamma mia song perform on the US charts?

Its real US performance was modest, especially next to its British success.

The song entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 83 in May 1976 and peaked at number 32 that July.

That's the weakest US chart position of any of ABBA's major hits from that stretch of the decade.

Is the mamma mia song connected to the movie Mamma Mia!?

Not directly, beyond sharing a title.

ABBA wrote and recorded the original song in 1975, more than three decades before the 2008 film and its stage-musical predecessor existed.

The movie borrowed the phrase because of the song's fame, not the other way around.