When it was released in 1980, ABBA’s “The Winner Takes It All” was a hit. It topped the charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, and the Netherlands while reaching number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. The lyrical content focuses on a breakup, and although Björn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Fältskog have denied that it was about their divorce, it was a sign of turmoil in the group. It would be their last song to crack the top ten chart in the States, and ABBA would disband two years later.
“The Winner Takes It All” has stood as a testament to the power of the Swedish pop megastars. It’s been recorded by Cher and Susan Boyle, and it was featured in the hit TV show Better Call Saul. Today, we’re checking out another amazing cover by Jessica Trocha, who is accompanied by the WDR Funkhausorchester. The orchestral arrangement replaces synthesizers with strings and woodwinds for a richer experience. Once you listen to this version, it seems like a perfect fit for the emotional song. That makes sense when you understand the song’s writing process.
Ulvaeus came up with the idea during a writing session in a cottage on the island of Viggsö. His first draft was called “The Story of My Life,” but after getting stuck, they left the idea for a few days. When they got back to it, co-writer Benny Andersson came up with the idea to use a French chanson-style arrangement with a descending piano line and looser structure. “The layers of French chanson in the arrangement suggested something that called for a touch of the melodramatic: strong feelings about an emotional subject,” Carl Magnus Palm writes in “Bright Lights, Dark Shadows: The Real Story of ABBA.”
Trocha leans into the drama, starting almost as a monologue before driving the emotion home with soaring vocals. The arrangement still provides a solid beat for danceability, thanks to the percussionists of the WDR Funkhausorchester.
