Peak
1
Weeks
22
Score
4,063
Chart Year
1977
The song was accompanied by a music video, filmed in 1976 in Alexandra's discotheque in central Stockholm, Sweden.[40] The music video features all four members of ABBA singing and performing to dancing club patrons. Directed by the Swedish film director Lasse Hallström, the music video on YouTube has over 500 million views as of May 2021. The video since has been remastered in ultra-high definition in August 2021 since the 500 million view milestone.
This was written by ABBA members Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. According to ABBA's official site, it was conceived as a dance song with the working title "Boogaloo." They drew inspiration from the 1974 George McCrae disco hit "Rock Your Baby," and from the drumming on the 1972 album Gumbo by Dr. John. Their manager Stig Anderson came up with the title "Dancing Queen," and after several months working on the track, ABBA came up with arguably the world's first europop disco hit. ABBA recorded this about a year before it was released. It was written and recorded around the same time as "Fernando," which was chosen as the single. They knew "Dancing Queen" would also be a hit, so they held it until the album was released before issuing it as a single. ABBA performed this song on June 18, 1976 at a televised tribute to Queen Silvia and King Gustaf XVI of Sweden, who were married the next day. This was the only one of ABBA's 14 US Top 40 hits to make it to #1. Regarding the lyrics, "Night is young and the music's high," many listeners interpret this as a statement that the music makes you feel high. In ABBA's part of the world, however, it simply means that the music is loud. Along with many other ABBA songs, this was featured in Muriel's Wedding, a hit Australian movie starring Toni Collette and Rachel Griffiths. >> According to the BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans, when this song was played at a Windsor Castle event Queen Elizabeth said: "I always try to dance when this song comes on because I am the Queen and I like to dance." This song also reached #1 in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Rhodesia, South Africa, Sweden and West Germany. >> When Benny first played Frida the song's backing track, she burst into tears. "And that was before me and Agnetha had even sung on it!" she smiled to The Guardian. "I knew it was absolutely the best song Abba had ever done." This came top of a 2014 poll conducted by Blinkbox concerning the most commonly misheard lyrics in Pop. 22% of the people polled admitted they had mistaken the lyric "See that girl, watch that scene, diggin' the dancing queen" for, "See that girl, watch her scream, kicking the dancing queen." Chris Stein of Blondie says that his group's 1979 hit "Dreaming" is "pretty much a cop" of "Dancing Queen." U2 covered this during the band's Zoo TV tour in 1992, and were joined onstage by Bjorn and Benny when the show hit Stockholm. "ABBA have a purer joy to their music," Bono explains in the documentary ABBA: The Winner Takes It All, "and that's what makes them extraordinary." The American disco singer Carol Douglas covered this song in 1977, taking it to #110 in America. The other two covers to chart are by ABBA clones A*Teens (#95 in 2000) and the Glee Cast (#74, 2011).
Ooh You can dance You can jive Having the time of your life Ooh, see that girl Watch that scene Digging the dancing queen Friday night and the lights are low Looking out for a place to go Where they play the right music Getting in the swing You come to look for a king Anybody could be that guy Night is young and the music's high With a bit of rock music Everything is fine You're in the mood for a dance And when you get the chance You are the dancing queen Young and sweet Only seventeen Dancing queen Feel the beat from the tambourine, oh yeah You can dance You can jive Having the time of your life Ooh, see that girl Watch that scene Digging the dancing queen You're a teaser, you turn 'em on Leave 'em burning and then you're gone Looking out for another Anyone will do You're in the mood for a dance And when you get the chance You are the dancing queen Young and sweet Only seventeen Dancing queen Feel the beat from the tambourine, oh yeah You can dance You can jive Having the time of your life Ooh, see that girl Watch that scene Digging the dancing queen Digging the dancing queen
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dec 11, 1976 | 86 | 40 |
| 2 | Dec 18, 1976 | 76 | 50 |
| 3 | Dec 25, 1976 | 66 | 60 |
| 4 | Jan 1, 1977 | 66 | 60 |
| 5 | Jan 8, 1977 | 56 | 70 |
| 6 | Jan 15, 1977 | 41 | 85 |
| 7 | Jan 22, 1977 | 33 | 93 |
| 8 | Jan 29, 1977 | 26 | 100 |
| 9 | Feb 5, 1977 | 19 | 107 |
| 10 | Feb 12, 1977 | 16 | 110 |
| 11 | Feb 19, 1977 | 14 | 112 |
| 12 | Feb 26, 1977 | 9 | 117 |
| 13 | Mar 5, 1977 | 7 | 119 |
| 14 | Mar 12, 1977 | 6 | 120 |
| 15 | Mar 19, 1977 | 5 | 121 |
| 16 | Mar 26, 1977 | 3 | 123 |
| 17 | Apr 2, 1977 | 2 | 124 |
| 18 | Apr 9, 1977 | 1 | 125 |
| 19 | Apr 16, 1977 | 6 | 120 |
| 20 | Apr 23, 1977 | 18 | 108 |