Knowing Me, Knowing You

For other uses, see Knowing Me, Knowing You (disambiguation).

"Knowing Me, Knowing You"
Single by ABBA
from the album Arrival
B-side	"Happy Hawaii"
Released	14 February 1977
Format	7" single
Recorded	23 March 1976 at Metronome Studio
Genre	Pop
Length	4:00
Label	Polar Music
Writer(s)	Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus Stig Anderson
Producer	Benny Andersson Björn Ulvaeus
Certification	Gold (UK)
ABBA singles chronology
"That's Me" (1976) "Knowing Me, Knowing You" (1977) "King Kong Song" (1977)

"Knowing Me, Knowing You" is a hit single recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA. The song was written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson, with the lead vocal sung by Anni-Frid Lyngstad. During recording sessions, it had the working titles of "Ring It In" and "Number 1, Number 1". "Knowing Me, Knowing You" was released on Arrival, and later on the ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits compilation.

History

"Knowing Me, Knowing You" was recorded in 1976 at the Metronome studio in Stockholm and released in February 1977, becoming one of the group's most successful singles. The B-side was "Happy Hawaii", an arrangement of another ABBA song, "Why Did It Have to Be Me?", but with a different lead vocalist and lyrics. "Knowing Me, Knowing You" was one of the first ABBA songs to deal with the break-up of a relationship, though with an upbeat quality to the music. It predates the divorces of the ABBA members, as well as further break-up songs to come: "The Winner Takes It All", "One of Us" and "When All Is Said And Done". Group member Benny Andersson named "Knowing Me, Knowing You" as one of ABBA's best recordings in a 2004 interview, along with "Dancing Queen", "The Winner Takes It All" and "When I Kissed the Teacher". Conociéndome, Conociéndote is the Spanish language version of the song. It was included in the compilation Oro: Grandes Éxitos released in 1993.

Reception

"Knowing Me, Knowing You" was another single from the successful "Arrival" album. It hit number one in West Germany, Great Britain, and Ireland, while reaching the top three in Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. It was also a top ten hit in Australia, France, New Zealand, and Norway. In the United States, it became ABBA's sixth top twenty single, peaking at number 14.

In Britain, "Knowing Me, Knowing You" began a second run of three consecutive chart-topping singles for ABBA (followed by "The Name of the Game" and "Take a Chance on Me"), the group having already had three consecutive number ones in 1976. It was ABBA's sixth consecutive number one single in Germany.

Music video

The video depicts the band against various colored backdrops singing while facing each other, turning away as a new line is sung. At the end of the video, the band's female members are seen walking away through thick snow.

Chart positions

Chart (1977)	Position
Australian Singles Chart	9
Austrian Singles Chart	2
Belgian Singles Chart	2
UK Singles Chart	1
Canadian Singles Chart	2
Dutch Singles Chart	3
Eurochart Hot 100 Singles	1
Finnish Singles Chart	16
French Singles Chart	9
German Singles Chart	1
Irish Singles Chart	1
New Zealand Singles Chart	8
Norwegian Singles Chart	6
Mexico	1
South Africa	1
Spanish Singles Chart	17
Swiss Singles Chart	3
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	14

Preceded by "When I Need You" by Leo Sayer	Eurochart Hot 100 Singles number-one single 19 March 1977 – 9 April 1977	Succeeded by "Lay Back In The Arms of Someone" by Smokie
Preceded by "Chanson D'Amour" by The Manhattan Transfer	UK Singles Chart number-one single 2 April 1977 – 30 April 1977	Succeeded by "Free" by Deniece Williams
	Irish Singles Chart number-one single 9 April 1977 – 7 May 1977	Succeeded by "It's Nice To Be In Love Again" by The Swarbriggs
Preceded by "Living Next Door to Alice" by Smokie	German Singles Chart number-one single 8 April 1977 – 15 April 1977	Succeeded by "Lay Back In The Arms of Someone" by Smokie

Cover versions

• A cover recorded in 1977 by the Top of the Poppers appears on the 2002 compilation album Knowing Me, Knowing You.
• British singer Cilla Black recorded a cover for her 1980 album Especially For You.
• Swedish pop group A*Teens included the song as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of their debut album The ABBA Generation.
• Danish singer Sanne Salomonsen recorded her own cover of the song for the 1992 Swedish tribute album ABBA - The Tribute, released on the Polar Music label.
• The 1995 New Zealand tribute album entitled Abbasalutely features a cover by Superette.
• American power pop band Wondermints included a cover of the song on their 1996 album Wonderful World Of The Wondermints.
• Evan Dando, former lead singer of The Lemonheads, recorded an acoustic version of the song which was included on the album ABBA: A Tribute - The 25th Anniversary Celebration released in 1999.
• Right Said Fred covered the song on the German album ABBA Mania which was a tie-in to a TV special in Germany.
• Swedish musician Nils Landgren included a rendition of the song on his 2004 tribute album Funky ABBA.
• Singer Hazell Dean included a dance-oriented cover of the song for her 1996 album The Winner Takes It All: Hazell Dean Sings ABBA.
• Indie artists, including Minneapolis singer-songwriter/musician Pamela McNeill (on her Tribute To ABBA album, which was produced by her husband Dugan McNeill), Texan band Javelin Boot & Detroit country/rock band The Volebeats, have all recorded their own renditions of the song.
• A version by Swedish heavy metal band Tad Morose was included on the ABBA tribute compilation ABBAMetal (also released as A Tribute to ABBA).
• Two dance versions appear on the ABBA tribute compilation Lay All Your Love On ABBA. One is an instrumental techno version by Vectrolab, the other is a standard vocal version by Marmic.
• A dance version by Australian singer Donna Burke was included on the 2001 Japanese ABBA Ibiza Caliente Mix tribute album.
• Belgian singer Arno Hintjens included a cover as a bonus track on his 2004 album French Bazaar. It was also included on his 2008 album Covers Cocktail.
• A eurotrance version by DCX was released as a single in 2007, with various remixes.
• Tribute band Gabba (band) recorded a cover of the song, in the style of The Ramones.
• A jazz cover of the song was recorded by Kristjana & Agnar for their album Ég um þig ("Me for you").
• South African R&B group Jamali covered the song for their 2008 album 3rd Base.
• The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra recorded an instrumental version of the song.

Live cover performances, appearances in other media, etc.

• Brief clips from the original ABBA recording features in the film "ABBA: The Movie" (1977), whilst Ashley is stuck in a traffic jam; it is presumably coming from the radio of another car.
• Live versions have been performed by various artists including Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Norwegian singer/actress Anneli Drecker, Swedish band Eskobar, Canadian singer Ron Sexsmith and American singer Marshall Crenshaw.
• Scottish band Danny Wilson included a live cover version, recorded at the Town & Country Club, London on October 1 1989 as a B-side on their "I Can't Wait" single
• The Phoenix Metropolitan Men's Chorus sung the song in a show entitled ExtrABBAganza that included almost all of the group's greatest hits.
• The song is also performed in the musical Mamma Mia! by the character of Sam. In the context of the musical, the song is used as Sam's description of his failed marriage. Also, some people can interpret it as Sam reflecting on the time he left Donna to go home and get married.
• The song was sung on Australian Idol season 6 by Luke Dickens during Abba week.
• The song is the theme of the Steve Coogan 1990's comic vehicle Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge. "Knowing me, knowing you, a-ha", is also Partridge's key catch phrase.
• On 5th December 2010 on a British poll for The Nations Favourite ABBA song, it placed at #5.

References