Voulez-Vous (song)

Infobox Single
Name = Voulez-Vous


Artist = ABBA
from Album = Voulez-Vous
Released = 2 July , 1979
Format = Single
Genre = Disco
Length = 5:09
Label = Polar Music
Writer = Benny Andersson
Björn Ulvaeus
Producer = Benny Andersson
Björn Ulvaeus
Director = Lasse Hallström
Certification = Silver (UK)
Last single = "Does Your Mother Know"
(1979)
This single = "Voulez-Vous"
(1979)
Next single = "Angeleyes"
(1979)
Misc =

"Voulez-Vous", originally called "Amerika", is one of Swedish pop group ABBA's disco-oriented hits, and is the second track on the group's 1979 album of the same name, written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad shared the lead vocals. In the UK, "Voulez-Vous" was released as a double A-side with "Angeleyes" ("Angeleyes" was the dominant A-side), whereas nearly everywhere else, "Voulez-Vous" was a single A-side. The song also features on the ' album, first as a 4:21 edited version when the compilation was first released in 1992, and then in its full 5:09 version from 1999 onwards. "Angeleyes" is featured on the ' compilation.

"Voulez-Vous" is also the only ABBA song to have been officially released as an extended dance remix - albeit only as a promo. The 6:07 version of the track, released as a double A-side 12" single by Atlantic Records in the United States in 1979, was included as a bonus track on the 2001 compilation "The Definitive Collection".

Reception

Compared to ABBA's hits both before and after, "Voulez-Vous" was not a major hit for the group. It did top the charts in Belgium, and reached the top five in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands. It peaked at number 9 in France, Switzerland, Spain and South Africa, but failed to make the top 10 anywhere else.

At the time of the single's release in the UK, other publications provided singles charts alongside the official chart produced by Music Week for the BBC, New Musical Express and Melody Maker being two examples of publications with their own charts. There were often differences between these charts, but rarely more than a place or two. The double A-side single "Angeleyes" and "Voulez-Vous" caused controversy by reaching No.3 in the Music Week/BBC chart, when it actually rose no higher than No.9 on any other chart and generally missed the Top 10 completely in the majority of the charts produced. BBC Radio 1 acknowledged that there was a discrepancy on air. If there was anything untoward, it was ignored and the No.3 ranking with Music Week/BBC was never disqualified.

Chart positions

Cover versions

* "Voulez-Vous" topped the British charts again in 1992, when it was one of four ABBA songs covered on Erasure's EP "Abba-esque".
* Swedish pop group A*Teens recorded a version on their debut album "The ABBA Generation".
* Techno dance versions of the song have been recorded by various artists including Abbacadabra (through British label Almighty Records in the late 1990s), Audio Science on the "Lay All Your Love On ABBA" tribute album, Euphorica (on the album "ABBA Dance"), and DJ Ensamble on the album "Trancing Queen".
* The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus recorded a cover of the song for their 1997 album "ExtrABBAganza!".
* The British 1999 "Abbamania" album includes a cover by Culture Club. The subsequent "ABBAMania 2" album features a rendition sung by British actress Julie Forsyth.
* The German "ABBA Mania" compilation includes a cover of the song by Barbara Schöneberger.
* A cover by Swedish thrash metal band Morgana Lefay was featured on the tribute album "ABBAMetal" (also released as "A Tribute to ABBA").
* Another metal version by Swedish band Time Requiem was a bonus track on the Japanese edition of their album "The Inner Circle Of Reality".
* Vietnamese-American singer Da Nhat Yen recorded a version with rap by Chosen One.
* On the tribute album "ABBAlicious" performed by various U.S. drag queens, the song was covered by Sade Pendarvis.
* An electronica cover of the song by Transient can be found on the album "The Electronic Tribute To ABBA".
* Swedish musician Nils Landgren includes a cover of the song on his tribute album "Funky Abba".
* A cover of the song by Blue System can be found on the 2006 chill out music compilation "ABBA Chill Out".
* A cover of the song by Finnish a cappella choral ensemble Rajaton can be found on their 2006 ABBA tribute album "Rajaton Sings ABBA With Lahti Symphony Orchestra".

Live performances, appearances in other media, etc.

* "Voulez-Vous" is one of the numbers performed in the "Mamma Mia!" musical. In the context of the musical, the song is sung by everyone. The opening lyrics, "People everywhere, the sense of expectation hanging in the air", is used when the boys from Sky's stag party crash the hen party and then every other character joins the dance. However, in little intermission throughout the song, Sam and Harry confront Sophie and tell her that they have realized that they could be Sophie's fathers too. In order to make things more complicated, each of them say they will walk Sophie down the aisle at her wedding. Therefore, the lyrics then ("Voulez-vous, Take it now or leave it, Now is all we get / Nothing promised, No regrets / Voulez-vous, Ain't no big decision / You know what to do, La question C'est Voulez-vous) take the meaning that for Sophie, personally, has the choice to come clean with everyone about what's going on. Yet, she is confused about what to do and does nothing. Also, this song ends the first act.
* At the beginning of the"Despre tine" video, by O-Zone, the people are listening to the song when appears the band (O-Zone).