The Visitors (song)

Infobox Single
Name = The Visitors


Artist = ABBA
from Album = The Visitors
Released = 1981
B-side = "Head over Heels"
Format = 7-inch Single
Genre = New Wave, Synthpop
Length = 5:47
Label = Polar Music
Writer = Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus
Producer = Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus
Chart position = * #63 (USA)
* #8 (US Club Play)
Last single = "Head over Heels"
(1981)
This single = "The Visitors"
(1981)
Next single = "The Day Before You Came"
(1982)
Misc =
Misc =

"The Visitors", originally "Den första" (meaning "The First"), was the final single release from Swedish pop group ABBA's studio album of the same name, released in the United States in 1981. The lead vocal was sung by Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The single peaked at #63 on the singles chart in the US, and #10 on the dance chart.

Meaning

The official stated theme is a protest against the mistreatment of political dissidents in the Soviet Union back then, as ABBA seemed to input political issues into their lyrics in the final days of the group. [ [http://www.abba4therecord.com/singles_results.php abba for the record - vinyl singles ] ]

In 1982, the album "The Visitors" was banned from the Soviet Union, though it is likely due to the band's participation on the US Department of Information special TV show, "Let Poland Be Poland", broadcast via satellite around the world on January 31, 1982. The show, which also featured Frank Sinatra, Paul McCartney, Orson Welles, Henry Fonda and US President Ronald Reagan, was a public protest against the then-recent imposition of martial law in Poland.

Cover versions

* A Hi-NRG cover of the song was released as a single by a group called Moonstone in the late 1980s.
* Abbacadabra released several dance cover remixes of the song under Almighty Records during the late 1990s.

References