"Fernando" | ||||||||
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Single by ABBA | ||||||||
from the album Greatest Hits | ||||||||
B-side | "Hey, Hey, Helen" | |||||||
Released | 27 March 1976 (UK) 12 April 1976 (Sweden) 4 September 1976 (US) |
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Format | Vinyl | |||||||
Recorded | 3 September 1975 at Metronome Studio | |||||||
Genre | Pop, folk | |||||||
Length | 4:15 | |||||||
Label |
Polar (Sweden) Epic (UK) Atlantic (US) |
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Writer(s) | Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus | |||||||
Producer(s) | Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus | |||||||
ABBA singles chronology | ||||||||
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"Fernando" | ||||||||
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Song by Anni-Frid Lyngstad from the album Frida ensam | ||||||||
Released | 10 November 1975 | |||||||
Length | 4:14 | |||||||
Label | Polar Music | |||||||
Writer(s) | Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson | |||||||
Language | Swedish | |||||||
Producer(s) | Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus | |||||||
Frida ensam track listing | ||||||||
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"Fernando" is a song by the Swedish pop group ABBA. It was the group's first non-album single and was released in March 1976 through Polar Music. Solo parts were sung by Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The track was featured on the 1976 compilation album Greatest Hits in some countries, although in Australia and New Zealand, "Fernando" was included on the 1996 CD reissue of the group's fourth studio album Arrival. "Fernando" is also featured on the multi-million selling Gold: Greatest Hits compilation. The song was to become one of ABBA's best-selling singles of all time, with six million copies sold in 1976 alone. It is one of fewer than forty all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) physical copies worldwide, making it one of the best selling singles of all time.
"Fernando" was not originally released as an ABBA song but by Anni-Frid Lyngstad. It was featured on her number 1 Swedish solo album Frida ensam (1975). The song was composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and carried the working title of "Tango". Preparations for recording began in August 1975. The writers made last-minute changes to the title before recording. The suggestion of the name "Fernando" was given by their limousine driver Peter Forbes in Shepperton, England.
The original Swedish-language version's lyrics were written by ABBA's manager Stig Anderson and differ substantially from the English-language version. In the original, the narrator tries to console the heartbroken Fernando, who has lost his great love. "The sorrow can be hard to bear, but the fact that friends let us down is something we all have to cope with". The chorus' lyrics are: "Long live love, our best friend, Fernando. Raise your glass and propose a toast to it; to love, Fernando. Play the melody and sing a song of happiness. Long live love, Fernando".