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Waterloo (song)

"Waterloo" is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA, with music composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and lyrics written by Stikkan Anderson. It is first single of the group's second album of the same name, and their first under the Atlantic label in the United States. This was also the first single to be credited to the group performing under the name ABBA. The title and lyrics reference the 1815 Battle of Waterloo, and use it as a metaphor for a romantic relationship. The Swedish version of the single was backed with the Swedish version of "Honey, Honey", while the English version featured "Watch Out" on the B-side.

In 1974, after winning the of the Melodifestivalen, "Waterloo"  in the  of the Eurovision Song Contest held in Brighton, winning the contest and beginning ABBA's path to worldwide fame. It topped the charts in several countries, and reached the top 10 in the United States.

In 2005, at Eurovision fiftieth anniversary competition Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest, "Waterloo" was chosen as the best song in the contest's history.

Writing, recording, and meaning
On 10 February 1973, ABBA as "Agnetha, Anni-Frid, Björn and Benny" competed with "Ring Ring" in the of the Melodifestivalen, placing third. After this good position, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus composed the music, and Stikkan Anderson wrote the lyrics, of "Waterloo" specifically for the group to enter in the of the Melodifestivalen.

Recording of the song commenced in 1973, with instrumental backing from Janne Schaffer (who came up with the main guitar and bass parts), Rutger Gunnarsson, and Ola Brunkert. The song's production style was influenced by Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound": prior to recording "Ring Ring", engineer Michael B. Tretow had read Richard Williams' book Out of His Head: The Sound of Phil Spector, which inspired him to layer multiple instrumental overdubs on the band's recordings, becoming an integral part of ABBA's sound. Furthermore, ABBA had also originally cited the song "See My Baby Jive", by English glam rock band Wizzard, as a major influence (it was produced in the same style and has a similar structure); in the wake of their Eurovision victory, they were quoted as saying that it would not surprise them if artists such as Wizzard would consider entering the Eurovision in the future.

Waterloo as a metaphor
The song's lyrics begin with: "My, my, at Waterloo, Napoleon did surrender. Oh yeah, and I have met my destiny in quite a similar way.... Waterloo, I was defeated, you won the war, Waterloo, promise to love you forevermore", using the metaphor of Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo for a famous failure and major turning point in history. The fighting took place about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) away from the town of Waterloo, Belgium where the British had set up quarter, naming the events after it, literally writing history. French forces and Napoleon never reached Waterloo itself, and Napoleon did not surrender personally to become a prisoner of war, but he had to surrender control over the battlefield, and chased by Prussian cavalry, the remaining forces under his command retreated in disarray back towards Paris where he abdicated, surrendering aspirations and putting an end to his Hundred Days. Failing to escape to America, he finally surrendered in person to the British Royal Navy at the French Atlantic coast, about 700 km away from Waterloo, and four weeks later.

Melodifestivalen 1974
In 1974, the group considered submitting "Hasta Mañana" to the 14th edition of the Melodifestivalen, but decided on "Waterloo" since it gave equal weight to both lead vocalists Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, while "Hasta Mañana" was sung only by Fältskog.

On 9 February 1974, ABBA competed with the Swedish-language version of "Waterloo" in the Melodifestivalen final. The song won the competition with 302 points, beating the 211 points of the runner-up. As that Melodifestivalen was organised by Sveriges Radio (SR) to select its song and performer for the of the Eurovision Song Contest, the song became the, and ABBA the performers, for Eurovision.

Subsequently, the group recorded the German and French versions of the song in March and April 1974, respectively: the French version was adapted by Alain Boublil, who would later go on to co-write the 1980 musical Les Misérables, and the German version was adapted by Gerd Müller-Schwanke.

Promo video
SR released a promo video for "Waterloo", directed by Lasse Hallström, that was recorded at SVT Studios in Stockholm at the same time as that for Ring Ring. The group appears performing the song with its four members dressed in the same outfits they wore in the Melodifestivalen and would wear at Eurovision. The video clip was incorporated into Abba's DVDs The Definitive Collection, ABBA Number Ones, ABBA: 16 Hits, ABBA Gold, and The Last Video.

Eurovision
On 6 April 1974, the Eurovision Song Contest was held at The Dome in Brighton hosted by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and broadcast live throughout the continent. ABBA performed the English-language version of "Waterloo" eighth on the evening, following "Generacija '42" by Korni Grupa from and preceding "Bye Bye I Love You" by Ireen Sheer from. Sven-Olof Walldoff, dressed as Napoleon, conducted the event's live orchestra in the performances of the Swedish entry.

At the end of voting, the song scored 24 points placing first and winning the contest, beating runner-up "Sì" by Gigliola Cinquetti from 's by six points.

The song differed from the standard "dramatic ballad" tradition at the contest by its flavour and rhythm, as well as by its performance. ABBA gave the audience something that had rarely been seen before in Eurovision: flashy costumes (including silver platform boots), a catchy uptempo song and simple choreography. It was the first winning entry in a language other than that of their home country; prior to, all Eurovision singers had been required to sing in their country's native tongue, a restriction that was lifted briefly for the contests between 1973 and (thus allowing "Waterloo" to be sung in English), then reinstated before ultimately being removed again in. Compared to later ABBA releases, the singers' Swedish accents are decidedly more pronounced in "Waterloo".

Aftermath
"Waterloo" was re-released in 2004 (with the same B-side), to celebrate the 30th anniversary of ABBA's Eurovision win, reaching No. 20 on the UK charts.

"Waterloo" was one of fourteen songs chosen by Eurovision fans and a European Broadcasting Union (EBU) reference group, from among the 992 songs that had ever participated in the contest, to participate in the fiftieth anniversary competition Congratulations: 50 Years of the Eurovision Song Contest held on 22 October 2005 in Copenhagen. It won the competition ranking as the best song in the contest's history. It received the same honour in a 14-country open vote in the run-up to the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, placing first above Sweden's winning songs in and, "Euphoria" by Loreen and "Heroes" by Måns Zelmerlöw, respectively.

On 11 July 2023, at the celebrations for the 175th anniversary of London Waterloo station, where ABBA were photographed following their win at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, a choir performed Waterloo as part of a selection of songs.

Swedish version
a. "Waterloo" (Swedish version) – 2:45 b. "Honey Honey" (Swedish version) – 2:55

English version
a. "Waterloo" (English version) – 2:46 b. "Watch Out" – 3:46

Official versions

 * "Waterloo" (English version)
 * "Waterloo" (English alternate version)
 * "Waterloo" (French version) – recorded 18 April 1974 in Paris, France
 * "Waterloo" (French/Swedish version) – overdubs of French and Swedish versions
 * "Waterloo" (German version)
 * "Waterloo" (Swedish version)

Critical reception
Cash Box said that this "is not a brash rocker, it's just solid rock with a very competent lady up front." Record World said that "Napoleon's downfall shall be this act's victory."

Harry Witchel, physiologist and music expert at the University of Bristol, named "Waterloo" the quintessential Eurovision song.

In 2017, Billboard ranked the song number 9 on their list of the 15 greatest ABBA songs, and in 2021, Rolling Stone ranked the song number 10 on their list of the 25 greatest ABBA songs.

Commercial performance
The song shot to No. 1 in the UK and stayed there for two weeks, becoming the first of the band's nine UK No. 1's, and the 16th biggest selling single of the year in the UK. It also topped the charts in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, West Germany, Ireland, Norway, South Africa, and Switzerland, while reaching the Top 3 in Austria, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and ABBA's native Sweden. (The song was immensely popular in Sweden, but did not reach No. 1 there due to Sweden having a combined Album and Singles Chart at the time: at the peak of the song's popularity, its Swedish and English versions reached No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, while the No. 1 spot was held by the album Waterloo.) The song also spent 11 weeks on Svensktoppen (24 March – 2 June 1974), including 7 weeks at No. 1.

As of September 2021, it is ABBA's eleventh-biggest song in the UK, including both pure sales and digital streams.

Unlike other Eurovision-winning tunes, the song's appeal transcended Europe: "Waterloo" also reached the Top 10 in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Rhodesia, and the United States (peaking at No. 6, their third-highest-charting US hit after No. 1 "Dancing Queen" and No. 3 "Take a Chance on Me"). The Waterloo album performed similarly well in Europe, although in the US it failed to match the success of the single.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
"Waterloo" is featured in the 2018 film Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again performed by Hugh Skinner –as Young Harry– and Lily James –as Young Donna–. This version was released on 1 June 2018 as the second single from the Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again: The Movie Soundtrack album, by Capitol and Polydor Records. It was produced by Benny Andersson.

Other cover versions

 * In 1986, Doctor and the Medics covered the song, reaching number 45 in the UK charts; Roy Wood, the lead singer and writer of "See My Baby Jive" performed saxophone and backing vocals.
 * In 2018, Cher covered the song on her ABBA covers album Dancing Queen. During her Here We Go Again Tour she performed "Waterloo" together with "SOS" and "Fernando". On 31 October 2018, "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" and "Take Me Home" were cut from her Classic Cher concert residency and "Waterloo", "SOS" and "Fernando" were added. On 18 September 2019, Cher also performed "Waterloo" at the season 14 finale of America's Got Talent, to promote the album and her Here We Go Again Tour.

Live cover performances

 * The song is featured in the encore of the musical Mamma Mia!. The song does not have a context or a meaning. It is just performed as a musical number in which members of the audience are encouraged to get up off their seats and sing, dance and clap along.
 * The song is performed by the cast over the closing credits of the film Mamma Mia!, but is not featured on the official soundtrack.
 * The song is also performed in the sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, by Hugh Skinner and Lily James.

Appearances in other media

 * ABBA perform parts of the song live in the 1977 film ABBA: The Movie.
 * The Australian film Muriel's Wedding (1994), features "Waterloo" in a pivotal scene in which lead Toni Collette bonds with the character played by Rachel Griffiths. The film's soundtrack, featuring five ABBA tracks, is widely regarded as having helped to fuel the revival of popular interest in ABBA's music in the mid-1990s.
 * "Waterloo" features prominently in the 2015 science-fiction film The Martian. The song plays as the film's lead, played by Matt Damon, works to ready his launch vehicle for a last-chance escape from Mars.
 * "Here I Go Again", the 11th episode of the third season of Legends of Tomorrow (19 February 2018), begins in medias res, with the titular time-traveling team having apparently just restored a time-transplanted Napoleon from the 1970s, where he had come into possession of a copy of the record. The song is also stuck in the head of one member of the team, until he erases his own memory to get it out.
 * In "Mother Simpson", the eighth episode of the seventh season of The Simpsons, Mr. Burns plays "Ride of the Valkyries" from a tank about to storm the Simpson home, but the song is cut-off and "Waterloo" is played, to which Smithers apologizes, advising he "must have accidentally taped over that".

title: Waterloo (song)


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User talk:70.23.51.18

December 2019
Hello, I'm Anboersma. I wanted to let you know that one or more of your recent contributions to Bret Stephens have been undone because they did not appear constructive. If you would like to experiment, please use the sandbox. If you have any questions, you can ask for assistance at the help desk. Thanks. Anboersma (talk) 16:52, 28 December 2019 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: User talk:70.23.51.18


text: User talk:81.241.0.186

title: User talk:81.241.0.186


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Rincon Mountains

The Rincon Mountains (O'odham: Cew Doʼag) are a significant mountain range east of Tucson, Pima County, Arizona, in the United States. The Rincon Mountains are one of five mountain ranges surrounding the Tucson valley. The other ranges include the most prominent, the Santa Catalina Mountains to the north, the Santa Rita Mountains to the south, the Tucson Mountains to the west, and the Tortolita Mountains to the northwest. Redington Pass separates the Rincon Mountains from the Santa Catalina Mountains. The Rincon Mountains are generally less rugged than the Santa Catalina Mountains and Santa Rita Mountains. The Rincon Mountains are also included in the Madrean sky island mountain ranges of southeast Arizona, extreme southwest New Mexico, and northern Sonora Mexico.

Rincón is Spanish for corner, denoting the primary shape of the mountain range. Mica Mountain (8,664 feet), the high-point of the Rincons forms the apex, with Rincon Peak (8,482 feet) forming the southern point, and Tanque Verde Peak (7,049 feet) forming the western point of the corner. The interior of the corner is Rincon Valley (south and west of Mica Mountain), primarily former ranchland currently being converted to tract housing. Colossal Cave county park, a limestone cave and popular destination, is located on the east end of the Rincon Valley, north of the community of Vail.

East of the Rincons are the Little Rincon Mountains. Between these two ranges is Happy Valley, a popular destination for locals for camping, hunting, and off-roading. Farther east is the San Pedro River of the San Pedro Valley, a holocene paleontology region.

South of the Rincon Mountains, beyond Rincon Valley is the Cienega Creek and Interstate 10.

Most of the Rincon Mountains are within Saguaro National Park, or in the Rincon Mountain Wilderness, 32.24722°N, -110.46722°W, of the Coronado National Forest.

Trails
The majority of the range is off-limits to motorized & bicycle travel. The mountains can be accessed on foot or horseback by the following routes:
 * East Side
 * Turkey Creek Trail
 * Miller Creek Trail
 * North Side
 * Italian Ranch (Italian Springs) Trail
 * Espiritu Creek Trail (inaccessible - dense overgrowth)
 * West Side
 * Douglas Springs Trail
 * Tanque Verde Ridge Trail
 * South Side
 * Madrona/Manning Camp Trail (inaccessible - trailhead located on private land)

The Arizona Trail passes through the Rincons, entering from the north by the Italian Spring trail, and southwest by the Quilter Trail

title: Rincon Mountains


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Category:Hate crimes

A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) in a certain social group or race.

title: Category:Hate crimes


text: User talk:24.17.142.88

title: User talk:24.17.142.88


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1969 Norwegian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Norway on 7 and 8 September 1969. Although the Labour Party remained the largest party, winning 74 of the 150 seats, the coalition of right-of-centre parties won 76 seats and retained power. The closeness of the result and fears of the two blocs winning an equal number of seats led to the number of seats being increased to an odd number for the next elections.

title: 1969 Norwegian parliamentary election


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Talk:Branch stacking

untitled
Oh dear, we have opened a can of worms here, haven't we comrades? OK, I will abstain from any further comments about Kim (no relation) Carr and the Anstey branch if the SL editors exercise similar restraint. We don't want this article to reflect more badly on the ALP than the facts merit, now do we? Adam 01:17, 25 July 2005 (UTC) Interesting to note Andrew Murray, Democrats windbag has called for the criminalisation of branch stacking, maybe we should something about that. Newshounder 03:15, 25 July 2005 (UTC)

That would be an unwarranted interference by the state in the internal affairs of voluntary associations. The state does have an interest in the financial probity of political parties which get public funding (see the Pauline Hanson fraud case), but beyond that these are not matters of public interest. Adam 05:20, 25 July 2005 (UTC)

There is a Conference paper on the subject of branch stacking delivered at the ANU in 2000 that claims it is widely practiced in the Victorian ALP and is largely ethnic.

The paper may be downloaded at http://apsa2000.anu.edu.au/confpapers/Downloadingpapers.htm from the list of refereed papers under Allan, Lyle (ANZ politics stream), The big branch stack. Recruitment strategies and the influence of ethnic groups and factions in the Victorian ALP.

Ṭ==other parties (other than alp)== With only a small amount of imagination (and a slight grasp of human pscychology) would indicate that of course all political parties/unions etc (in fact whereever political behaviour applies) branch stacking occurs. Joan Gos 05:36, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

This is an evidence-based encyclopaedia, not an imagination-based one. Adam 05:48, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

Surely youre not saying that in all other ausrtralian political parties a form of leninist centrism obtains? Where everyone is both publically and privately at one with the leadership?Joan Gos 05:53, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

Well I would be grateful if someone could show me evidence of factions in ALP? Things such as times of meetings, memberships lists, minutes of meetings, apologies etc. They are just convenient journalistic cliches to describe constantly changing allegiances. Adam asserts that they exist --but no evidence is forthcoming.Lentisco 06:00, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

That is quite untrue. In the ALP the factions are formal organisations with secretaries, bank accounts, membership lists etc etc. This fact is widely known and any google for Socialist Left or Labor Unity will confirm it. Adam 06:16, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

 * I was at Queensland Labor Party state conference last weekend. I was there with the support of a faction.  My faction competed with others to get its candidates elected to party positions, and exhibited a highly disciplined, systemised approach to winning the necessary ballots and gaining the necessary votes.  The policy positions of the conference were negotiated through leaders of the three factions. Questions of both party rules and party policy were decided along factional lines.  Three delegates out of 300 had no affiliation of any kind to any faction. Slac speak up! 06:13, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

Anhyway this is not an article about factions, it is about branch stacking. Branch stacking is a well-known fact in the ALP, and also exists in the Liberal Party (at least one Liberal branch was dissolved earlier this year after being stacked during a state preselection). I want to see some EVIDENCE that branch stacking takes place in the Greens or the Democrats. Until such evidence appears, I will delete this unsourced assertion. Adam 06:19, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

The phrase The policy positions of the conference were negotiated through leaders of the three factions says it all really. The phrases  this fact is widely known and well-known fact arent evidence and dont really convince me of their actuality. But you two alp apparatchiks Adam and Slac seem to be convinced-and thats the main thing isnt it? Lentisco 06:29, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

If are ALP apparatchiks you might do us the courtesy of acknowledging that we know something about the ALP. We are stating, we are admitting, that there are factions and branch-stacking in the ALP, OK? That is not the issue. The issus is the statement about "other parties." If you want the article to refer to '"other parties" then you must produce some evidence for that reference. Adam 06:34, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

 * Adam Carr said: "I don't believe this - branch stacking is a by-product of factions, and only the ALP and the Libs have factions". I would also like to add that while branch stacking is not a by-product of the existance of safe seats for a political party, it would be bizarre for such activity to occur in the absense of safe seats. Even in the Tasmanian Senate the Greens do not have a safe seat as Christine Milne just snuck in on preferences at the 2004 election. The Greens and the Democrats have no safe seats, they have no factions. If someone has seen branch stacking mentioned in Crikey in regards to either of these parties, or any 'other' parties in Australia, first make sure it isn't a Christian Kerr fantasy (he is unduly critical of all minor parties except the DLP), then cite the source from the Crikey archives.

 * What people have been asserting here is, simply, that branch stacking is human political nature, therefore it occurs everywhere. That claim by itself requires a source, you can't just assume that as many editors to this page have. Look at the causes or contributing factors towards the practice of branch stacking, which are factions and to a lesser extent safe seats. Grumpyyoungman01 10:01, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

A lot of the material and a list of references have been removed. Is this necessary? There is no material about Victoria on the present article. Nor is there any history. I suspect this is vandalism by the staff of a Victorian Labor Unity MP.

Some material from Victoria ought to be present. The list of references ought to be present. The article as it presently stands is next to useless to anyone who wants to do further research in the area. Also there are equivalents in other countries, but nothing like the practice in Australia. Most of the research was done in the Journal People and Place. This journal is disliked by certain Labor Unity MPs from the Right. That all references to this journal, which is edited by the academic Birrell at Monash, have been removed looks very suspicious. Perhaps because Birrell is related to a former Liberal Minister in Victoria. Also the definition looks like some material in a book by an academic named McGrath, yet it has not been referenced and McGrath's works have been deleted also. Again very suspicious.121.214.57.15 (talk) 09:53, 17 February 2010 (UTC)

The vandalism of this article is not caused by the ALP Right. It is the work of a West Australian editor and WP administrator, possibly an ALP member, who has an apparent dislike of an unimportant Victorian who never submitted his PhD thesis (and supervisors do that when they think the thesis will most likely be failed), as well as Bob Birrell and Amy McGrath. He should have declared his conflict of interest. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.219.56.98 (talk) 15:13, 31 December 2012 (UTC)

Other names
What is branch stacking called in other countries?

Especially USA, UK.

MBG02 (talk) 01:55, 12 October 2021 (UTC)

More info
Point3...;
 * • Recruiting members for the express purpose of influencing the outcome of a ballot within the party.

Seems (to me) like normal (admin) operations… of any organisation or group. (Clubs, Organisations, Parties, are formed with a [supposed] agreed set of values or interests).

Perhaps a bit of explanation of why stacking is “necessary”... can't the head honcho of any party designate who gets pre-selected?

MBG02 (talk) 02:06, 12 October 2021 (UTC)

Suggested addition to disambiguation page for 'The Clan'
In this article on 'branch stacking' there is a mention of a WhatsApp group called 'The Clan'. Shouldn't there be a reference to it (link) on the disambiguation page for 'The Clan'? (apologies if this is not the correct method for making this suggestion - I'm still learning my way around.) Dccharron (talk) 09:02, 31 January 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Branch stacking