B-side "Lovelight" Format 7-inch single Length 5:26 | Released 16 January 1979 Genre Pop, europop | |
Recorded 13 December 1978 at Polar Music Studio | ||
"Chiquitita" (a Spanish term of endearment for a woman meaning "little one") is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released in January 1979 as the first single from the group's Voulez-Vous album. Agnetha Fältskog sang the lead vocals. Originally, the track "If It Wasn't for the Nights" was going to be the album's lead single, but after "Chiquitita" was completed those plans were abandoned, and it would remain an album track.
Contents
History
Many preliminary versions of "Chiquitita" exist. It had working titles of "Kålsupare", "3 Wise Guys", "Chiquitita Angelina" and "In The Arms of Rosalita". A revised version, which had a sound that was influenced by the Peruvian song "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" performed by Simon and Garfunkel, was recorded in December 1978 and released as a single in January 1979.
With the success of the English version, ABBA also recorded "Chiquitita" in Spanish by phonetics, and it was one of the featured tracks on the Spanish-language release Gracias Por La Música.
Reception
"Chiquitita" proved to be one of ABBA's biggest hits. It was featured in a 1979 UNICEF charity event, the Music for UNICEF Concert, broadcast worldwide from the United Nations General Assembly. As a direct result of this event, ABBA donated half of all royalties from the song to UNICEF. "Chiquitita" hit #1 in Belgium, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, Mexico, South Africa and Rhodesia, and was a Top 5 hit in ABBA's native Sweden, the United Kingdom (peaking at #2 in both countries where Blondie's "Heart of Glass" was occupying the top spot), Australia, Germany and Norway, making it the most successful single from the Voulez-Vous album in terms of global charts and one of the most famous charity songs ever. To this day, 50% of the proceeds from the song go to UNICEF in recognition of the "International Year of the Child" in 1979.
In the United Kingdom, "Chiquitita" debuted at #8 in the singles chart, making it the highest place début for any ABBA single release.
Music video
"Chiquitita" was one of the very few singles ABBA released without a custom-made video. Since then, on compilations of the group's videos, a contemporary TV performance of the song has been used. This clip was taped by the BBC for the show ABBA in Switzerland, broadcast across Europe at Easter 1979. ABBA is seen performing the song on a mountainside, with a snowman in the background. Throughout the clip, there was an obvious problem with the fan during filming, which affected Anni-Frid Lyngstad; her hair constantly flew in her face, and she was forced to keep moving it out of her eyes.