B-side "You Owe Me One" Length 3:45 | Format 7" single | |
Released 3 December 1982 (UK)
21 February 1983 (Worldwide) Recorded 2 – 4 August 1982 at Polar Music Studios Label Polar Music, Epic, Atlantic | ||
"Under Attack" is the last widely released single by Swedish pop group ABBA. It was originally featured as a track on the 1982 compilation album The Singles: The First Ten Years, but was released as a single the following year in most countries. However, in the United Kingdom it was released on 3 December 1982. "Under Attack" was ABBA's 28th single for Polar Music.
Contents
Background
Recording for "Under Attack" began between 2 and 4 August 1982 at Polar Music Studios, Stockholm. The group had originally intended to release a new studio album, but the stress of the working environment led them to indefinitely shelve the project and instead release a double-album compilation of their past singles. Since it was decided that there would be two new tracks on the compilation, ABBA set to work recording the songs. The two tracks that made it onto what became The Singles: The First Ten Years were "The Day Before You Came" and "Under Attack". The former was released as a single in October 1982. "Under Attack" contains fragments from two unreleased ABBA songs: "Just Like That" and "Rubber Ball Man", also known as "Under My Sun".
On 11 December 1982, ABBA performed "Under Attack" on the BBC's Late Late Breakfast Show, in what was their last collective performance.
Music video
A music video for "Under Attack" was filmed on 16 November 1982. Filmed in an empty warehouse, the video involves ABBA navigating their way through a room filled with red beacon lights. The video ends with the four members walking away in the distance, their backs to the camera, reaching the end of ABBA.
Reception
"Under Attack" was not a commercial success upon its release. ABBA's popularity was in decline and the two preceding singles ("Head over Heels" and "The Day Before You Came") had failed to reach No. 1 anywhere. Although a Top 5 hit in Belgium and the Netherlands, and a Top 20 single in a couple of other European charts, it did not become a major hit anywhere else. It peaked at No. 26 in the United Kingdom. In Australia, where the group's popularity only a few years earlier had rivalled that of The Beatles, "Under Attack" was a sad swan-song, only reaching No. 96 in the singles chart. "Under Attack" became ABBA's worst charting single since "So Long". After the single's release, it was decided that ABBA would take a "break"; however, they would not record as a group again and effectively disbanded.
Despite not being a commercial success, Rolling Stone magazine described the song as "the best thing they've done in three years." The song's dark lyrics seems to be about a stalker or an ex-lover.
"Under Attack" is featured in the musical theatre production Mamma Mia! but not in the film.