Honey, Honey

This article is about the ABBA song. For the Japanese manga and anime series by Eiko Mizuno, see Honey Honey no Suteki na Bouken.

"Honey, Honey"
Single by ABBA
from the album Waterloo
B-side	"King Kong Song"
Released	April, 1974
Format	Vinyl
Recorded	January, 1974
Genre	Pop, europop
Length	2:56
Writer(s)	Benny Andersson / Björn Ulvaeus / Stig Anderson
Producer	Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus
ABBA singles chronology
"Waterloo" (1974) "Honey, Honey" (1974) "Hasta Mañana" (1974)
Music sample "Honey, Honey (English version)"

"Honey, Honey" is a song by the Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released as the second single from their second studio album, Waterloo, after the success of the title track winning the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest.

History

"Honey, Honey" was written by Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Stig Anderson, with shared vocals by Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. As well as the English version, ABBA also recorded "Honey, Honey" in Swedish on January 30, 1974 at Metronome Studio, Stockholm.

This was the last official recording by the group in their own language, and was released as the B-side of the Swedish "Waterloo" single. In its English format, "Honey, Honey" was released with "King Kong Song" as the B-side.

Reception

"Honey, Honey" was released in several European countries, the United States, Australia & New Zealand, but not in the UK. ABBA's British record label, Epic Records, decided to release a remixed version of "Ring Ring". But this single only reached No.32, so, instead, a cover version of "Honey, Honey" was recorded by the act Sweet Dreams, featuring vocalist Polly Brown, promptly hitting the UK top 10.

"Honey, Honey" spent 4 months in the top 5 in West Germany and also reached the top 5 in Austria, Spain and Switzerland. In the United States, "Honey, Honey" was moderately successful compared to the group's later singles. It reached No.27 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts; the 1st ABBA single to reach the AC chart.

Tracklisting

1. A. "Honey, Honey"
2. B. "Dance (While The Music Still Goes On)"

Official versions

• "Honey, Honey" (English version)
• "Honey, Honey" (Swedish version)

Chart positions

Chart (1974)	Position
Australian Singles Chart	30
Austrian Singles Chart	4
Belgian Singles Chart	12
Canadian Singles Chart	19
Dutch Singles Chart	16
Finnish Singles Chart	11
German Singles Chart	2
Swiss Singles Chart	4
New Zealand Singles Chart	16
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	27
Chart (2008)	Position
Norwegian Singles Chart	16

Cover versions

• Tina Charles has recorded a version of this song.^{[citation needed]}
• The British single version of "Honey, Honey" was recorded by studio group Sweet Dreams and reached #10 UK and #14 in Ireland in 1974. In the U.S. the Sweet Dreams version debuted on the Hot 100 in Billboard two weeks prior to the ABBA original but ultimately lost out to the latter the peak of the Sweet Dreams version being #68. Both the Sweet Dreams and ABBA versions of "Honey, Honey" also charted concurrently in Germany with Sweet Dreams being the less successful with a #42 peak.
• Finnish singer Monika aka Monica Apselund wrote her own lyrics for her rendering of "Honey, Honey" featured on her 1975 album Monika; this version was remade by Johanna Raunio on her eponymous 1994 album.
• A Swedish country band called Nashville Train (which included some of ABBA's own backing band members) covered the song in 1977 on their album ABBA Our Way, released on the Polar Music label in Sweden.
• The song was covered on the 1995 New Zealand compilation Abbasalutely by indie band Loves Ugly Children.
• The 1999 compilation ABBA: A Tribute - The 25th Anniversary Celebration features a cover by Michael B. Tretow and his daughter Sofia. Michael Tretow was a recording engineer for ABBA during the group's career. This cover of the song is unique in that it features musical references to thirteen other ABBA songs interspersed within the melody.
• In 2001, a eurodance cover was recorded by the group Housecream.
• The song was covered as a duet by music artist John Klass and Singaporean actress Jamie Yeo.
• The song is sung in the first act of the Mamma Mia! musical by Sophie and her friends. Most of the lyrics are sung when Sophie is reading her mother's diary. Therefore, it is as if her mother wrote the lyrics in her diary. Also, the end of song reflects on how much Sophie wants to meet her father.
• The movie adaptation of Mamma Mia! features the song being sung by actress Amanda Seyfried (as Sophie), with actresses Ashley Lilley (as Ali) and Rachel McDowall (as Lisa) on backup vocals. This recording made no. 61 in the UK singles chart dated 2 August 2008, and no. 50 on the Australian singles charts. Released on download sales alone, it was credited to simply 'Original Cast Recording'.
• A hi-NRG/eurodance cover by Abbacadabra was released in the late 1990s through Almighty Records. It was most recently available on the 2008 compilation We Love ABBA: The Mamma Mia Dance Collection. On various P2P sharing sites, the song is often mistakenly labelled as being performed by the Swedish teen pop group A*Teens. An audio sample of the cover can be heard on the official Almighty Records website.

Appearances in other media

• Australian radio station 2GB's weekend rugby league sports show the Continuous Call Team use the song as a parody to Parramatta Eels player Fuifui Moimoi.