Head over Heels (ABBA song)

"Head Over Heels"
Single by ABBA
from the album The Visitors
B-side"The Visitors"
Released5 February 1982 (1982-02-05)[1]
Recorded2 September 1981
StudioPolar Music Studios
Genre
Length3:45
LabelPolar Music
Songwriters
Producers
  • Benny Andersson
  • Björn Ulvaeus
ABBA singles chronology
"When All Is Said and Done"
(1981) 		"Head Over Heels"
(1982) 		"The Visitors"
(1982)
Music video
"Head Over Heels" on YouTube

"Head Over Heels" is a song recorded by the Swedish recording group ABBA for their eighth studio album The Visitors. With lead vocals provided by Agnetha Fältskog, it was released as the album's third overall single on 5 February 1982 via Polar Music. Unlike the majority of The Visitors, "Head over Heels" features a more lighthearted sound that is influenced by tango music, and which has a satirical undertone.[3] The song was not released in the United States and Canada, where its B-side, "The Visitors", was chosen instead.

It received mixed reviews from music critics, and was seen as a weaker effort than usual by the group. It was also not a major chart success, reaching the top ten only in Austria, Belgium, and the Netherlands. In the United Kingdom, "Head over Heels" broke the group's record of eighteen consecutive top ten hits, peaking at number 25 on the UK singles chart. The song's music video was the last by the group to be directed by Lasse Hallström.

"Head over Heels" is featured on the compilation More ABBA Gold: More ABBA Hits.

Background

"Head Over Heels", whose working title was "Tango", was written and composed by both Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. Agnetha Fältskog sang the lead vocals, singing about her "very good friend", played in the music video by Anni-Frid Lyngstad, an overactive high-society woman who rushes through the shops, with her hapless and exhausted husband (played by Ulvaeus) following behind and being forced to carry the shopping bags. The song's video, filmed on 21 January 1982,[4] was the group's final clip directed by long-time collaborator Lasse Hallström, who also cameos as a man the woman bumps into while running around the city.

As with the previous single "One of Us", Epic Records in the UK used a different picture sleeve from the standard one used in most countries. In the United States the single was released with the sides switched, "The Visitors" being the A-side.

The sheet music has been released,[5] and the song has been choreographed for dance numbers.[6][7]

Critical reception

"Head over Heels" received mixed-to-positive reviews from music reviewers. Record Mirror criticized the single as a "sadly unremarkable effort [...] with a bit of the old quavering vocal."[8] Reviewing for Smash Hits, Red Starr pejoratively described "Head over Heels" as a "singalongtango time for mums and dads" and "not particularly good for [the group]", but still praised it as being "strong enough to sound like you've known it for ages."[9] By contrast, Classic Pop's Felix Rowe, in a retrospective review for The Visitors, positively compared the single to the work of The Human League, "with its bright synth brass stabs, snappy, tight drums and an infectiously groovy bassline."[10] Stefano Fiori for Italian magazine Ondarock described "Head over Heels" as "a sort of synth-tango with a lavish chorus."[11] "Head over Heels" was at number 19 in The Guardian's ranking of the group's UK singles.[12]

Chart reception

"Head Over Heels" was released as the group's popularity was starting to decline, and became ABBA's worst selling single since "Money, Money, Money", six years earlier.[13] It peaked at number 25 on the UK Singles Chart, ending a run of 18 consecutive Top 10 hits (from "SOS" in October 1975 to "One of Us" in December 1981). This 18-hit run had equalled that of The Beatles, who had consecutive Top 10 hits from 1964 (with "A Hard Day's Night") to 1976 (with "Yesterday"), broken by "Back in the U.S.S.R.". Although "Head Over Heels" did experience Top 10 success in Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria and France, by this time, ABBA's chart domination was all but over, and the group effectively disbanded a year later. The song was excluded from their retrospective double LP The Singles: The First Ten Years, which was released in late 1982.

Music video

ABBA filmed a video for Head Over Heels in Stockholm which was directed by Lasse Hallström. It is the group's only music video where the director makes an appearance; Hallström is the pedestrian whom Frida bumps into on the street. The action in the video is taken directly from the text; where Frida portrays a woman who rushes through shops with her tired husband in tow (played by Ulvaeus).

Personnel

Track listings and formats

Standard 7-inch single[14]

  1. "Head Over Heels" – 3:45
  2. "The Visitors" – 5:49

Mexican 7-inch single[15]

  1. "Head Over Heels" (Cabeza sobre talones) – 3:45
  2. "No Hay a Quien Culpar" (Spanish version of "When All Is Said and Done") – 3:20

Japanese 7-inch single[16]

  1. "Head Over Heels" – 3:45
  2. "Lay All Your Love on Me" – 4:34

Charts

References

  1. ^ "ABBA – Head over Heels / The Visitors – Epic – UK – EPC A2037". 45cat.com. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  2. ^ Guardian Staff (17 November 2007). "1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die: Artists beginning with A". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 November 2025. And "Head Over Heels" proved [Abba] were still capable of buoyant pop, despite their maudlin mood.
  3. ^ "Making ABBA: The Visitors". Classic Pop. 3 November 2025. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  4. ^ ABBA on Facebook Watch, retrieved 26 April 2020
  5. ^ "Head over Heels (ABBA)". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  6. ^ "Big Dave – Leicestershire: Awesome Linedancing". March 2007. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  7. ^ "Bear City Dancers: Head over Heels". Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  8. ^ "Singles – The Others". Record Mirror. London, United Kingdom: Spotlight Publications. 13 February 1982. p. 9. ISSN 0144-5804.
  9. ^ Starr, Red (18 February – 3 March 1982). "Singles". Smash Hits. Vol. 4, no. 4. EMAP National Publications. p. 18.
  10. ^ Rowe, Felix (31 October 2024). "Classic Album: ABBA – The Visitors". Classic Pop. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  11. ^ "ABBA – Orgoglio e pregiudizio del pop" [ABBA – Pride and Prejudice of Pop]. Ondarock (in Italian). Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  12. ^ Elan, Priya; Hann, Michael; Jonze, Tim; Harris, John; Robinson, Peter; Needham, Alex; Simpson, Dave; Snapes, Laura (29 June 2018). "All Abba's UK singles – ranked!". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  13. ^ Oldham, A, Calder, T & Irvin, C: "ABBA: The Name of the Game", page 185. Sidgwick & Jackson, 1995
  14. ^ Head Over Heels / The Visitors (Scandinavian 7-inch single sleeve). ABBA. Polar Music. 1982. POS 1296.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  15. ^ Head Over Heels / No Hay A Quien Culpar (Mexican 7-inch single sleeve). ABBA. RCA Victor. 1982. SP-5678.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  16. ^ Head Over Heels (Japanese 7-inch single sleeve). ABBA. Discomate Records. 1982. DSP-218.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  17. ^ "ABBA – Head over Heels" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  18. ^ "ABBA – Head over Heels" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  19. ^ "Europarade: De Iijst van 1982-12". hitnoteringen.nl. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
  20. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – ABBA". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  21. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – ABBA" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  22. ^ "ABBA – Head over Heels" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  23. ^ "ABBA Songs and Albums | Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  24. ^ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts (West Germany)" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. To see the peak chart position, click 'TITEL VON', followed by the artist's name. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  25. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1982 – Singles" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  26. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1982" (in Dutch). Dutch Charts. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
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