| "Fernando" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Norwegian picture sleeve | ||||
| Single byAnni-Frid Lyngstad | ||||
| from the albumFrida ensam | ||||
| Language | Swedish | |||
| B-side | "Ett liv i solen" | |||
| Released | January 1976 (1976-01) | |||
| Length | 4:14 | |||
| Label | Polar Music | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producers |
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| Anni-Frid Lyngstad singles chronology | ||||
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| Audio video | ||||
| "Fernando" (Swedish version) onYouTube | ||||
| "Fernando" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Scandinavian variant of standard artwork | ||||
| Single byABBA | ||||
| from the albumGreatest Hits | ||||
| B-side |
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| Released |
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| Recorded | 4 September 1975 | |||
| Studio | Metronome | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:15 | |||
| Label | ||||
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| Producers |
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| ABBA singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Fernando" onYouTube | ||||
"Fernando" is a song written byABBA membersBenny Andersson andBjörn Ulvaeus, and their managerStikkan Anderson. It was originally recorded for their fellow group memberAnni-Frid Lyngstad, who included it on her second studio albumFrida ensam (1975). Anderson wrote the Swedish lyrics to Lyngstad's version. It was released in January 1976 viaPolar Music as a radio-only single in Sweden and a physical release in Norway.
In 1976, ABBA would later re-record "Fernando", with re-written English lyrics provided by Ulvaeus. This version was released on 12 March 1976, initially as a standalone single, but was later included on re-issues of their 1975 compilation albumGreatest Hits, as well as the Australasian version of their fourth studio albumArrival (1976). It is also included onABBA Gold.
Both versions of "Fernando" would become major successes in their own right. Lyngstad's Swedish version spent nine weeks atop the importantSvensktoppen radio chart, and was voted the favorite song of the year. ABBA's English version would become one of their best-selling hits of all time, selling six million copies alone in 1976,[4] and most notably spent a then record breaking 14 weeks atop the AustralianKent Music Report chart. It is one of fewer than fortysingles to havesold at least 10 million physical copies worldwide.
"Fernando" was not originally released as an ABBA song but as a solo single by band memberAnni-Frid Lyngstad. It was featured on her No. 1 Swedish solo albumFrida ensam (1975). The song was composed byBenny Andersson andBjörn Ulvaeus and carried the working title of "Tango". Preparations for recording began in August 1975. The writers made last-minute changes to the title before recording.[5] The name "Fernando" was inspired by a bartender of that name who worked at a club the band frequented in Stockholm, Sweden. The beach and campfire setting for the music video was inspired by the band after visiting Ayr Beach in Scotland.
For ABBA's version of "Fernando", Anni-Frid Lyngstad is the sole vocalist for approximately the first minute of the finished recording. Thereafter, she is joined by Agnetha Fältskog who sings with her in harmony for the rest of the song.
The original Swedish-language version's lyrics were written by ABBA's managerStig Anderson, and differ substantially from the English-language version. In the original, the narrator tries to console the heartbroken Fernando, who has lost his great love.
The English version, with completely different lyrics byBjörn Ulvaeus, presents a vision of nostalgia for two veterans reminiscing in old age about a long-ago battle in which they participated.[6] "I wrote all the songs as little stories. 'Fernando' was about two old freedom-fighters from theMexican Revolution. I was lying outside one summer night, looking at the stars and it suddenly came to me".[7] "I knew that the title 'Fernando' had to be there, and after pondering a while, I had this vivid image in my mind of two old and scarred revolutionaries in Mexico sitting outside at night talking about old memories".[7]
The B-side to "Fernando" was the song "Hey, Hey, Helen", a track from the group'sself-titled third studio album (1975), although in some countries other tracks from the album were used instead, namely "Tropical Loveland", "Rock Me" or "Dance (While the Music Still Goes On)".
The title and rhythm of the song made it an obvious choice for inclusion on ABBA's Spanish album,Gracias Por La Música. The lyrics were translated into Spanish by Mary McCluskey and recorded at Polar Music Studio on 3 January 1980. The song was released as a promotional single in Spain.
"Fernando" was released in March 1976 and became one of ABBA's best-selling singles, topping the charts in at least 13 countries, and selling over 10 million copies worldwide.[8] It was the longest-running No. 1 in Australian history (spending 14 weeks at the top and 40 weeks on the chart), and remained so for over 40 years, until it was surpassed byEd Sheeran's "Shape of You", which achieved 15 weeks at No. 1 in May 2017.[9][10] Prior to 1997, it was Australia's highest-selling single.[11] "Fernando" also reached the top of the charts in Austria, Belgium, France, West Germany, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa and Switzerland. It was also a Top 5 hit in ABBA's native Sweden (although Lyngstad's version was No. 1 on Sweden's radio chart for nine weeks), Finland, Norway, Spain, Canada andRhodesia.[citation needed]
The track became ABBA's fourth Top 20 hit on the U.S.Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 13.[12] It also reached No. 1 on theBillboard Adult Contemporary chart, the first of two chart-toppers for ABBA on this chart (the second being "The Winner Takes It All"). The song remains an airplay staple on American radio stations specializing in theMOR,adult standards andeasy listening formats.Record World called the song "a classic!"[13]
"Fernando" was the fourth-biggest single of 1976 in the UK.[14] It spent 10 weeks in the UK Top 10 (more than any other ABBA single),[15] and was also the second of three consecutive UK No. 1 singles for ABBA, after "Mamma Mia" and before "Dancing Queen".[16] As of September 2021, it is ABBA's sixth-biggest song in the UK with 903,000 chart sales (pure sales and digital streams).[17]
In Portugal the single sold 80,000 copies;[18] in France it went to No. 1 and sold 850,000 copies.[19]
The song was also chosen as the "Best Studio Recording of 1975", ABBA's first international prize.[citation needed]
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Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
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| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | — | 720,000[54] |
| Austria | — | 2,000[55] |
| Brazil | — | 200,000[56] |
| Canada (Music Canada)[57] | Gold | 75,000^ |
| France (SNEP)[58] | Gold | 500,000* |
| Germany (BVMI)[60] | Gold | 600,000[59] |
| Ireland (IRMA)[61] | Gold | 7,500[61] |
| Kenya | — | 10,000[62] |
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[63] | Gold | 15,000‡ |
| Portugal | — | 80,000[64] |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[66] | Gold | 1,000,000[65] |
| Yugoslavia[67] | Gold | 100,000[67] |
| Summaries | ||
| Worldwide | — | 10,000,000[68] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
| "Fernando" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byCher | ||||
| from the albumMamma Mia! Here We Go Again: The Movie Soundtrack andDancing Queen | ||||
| Released | 21 June 2018 | |||
| Recorded | 2017 | |||
| Studio | Mono Music Studios (Stockholm, Sweden)[69] | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 3:59 | |||
| Label |
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| Songwriters | ||||
| Producer | Benny Andersson | |||
| Cher singles chronology | ||||
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| Licensed audio | ||||
| "Cher, Andy Garcia - Fernando (Audio)" onYouTube | ||||
| Licensed audio | ||||
| "Cher - Fernando [Official HD Audio]" onYouTube | ||||
American singer and actressCher recorded "Fernando," which was released as the third single from themovie soundtrack ofMamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Her version was released on 21 June 2018, byCapitol andPolydor Records.[70] Produced by Benny Andersson, the song debuted on theBillboardAdult Contemporary chart in July 2018 at number 22. This cover version features background vocals by actorAndy Garcia and also references theMexico–Guatemala conflict of 1959, part of which had been seen by Cher's character, Ruby Sheridan, Donna's mother, along with her long lost love, Fernando Cienfuegos.[71] Cher's solo cover version without background vocals by García appears on her 2018 ABBA tribute albumDancing Queen.[72][73][74]
Writing forIdolator, Mike Wass felt that, in contrast to Cher's version of "Mamma Mia", which sounds "so playful and well-intentioned that it's impossible to resist," "Fernando" sounds "disarmingly faithful to the original, which is probably due to the fact it was co-produced by ABBA's own Benny Andersson. It has a warm, live feel that was so peculiar to ABBA's '70s fare and that sound really suits our heroine's soaring vocals."[75]
Cher performed "Fernando" at theCinemaCon 2018 to promote theMamma Mia! Here We Go Again film.[76] During herHere We Go Again Tour she also performs the song together with "Waterloo" and "SOS".[77] On 31 October 2018 "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" and "Take Me Home" were cut from herClassic Cherconcert residency and "Waterloo", "SOS" and "Fernando" were added.[78]
| Chart (2018) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| CIS Airplay (TopHit)[79] | 342 |
| Hungary (Single Top 40)[80] | 26 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[81] | 92 |
| USAdult Contemporary (Billboard)[82] | 22 |
| Scotland Singles (OCC)[83] | 24 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[84] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
...the cuts that bear the greatest schlager influences, songs like "Chiquitita" and "Fernando" and "I Have a Dream
That (initial) lyric is so banal and I didn't like it...what does Fernando tell me? I was in my summerhouse one starry evening...I thought of two old comrades from some guerrilla war in Mexico who would be sitting in the porch and reminiscing about...what it is all about. Total fiction.
The disc sold over a million in Britain, subsequently 6 million globally
| Ring Ring | |
|---|---|
| Waterloo | |
| ABBA | |
| Greatest Hits |
|
| Arrival | |
| ABBA: The Album | |
| Voulez-Vous | |
| Greatest Hits Vol. 2 | |
| Super Trouper | |
| The Visitors | |
| The Singles: The First Ten Years | |
| Voyage | |
| Other songs | |
