“Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” by ABBA
“Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” is a song performed by the famous Swedish pop group ABBA. In the song, the narrator (Agnetha Fältskog) talks about the life of a young woman who lives a very lonely life. The woman, who dislikes her loneliness, spends her life longing for a companion to make her life more meaningful and pleasant. She even goes on to compare her life to the seemingly happy lives of movie stars and laments at the sharp contrast between hers and theirs.
Simply put, the song is about a lonely woman who not only dreads her loneliness but also longs for love.
Facts about “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)”
The song was co-written by ABBA members Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. The pair also produced it.
The 2nd of October, 1979 was this classic’s official release date. It was a single from the band’s 1979 compilation album titled “Greatest Hits Vol. 2.” The song can also be found on another compilation album “Gold: Greatest Hits“. “Gold” was released on September 21, 1992 and sold in excess of 30 million copies globally. Owing to this, it is one of the best-selling albums ever released.
ABBA member Agnetha Fältskog sang the lead vocals on the song.
The song’s initial title was “Been and Gone and Done It”. But for some reason the band later changed it to its current title.
This song, which is one of ABBA’s most successful songs, reached number 1 in several countries including Switzerland, Belgium and France. On the UK Singles Chart, it peaked at number 3.
This classic was ABBA’s biggest hit in Japan, where it peaked at number 17.
The BBC television sitcom “Gimme Gimme Gimme” was inspired by this song. In addition to that, the sitcom’s theme music is a cover of this song.
The song was later recorded in Spanish and given the title “¡Dame! ¡Dame! ¡Dame!”. This version was featured in ABBA’s 1980 Spanish-language studio album titled “Gracias Por La Música“.
What musical genre is “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)”?
It is a disco song.
Which artists have covered “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!”?
American singer and songwriter Madonna heavily sampled this song on her 2005 hit single “Hung Up“. Madonna reportedly personally wrote to the writers of the song (Andersson and Ulvaeus) for permission to use the song. Lyrically, Madonna’s “Hung Up” has a theme very similar to this ABBA classic.
For your information, numerous artists often contact ABBA to sample their songs, however, ABBA often doesn’t grant permission. But according to Andersson, when Madonna approached them to sample the song, they said “yes” because they admired her. Speaking with the BBC, Madonna said Andersson and Ulvaeus only allowed her to use the song only after she agreed to give them a significant percentage of the revenue the song made from airplays and sales.
This was the second ABBA song to have been sampled. The first was their 1977 hit “The Name of the Game”. Said song was sampled by the American hip hop group Fugees on their 1996 song “Rumble in the Jungle”.
Why doesnt ABBA still make songs.
Oh, I assure you – they still do!
Go cry!
They eventually run out of ideas and inspiration
Its sad, I’m sure it would be nice to hear new music from them.
Hallo. Ich glaube, es gibt mehrere Gründe, weshalb ABBA nicht immer noch Songs produziert. Wahrscheinlich will niemand mehr was von ihnen hören, was auch verständlich ist. Zum anderen sind sie so alt wie Braunkohle. Um ehrlich zu sein: Ich habe die Schnauze voll von ABBA und deren schreckliche Musik. Was wollten die überhaupt damit erreichen? Naja, der ESC hat immer die schlechtesten Lieder und Sänger an die Weltspitze befördert, bei ABBA haben sie sich wieder selbst übertroffen – im schlechten Sinne. Ehrlich, ich könnte kotzen. Kann jetzt auch nicht weiter Gerechtigkeit wallen lassen, muss mich zur Kloschüssel begeben. Jemand anderes muss diese Menschenrechtsverletzer und Misshandler hinter Gitter bringen.