"Happy New Year" is a song by Swedish group ABBA from their 1980 album Super Trouper, with lead vocals by Agnetha Fältskog. It originally had a very limited release as a single in December of that year. The song's working title was "Daddy Don't Get Drunk on Christmas Day".
The Spanish-language version of the song, "Felicidad", was released in 1980 in Spanish-speaking territories. The single reportedly charted in the top 5 in Argentina and was included on the South American versions of the Super Trouper album. It was first released on CD as part of the 1994 Polydor US compilation Más ABBA Oro, and in 1999 on the expanded re-release of ABBA Oro: Grandes Éxitos.
In 1999, the English version of the song was re-released for the new millennium, and charted at number 27 in Sweden, number 15 in the Netherlands and number 75 in Germany. In 2008, it was released again in several countries, and charted at number 4 in Sweden, number 6 in Norway and number 25 in Denmark. It re-entered the Swedish and Norwegian charts in 2009 at number 5 in both charts and number 8 in the Netherlands in 2011. It has since gone on to regularly chart in some countries upon the turn of the new year and is regularly played at the same time such as Vietnam.
In December 2011, a silver glitter vinyl single limited to 500 copies was released, including the songs "Happy New Year" and "The Way Old Friends Do". The edition was available exclusively from the official ABBA site and the ABBA fan site. It was sold out within a day of the release being announced.
Upon the release of ABBA: The 40th Anniversary Singles Box Set on 5 May 2014, an alternate mix of "Andante, Andante" was revealed to have been used on the B-side of the single in the box set instead of the original album version. In 2022, it was the 32nd top best selling vinyl single in the UK behind Open the Floodgates by the Smile.
The song was covered by the A-Teens, and released as a single in 1999. The single was released to celebrate the arrival of the new millennium: thus, the last line in the song's third verse is altered to "in the end of ninety-nine", as opposed to the original's "in the end of eighty-nine". It reached number 4 on the Swedish charts, becoming the band's fourth consecutive top ten in the country and earning a Gold certification weeks after its release. The single was only released in selected countries, including Chile, after their visit there in February 2000. A music video was made to support the single's release.
To download the easy alphanotes sheet music, look here.
Enjoy!
Lyrics:
No more champagne
And the fireworks are through
Here we are, me and you
Feeling lost and feeling blue
It's the end of the party
And the morning seems so grey
So unlike yesterday
Now's the time for us to say...
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbour is a friend
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try
If we don't we might as well lay down and die
You and I
Sometimes I see
How the brave new world arrives
And I see how it thrives
In the ashes of our lives
Oh yes, man is a fool
And he thinks he'll be okay
Dragging on, feet of clay
Never knowing he's astray
Keeps on going anyway...
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbour is a friend
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try
If we don't we might as well lay down and die
You and I
Seems to me now
That the dreams we had before
Are all dead, nothing more
Than confetti on the floor
It's the end of a decade
In another ten years time
Who can say what we'll find
What lies waiting down the line
In the end of eighty-nine...
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbour is a friend
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try
If we don't we might as well lay down and die
You and I.
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