The song's production style was influenced by Phil Spector's " Wall of Sound": prior to recording "Ring Ring", engineer Michael B. Recording of the song commenced on 17 December 1973, with instrumental backing from Janne Schaffer (who came up with the main guitar and bass parts), Rutger Gunnarsson and Ola Brunkert. "Waterloo" was originally written with simultaneous rock music and jazz beats (unusual for an ABBA song). The original title of the song was "Honey Pie". "Waterloo" was written specifically to be entered into the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, after the group finished third with " Ring Ring" the previous year in the Swedish pre-selection contest, Melodifestivalen 1973. It received the same honour in a 14-country open vote in the run-up to the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 in Rotterdam, placing first above Loreen's " Euphoria" and Måns Zelmerlöw's " Heroes". Īt the 50th anniversary celebration of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005, it was chosen as the best song in the competition's history. Top 10 and went on to sell nearly six million copies. The single became a No. 1 hit in several countries. The Swedish version of the single was a double A-side with the Swedish version of " Honey, Honey", while the English version usually featured "Watch Out" on the B-side. The victory began ABBA's path to worldwide fame. On 6 April 1974, the song was the winning entry for Sweden in the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest. The title and lyrics reference the Battle of Waterloo, and use it as a metaphor for a romantic relationship. This was also the first single to be credited to the group performing under the name ABBA. " Waterloo" is the first single from the Swedish pop group ABBA's second album, Waterloo, and their first under the Epic and Atlantic labels.