Introduction
“Lay All Your Love on Me” is a track by the Swedish pop group ABBA, recorded in 1980 for their seventh studio album Super Trouper. Although it was not originally intended to be released as a single, a remixed version gained traction in dance clubs, which led to its eventual single release in July 1981.
The song was written and produced by ABBA’s core songwriting duo, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, with lead vocals by Agnetha Fältskog. Recording began at Polar Music Studios in Stockholm on 9 September 1980, and the final mix was completed on 10 October 1980. Technically, the track blends disco and electronic pop elements; a distinctive feature is the “descending vocal” effect at the end of the verse before the chorus, created by routing the vocal through a harmoniser and feeding it back to lower the pitch gradually. Andersson and Ulvaeus also believed the chorus had a hymnal quality, so parts of the vocals were processed through a vocoder to evoke something like a church congregation singing slightly out of tune.
When released as a (limited) 12-inch single, it reached No. 7 on the UK charts—a notable feat, as it was then the highest-selling 12-inch single in UK chart history. It also topped the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. Over time, “Lay All Your Love on Me” has become recognized as one of ABBA’s enduring dance pop classics; in 2006, Slant Magazine ranked it No. 60 on their list of greatest dance songs, and in a 2020 update it was placed at No. 66.
Because ABBA did not film a bespoke promotional video, the official video associated with the song is a montage assembled from previous ABBA clips. Today, the lyric video version allows listeners to engage with the song’s text and emotion while reflecting on its historical place in ABBA’s catalogue and the evolution of dance-pop in the early 1980s.