☝️ Key Points
- 'Waterloo' by ABBA uses the historical battle as a metaphor for a love relationship.
- The singer compares her surrender to love with Napoleon's capitulation at Waterloo.
- She uses lines like 'Waterloo - I was defeated, you won the war' and 'Waterloo - Couldn't escape if I wanted to' to portray these feelings.
- 'Promise to love you forever more' shows that she promises her eternal love to the other person.
- The song is about accepting strong feelings for another person, comparable to an inevitable surrender in a battle.
Interpretation
The song 'Waterloo' by
ABBA uses the historic Battle of Waterloo as a metaphor for a romantic relationship. The Battle of Waterloo was a decisive moment in European history where Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated. In the song lyrics, 'Waterloo' symbolically represents the end of the singer's resistance to a strong love or attraction, similar to how Napoleon surrendered at Waterloo.
With lines like 'Waterloo - I was defeated, you won the war' and 'Waterloo - Couldn't escape if I wanted to', the singer expresses that she was defeated in love and now promises eternal love to the other person ('Promise to love you forever more'). She couldn't escape the attraction and now accepts her fate to be with that person ('Knowing my fate is to be with you').
The line 'I feel like I win when I lose' is paradoxical and shows that even though she 'lost' in love by surrendering to the other person, she simultaneously feels like a winner because she is now in a loving relationship.
In summary, 'Waterloo' is about the realization and acceptance of strong feelings for another person, comparable to an inevitable surrender in a battle.