Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! Lyrics — Mamma Mia!

Song Overview

Personal Review

Every time “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” strikes up in Mamma Mia!, I feel the theatre’s heart rate double. Lisa Stokke’s Sophie grabs the disco torch from Agnetha Fältskog, but instead of pleading to the mirror ball she corners her three maybe-dads, twisting ABBA’s nocturnal craving into a DNA interrogation. Martin Koch’s arrangement keeps the octave-leaping synth riff intact—still the greatest hook Polar Music ever squeezed into four bars—yet overlays it with bouzouki flutters and a men’s chant that sounds like midnight pirates rowing toward confession.

Song Meaning and Annotations

The lyric’s plea—“Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! A man after midnight”—was already loaded when ABBA released the single on 12 October 1979. In the musical, that hunger slips from romance to genealogy: Sophie is literally hunting a man who can escort her through darkness into day, i.e., walk her down the aisle. Dialogue intercuts the chorus, each father candidate blurting clues. The structural genius is that Andersson & Ulvaeus wrote a disco anthem roomy enough to host a one-act play.

Musically the cast keeps ABBA’s 100 BPM engine but swaps the original Oberheim pad for tremolo strings and hand-drum accents befitting a seaside party. Listen for the descending portamento synth—25 years before Skrillex, that glide taught audiences what an EDM earworm felt like.

“Take me through the darkness to the break of the day”

The line lands on a deceptive cadence—V of iii—so the harmony never quite resolves, mirroring Sophie’s unresolved parentage.

Verse Highlights

Girls’ Incantation

The ensemble’s whispered question—“Is there a man out there?”—uses unison minor thirds, like children chanting a ghost story around a candle.

Dialogue Weave

Sam’s regret (“I always meant to come back”) and Harry’s wistful laugh about fatherhood slide over the track’s four-on-the-floor, proving exposition can still dance.

Final Chorus

When the company roars the refrain a capella, the rhythmic clap on beat 2 turns the theatre into a rave, then the band slams back in—pure dopamine.

Song Credits

• Featured: Lisa Stokke (Sophie), Hilton McRae (Sam), Paul Clarkson (Harry), Nicolas Colicos (Bill) & Ensemble
• Producers: Nicholas Gilpin, Martin Koch
• Composers/Lyricists: Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus
• Release Date: October 17 1999 (cast recording) / October 12 1979 (ABBA single)
• Genre: Disco-pop theatre blend
• Length: 3 min 48 sec (cast) / 4 min 48 sec (ABBA single)
• Instruments: synth bass, bouzouki, strings, hi-hat loop, male chant
• Label: Polydor / Decca
• Mood: urgent, flirt-charged
• Track #: 10 on Mamma Mia! Original Cast Recording
• Poetic Meter: trochaic tetrameter clipped by disco syncopation
• Copyrights: © 1999 Littlestar Ltd.; ? 1999 Polydor Ltd. (UK)

Songs Exploring Themes of Midnight Longing

“Hung Up” – Madonna
Madonna flipped the “Gimme” riff into a ticking clock of romantic impatience; Andersson & Ulvaeus personally cleared the sample—only the third time they’d ever said yes.

“After Hours” – The Weeknd
Where ABBA chase dawn, The Weeknd wallows in neon ruin. Both tracks, though, treat midnight as confession hour—synth arpeggios marking minutes till sanity.

“Midnight City” – M83
M83’s sax-howl outro is the indie cousin to ABBA’s portamento glide: euphoric loneliness framed as a city-wide prayer.

Questions and Answers

How did the original single chart?

No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 1 in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland and the Eurochart Hot 100.

What about the U.S.?

It stalled at No. 46 on the Billboard Hot 100 but topped the Dance Club Play chart in early 1980.

Has the track hit modern streaming milestones?

Yes—July 22 2025 saw it pass one billion Spotify plays, ABBA’s second song to enter the Billions Club.

Notable cover versions?

Cher’s 2018 disco cover reached No. 72 on the UK Singles Sales chart, while A*Teens’ 1999 take hit Top 30 in Sweden and Germany.

How rare was Madonna’s sample clearance?

Very—the ABBA writers have approved sampling only a handful of times; Madonna flew to Stockholm to ask in person.

Awards and Chart Positions

The 1979 single sold more than four million copies worldwide and earned Gold or Platinum plaques in nine territories. In July 2025 it became ABBA’s second track to surpass one billion Spotify streams.

How to Sing?

Range: Sophie: Bb3–E5; Ensemble men anchor at A2.
Breath: Treat the rapid-fire chorus as two-bar phrases—exhale on “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!,” sip before “A man after midnight.”
Tempo: 100 BPM; internalise the 16th-note hi-hat for precision.
Tone: Narrow vowels on “mid-night” to punch through synth; let consonants sparkle like shard reflections off a mirror ball.