Under Attack Lyrics — Mamma Mia!

Song Overview

Personal Review

“Under Attack” arrives after intermission like a cold front. ABBA released the single in December 1982— their swan-song before a forty-year recording silence—and its synth-rock chill still pricks the skin. Martin Koch’s stage arrangement quickens the tempo to 118 BPM and adds muted bouzouki, but keeps that icy Jupiter-8 arpeggio intact. Onstage, Lisa Stokke sings alone while shadow figures in balaclavas stalk her with handheld searchlights; the taverna morphs into a fever dream. The London press night found me scribbling “Kate Bush meets Eurhythmics in an Aegean panic room”—and the line still fits.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Andersson & Ulvaeus originally wrote “Under Attack” as a final flare from a band unraveling; in Mamma Mia! it becomes Sophie’s panic spiral. The lyric—“My resistance running low”—now speaks to paternal pressure as her secret invitations backfire. Each chorus line (“three dads, one lover”) drops to a minor third, mirroring the tightening vise. Koch underscores the dread with floor-tom rumbles and a prowling bass that quotes the ABBA video’s red-beacon motif .

“Won’t somebody please have a heart? Come and rescue me now ‘cause I’m falling apart.”

The harmony under “rescue me” resolves to the tonic for the first time, a fleeting breath before the synth line snaps back like rubber—hope immediately smothered.

Fun detail: The London production pipes in a vocoder echo on the word “attack,” nodding to Björn’s original vocoder cameo. Fans who know the 1982 warehouse-beacon video grin at the Easter egg.

Verse Highlights

Verse 1

Sophie’s pulse races in triplet vocal figures; strings answer with staccato stabs like heart monitors.

Chorus

The meter shifts to a driving four, percussion layering gated reverb—panic framed as dance.

Verse 2

Lyric pivots from external threat (“three dads, one lover”) to internal free-fall—“staring down the deepest well.” Harmonically the key slips a semitone for eight bars, imitating vertigo.

Song Credits

• Featured: Lisa Stokke (Sophie)
• Producers: Nicholas Gilpin, Martin Koch
• Composers/Lyricists: Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus
• Release Date (cast): November 1 1999
• Genre: Synth-rock / Musical theatre
• Length: 3 min 15 sec (cast) / 3 min 47 sec (ABBA single)
• Instruments: Jupiter-8 synth, bouzouki, electric bass, floor-tom, vocoder
• Label: Polydor / Decca
• Mood: claustrophobic, adrenaline-lit
• Poetic Meter: trochaic quatrains sliced by syncopation
• Copyrights: © 1999 Littlestar Ltd.; ? 1999 Polydor Ltd. (UK)

Songs Exploring Themes of Anxiety & Choice

“Running Up That Hill” – Kate Bush
Bush bargains with a deity while Sophie bargains with destiny; both tracks ride galloping drum machines and synth pads that feel like looming thunderclouds.

“Breathe” – In the Heights
Nina’s panic attack on a Washington Heights fire escape mirrors Sophie’s at the taverna—melismatic gasps over a relentless pulse.

“Pressure” – Billy Joel
Joel’s new-wave piano stabs echo ABBA’s synth riff; each narrator lists threats until the chorus explodes in fatalistic shrug.

Questions and Answers

Was “Under Attack” really ABBA’s final single?

Yes—their last widely released single before the 40-year hiatus, issued 3 Dec 1982 in the UK.

How did it chart?

UK peak: No 26 according to multiple chart retrospectives; Australia No 96; Austria No 16; Finland No 8.

Is it a streaming hit today?

Spotify plays passed 30 million in May 2025—modest next to ABBA titans but impressive for a “farewell” single.

Why wasn’t it in the 2008 film?

The movie trims Act II pacing; “Under Attack” was storyboarded but dropped during pre-shoot script edits.

What’s with the warehouse beacons in the ABBA video?

Director Kjell Sundvall wanted literal “attack” imagery; the red rotating beacons echo emergency sirens while the band walks into darkness—visualising a goodbye.

Awards and Chart Positions

• UK Singles Chart peak: No 26 (Dec 1982)
• Finnish Singles: No 8
• Austria Ö3: No 16
• Global streams: 30 million Spotify plays (May 2025)

How to Sing?

Range: B?3–E?5 for Sophie.
Breath: Hit the opening eight-note run on one glide; think sprint start, then settle into the ride cymbal’s hiss.
Tempo: 118 BPM; subdivide in sixteenths to stay locked with the sequencer.
Tone: Keep consonants percussive—attack the “k” in “attack”—but let vowels widen on “heart” and “rescue” to soften the plea.