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Nina, Pretty Ballerina

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Not to be confused with Pretty Ballerina.
"Nina, Pretty Ballerina"
Austrian picture sleeve
Single by ABBA
from the album Ring Ring
A-side
B-side
  • "I Am Just a Girl" (Austria)
  • "Dance (While the Music Still Goes On)" (Kenya)
ReleasedOctober 1973 (France)

1974 (Austria)

1977 (Kenya, Philippines)
GenreEuropop
Length2:53
LabelPolar Music
Songwriter(s)Benny Andersson
Björn Ulvaeus
Producer(s)Benny Andersson
Björn Ulvaeus
ABBA singles chronology
"I Am Just a Girl"
(1973) 		"Nina, Pretty Ballerina"
(1973) 		"Waterloo"
(1974)
Audio video
"Nina, Pretty Ballerina" on YouTube

"Nina, Pretty Ballerina" is a song recorded in November 1972 by Swedish pop group ABBA and released on their debut album Ring Ring.

Background

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"Nina, Pretty Ballerina" is a third-person story song written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. The song describes a mundane lifestyle of a young woman who works at an office, but on a Friday night, she transforms and lives her dream on the dancefloor.[1]

The initial recording took place on 17 October 1972 alongside "He Is Your Brother" in Europa Film Studios, Stockholm, but the end result of this song was unsatisfactory.[2] The song was re-recorded in 2 November 1972 at Kungliga Musikhögskolan, Stockholm’s Royal College of Music.[2] This is considered to be the first ABBA song to have the ABBA sound, where Agnetha Fältskog and Frida Lyngstad have lead vocals in unison.[1]

Several sound effects are used including a train whistle and cheering.[1] Andersson and sound engineer Michael B. Tretow pioneered a technique similar to Vari-speed, where the song tape had been slowed down and the piano score had been overlayed.[1][2] With the song back in the original speed, this resulted in the instrument being sped up, so fast that it would not be possible to play.[1]

"Nina, Pretty Ballerina" was released on 7" vinyl record in France in October 1973 without any chart success. After radio success in Austria, the song was released in February 1974,[3] serving as the seventh and final single from the band's debut album Ring Ring. The single reached #8 on the singles chart in Austria.

Personnel

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Additional musicians

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Charts

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Chart (1973) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[4] 8

Release history

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Region Date Title Label Format Catalog
France Oct 1973 "Nina, Pretty Ballerina" / "He Is Your Brother" Vogue 7-inch vinyl 45. X. 3027
Austria 1974 "Nina, Pretty Ballerina" / "I Am Just A Girl" Polydor 2040 111
Kenya 1977 "Nina, Pretty Ballerina" / "Dance (While The Music Still Goes On)" 2001 736
Philippines 1977 "Nina, Pretty Ballerina" / "So Long" PRO-3512 (2001 741)

Covers

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  • The song in covered in Swedish-language, titled "Nina Fina Ballerina" in 1974 by several groups including Jigs, Sewes and singer Dick Zetterlund. The version by Sewes reached number 5 in the Svensktoppen charts on 27 October 1974.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Cole, Ian (2020-02-23). ABBA: Song by Song. Fonthill Media.
  2. ^ a b c Clerc, Benoît (2024-12-15). Abba: All The Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. Octopus. ISBN 978-1-78840-483-9.
  3. ^ Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 1974-02-16.
  4. ^ "ABBA – Nina, Pretty Ballerina" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  5. ^ Radio, Sveriges (2025-04-20). "Svensktoppen 1974-10-27 - Svensktoppen". www.sverigesradio.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2025-04-20.
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