| Soldiers | |
| Artist: | ABBA |
| Album: | The Visitors |
| Genre: | Europop |
| Label: | Polar |
| Producer: | Andersson, Ulvaeus |
"Soldiers" is an ABBA song, released on their 1981 album The Visitors. Its working title was "Peasants".
The song is a critique of militarism.
Billboard explains: "emphasizing that although there seems to be so little one can do to prevent the machinations of soldiers and those who control them [...], we must 'not look the other way/taking a chance/cause if the bugler starts to play/we too must dance'".[1] The UK's Daily Telegraph describes the premise of the song as "how warmongers convince themselves they are noble men".[2]
The entire song rests upon a "simple two-note" statement". The song has a "string-ensemble synth arrangement". Agnetha uses a "subdued yet stoic vocal", and "the chorus vocals, while typically multi-tiered, are somewhat 'murkier' and less liberated in texture".[3]
ABBA's ABBA Gold describes the song as "bleak-yet-catchy".[4] Billboard notes its "simple yet ominous metaphors that envision impending nuclear holocaust". It goes on to explain: "the offbeat cadence of the drumming holds dark, somber verses and the sing-song quality of the chorus together", and concludes by saying "certainly very few groups can effectively handle a subject as serious as this, and still imbue it with all the qualities of a great pop song".[1] Billboard listed the song under the "Best cuts" section of an album review, along with four other songs from the album.[5] ABBA: Let The Music Speak says the song has an "unsettling caution" and also "heart and humanity". The synths "gently inflame the sense of yearning throughout, driving along a backing track which features ...bass courtesy of Rutger Gunnarsson".[3]
Scottish singer Barbara Dickson covered the song on her 1985 album Gold.