The King Has Lost His Crown | |
Artist: | ABBA |
Album: | Voulez-Vous |
A-Side: | Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) |
Length: | 3:35 |
Label: | Polar Music |
"The King Has Lost His Crown" is a song by Swedish group ABBA, released on their 1979 album Voulez-Vous. It was also the B-side of the non-album single "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)".
The song is a "vengeful ballad" whose lyrics are an allegory to describe the end of a relationship.[1]
On his book Abba – Uncensored on the Record, John Tobler said the song "appeared to be much more personal than many of the group's previous songs".[1] The Sydney Morning Herald said "The King Has Lost His Crown" is "an interesting song with some neat variations in style".[2] Internet reviewer George Starostin said it "is simply way too pompous and ambitious to be endured".[3] ABBA biograph Carl Magnus Palm said "Perhaps there's ... a sense of "undiscovered gem" about [Voulez-Vous], simply because what I feel were the best tracks were never international single A-sides, such as 'As Good as New', 'The King Has Lost His Crown' and 'If It Wasn't for the Nights'."[4]