NBN Book of the Day Kay Dickinson, "Fernando: A Song by ABBA" (Duke UP, 2025)
Jan 26, 2026
Kay Dickinson, Programme Convenor for Creative Arts and Industries at the University of Glasgow and author of Fernando: A Song by ABBA, unpacks how a sing-along pop hit became entangled with 1970s Latin American struggles and global markets. Short takes cover the song’s revolutionary lyrics, multilingual versions, queer and female revivals, questions of appropriation, and why English helped ABBA conquer the charts.
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Revolutionary Song, Commercial Commodity
- "Fernando" pairs a Latin American revolutionary narrative with global pop commodification.
- Kay Dickinson argues this contradiction explains the song's widespread appeal and durability.
Expanding Pop's Idea Of Love
- ABBA broadened pop's typical subject of romantic love to include love of liberty and collective causes.
- The song's sing-along ballad form helped it cross into global chart pop despite unconventional lyrics.
1970s Latin American Upheaval
- Mid-1970s Latin America experienced major socialist uprisings and CIA-backed coups that shaped global cultural currents.
- Dickinson links this political churn to the ambience ABBA tapped when writing "Fernando."
