Does Your Mother Know

"Does Your Mother Know"
Song

"Does Your Mother Know?", originally "I Can Do It", is the name of a song recorded in 1979 by Swedish pop group ABBA, and was the second single to be released from their album Voulez-Vous. The B-side was "Kisses of Fire", also taken from the album.

History

"Does Your Mother Know?" was recorded in February 1979 & released as a single in April of that year. Written by Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus, the song is something of a pastiche to 1950s/early 1960s-style rock and roll, and touches on the subject of a man flirting with a much younger girl. "Does Your Mother Know?" deviated from the typical 'ABBA at their most famous' formula, in that the lead vocals were sung not by the female vocalists (Agnetha Fältskog & Anni-Frid Lyngstad) as was usually the case, but by Björn Ulvaeus.

Reception

"Does Your Mother Know?" was another sizable ABBA hit, hitting No.1 in Belgium & reaching the Top Five in Ireland, the UK & the Netherlands. It was also a Top 10 hit in Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) and West Germany. In the United States, "Does Your Mother Know?" would become ABBA's penultimate Top 20 hit, reaching No.19.

Chart positions

Chart (1979)	Position
Belgian Singles Chart	1
Irish Singles Chart	3
Dutch Singles Chart	4
U.K. Singles Chart	4
Swiss Singles Chart	6
Australian Singles Chart	7
Canadian Singles Chart	8
Zimbabwean Singles Chart	9
German Singles Chart	10
Austrian Singles Chart	13
Mexican Singles Chart	17
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	19
French Singles Chart	26
New Zealand Singles Chart	27

Cover versions

• Irish rock band Ash recorded a cover, which can be found on the compilation ABBA: A Tribute - The 25th Anniversary Celebration.

• Irish girl group B*Witched's version of the song can be found on the Abbamania album from 1999. They also performed it on the TV special. On the subsequent 2004 ABBAMania 2 album, the song is covered by British actor Will Mellor.

• On the German compilation ABBA Mania, the song was covered by German actors Stefan Bockelmann and Kai Noll.

• Punk rock band The Restarts covered the song on their "Slumworld" album.

• Canadian a cappella group Streetnix recorded a cover of the song.

• Indie band Nosehare recorded a cover of the song.

• Swedish studio musicians The Black Sweden recorded a cover on their ABBA tribute album Gold. Their version includes an opening riff from the Deep Purple song "Woman From Tokyo".

• The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus recorded a cover of the song for their 1997 album ExtrABBAganza!.

• A cover of the song by Speachless Project can be found on the 2006 chill out music compilation ABBA Chill Out.

• Studio 99 covered the song on their album Studio 99 Perform A Tribute To ABBA, Vol. 1.

• A cover of the song by Finnish a cappella choral ensemble Rajaton can be found on their 2006 ABBA tribute album Rajaton Sings ABBA With Lahti Symphony Orchestra.

Live cover performances, appearances in other media etc.

• The song is performed in the Mamma Mia! musical by the character of Tanya.

• Eton Road performed the song live on the U.K. series The X Factor (UK series 3).

• "Does Your Mother Know?" featured in the 2003 film Johnny English starring Rowan Atkinson, who lip-synchs to the song in the bathroom, and incidentally, also briefly sings "Thank You for the Music" earlier in the film.