When I saw the first movie when I was eight years old, the global phenomenon Mamma Mia! shot me like I was a sitting duck. Since then, it has been appointed the soundtrack that I turn to when life gets too intense. It was featured on my Hinge profile as my favorite genre of music. The playlists for both the original and the sequel have become “My Love, My Life.” There is a reason that Mamma Mia! The Party is now one of London’s greatest attractions.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Mamma Mia!, where everything is a celebration. You must embrace the ridiculousness upon entry and will be guided by a bop every step of the way.
Lily James
Amanda Seyfried
Meryl Streep
Cher
Andy García
Julie Walters
Alexa Davies
Christine Baranski
Jessica Keenan Wynn
Dominic Cooper
Pierce Brosnan
Jeremy Irvine
When I Kissed the Teacher
Let’s kick off with the notorious opening number of director Ol Parker’s Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! I doubt the song was on ABBA’s Greatest Hits album, but Parker makes it work. “When I Kissed the Teacher” is an upbeat, splendidly nonsensical tune that sets the mood for the rest of the film. Lily James plays a young version of Meryl Streep’s character, who is graduating from college, singing to the crowd in her cap and gown about a hot teacher.
Lily James does, in fact, kiss a professor onstage for a split second while wearing her yellow feather boa post-lap dance– and the uptight academics come around after the sultry smooch. Either way, she sure made a scene at her graduation, surfed the crowd, and led everyone down a dirt road on bikes.
Fernando
Cher arrives as Amanda Seyfried’s grandmother at the end of the second movie and encounters an old lover. She sings the song “Fernando” with her former flame, and it’s funny as hell. The nostalgic tune that toys with tension in its melody becomes entertaining and lighthearted as the two reunite. When the song is over, they kiss to fireworks and applause. And it’s Cher. What else could you want?
Check out the full Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! soundtrack here.
Meryl Streep
Amanda Seyfried
Pierce Brosnan
Colin Firth
Stellan Skarsgård
Julie Walters
Dominic Cooper
Christine Baranski
Niall Buggy
Chris Jarvis
Ashley Lilley
Rachel McDowall
Lay All Your Love On Me
In the original Mamma Mia!, Amanda Seyfried is hot, and so is the guy who plays her boyfriend. His name is Dominic Cooper, and he’s famous now, but in 2008, he was just tan and shirtless on a beach in Greece. He also had a six-pack.
Anyway, we start the scene with them fighting half-naked in the orange glow of the sun. They need to remember why they fell for each other and just make sweet Greek love already. They’re horny, and this seductive Swedish tango is the perfect backdrop to their rendezvous.
Mamma Mia! is fun, heartwarming, and sweet, but it’s also very sexy. When Amanda Seyfried crawls out of the water, onto the rocks, and all over Dominic Cooper, she lets you know it. “Lay All Your Love On Me” will make you want to dance Reggaeton-style, roll around in the sand, and grab your Dominic Cooper, too.
This film is kindly brought to you by the fabulous female gaze– many thanks to director Phyllida Lloyd.
Winner Takes it All
This emotional power ballad proves that the original film is more than a good time. Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streep encapsulate the conflict and heart of the story on a hill overlooking the ocean. He wants her back after he left her years ago, and she’s too hurt to love him. “Winner Takes It All” reflects the pain of unrequited love and the emptiness you’re left with when someone you care about deeply lets you down.
Meryl has a beautiful voice, and Pierce is a silver fox, which is all very dramatic. Meryl runs with her red shawl in hand, blowing madly in the wind; Pierce chases her up a myriad of stone-covered steps with his laserbeam blue eyes. However, you will see nothing through your tears.
Unfortunate truths about life, love, and failed relationships will surface, and you will be triggered. This is the heartbreaker that you will blast in the car as your situationship falls apart. Never underestimate the strength of a sad song placed at the climax of a musical rom-com.
Check out the full Mamma Mia! soundtrack here.
Dancing Queen
“Dancing Queen” is the trademark closing number that no Mamma Mia! movie can live without. It’s disco at its finest. You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life. All while wearing feather boas, of course. Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski, and Julie Walters will never let you forget it.
Then, Amanda Seyfried joins forces with Baranski and Walters in the sequel because, even though Parker had the nerve to kill off Meryl, everyone knows that Mamma Mia! doesn’t end until “Dancing Queen” plays. Although the plot of the second movie is a tad disappointing, the music keeps it alive, and I am forever grateful to ABBA for this.
So don’t ask yourself “voulez-vous” because, trust me, vous voulez. If you haven’t already, give it a watch, and if you’ve seen it, you know what I mean.