Der Sieger hat die Wahl [The Winner Takes It All] [English translation]

I don't want to hear any more of that

I don't want to talk about it anymore

Even if it hurts me

This dream is over - I'm leaving!

Every chance has been gambled away

Every trump card has been played

There's no ace left

I accept it an I fold

The winner has the right to choose

The loser is left in pain1

There's the one who takes all, smiling

And the other one will pay the bill

In your arm

I felt so secure at night

I wanted to be your life

And I locked you in inside of me

I used to believe in the two of us

I never thought past the very next day

I was too naïve

My feelings were way too profound

Without looking, destiny casts its dice

It doesn't consider who we are

And so we don't understand

Why a dream breaks to pieces

The winner has the right to choose

The truth is trivial

The weaker one will fall

That's how this world goes

Just tell me, does she kiss you

The way that I used to?

Do you still dream of me

When you sleep next to her?

You must have felt

How I missed you

But lost happiness

Will never find its way back

The score has been completed

I've missed something

Whatever I do

I'm nothing more than a spectator

The game is starting anew

It's about lies or fury

It's about making a scene and the score

The winner has the right to choose

I don't want to hear any more of that

I don't want to scale things from the past

Even if your intentions are good

Your comfort doesn't reassure me

You have to forgive me

I want to hide

Behind a fence

With no self-confidence

For I know:

The winner has the right to choose

The winner has the right to choose

The game is starting anew

It's about lies or fury

It's about my soul and the score

The winner has the right to choose

The winner has the right to choose

1. lit: "everything that is left for the loser is torture"; this line is based on the German proverb "die Qual der Wahl haben" ("to be spoilt for choice") which more literally translates as "to be faced with the torture of making a choice". Generally, I don't think these two lines of the German version make too much sense. There was already a German version of "The Winner Takes It All" by Marianne Rosenberg in the 1980s which translated these two lines as "Nur Sieger stehen im Licht/Und wer verliert, der bricht" ("Only winners stand in the spotlight/And the one who loses will break"), which in my opinion works much better here. Furthermore, I don't like the use of the word English word "loser" in the German version as it does not seem to fit at all.

• Artist:Mamma Mia! (Musical)