[5] With lyrics described by ABBA biographer Carl Magnus Palm as "a daring tribute to cross-generational flirting in big city night clubs",[6] the track was recorded in February–March 1979 (initially under the working title "I Can Do It") and released as a single in April of that year.

[11] "Does Your Mother Know" was composed by Benny Anderson and Ulvaeus at the beginning of 1979 on a songwriting trip to the Bahamas, rather than on the Swedish island of Viggsö [sv] in the Stockholm Archipelago, where much of their music had previously been written.

[5] An early, rockier version of song (with a longer introduction) was performed partially live for the BBC TV special, Abba in Switzerland,[13] recorded in Leysin on 16 February and broadcast across Europe in April 1979.

[14][15] The instrumental introduction on the released version featured a sound Anderson had created on an expensive Yamaha GX-1 analogue synthesizer, somewhat similar in its operation to the Minimoog.

[12][16] The drumming style was influenced by Carmine Appice, whom Ola Brunkert had seen perform with Rod Stewart at a concert in Leicester, while ABBA were in the United Kingdom doing some TV promotional work.

covered the original song live,[18] whilst British band Oasis used a variant of the opening guitar riff on their 2002 track "The Hindu Times".

"[2] In Smash Hits, Cliff White wrote: "When it comes to pure, no-nonsense pop music performed with flair and no hint of condescension, Abba generally pull it off better than most.

"[24] The Los Angeles Times was less flattering, Robert Hilburn referring disparagingly to the song (and ABBA's output in general) as "cream puff" music.