It is the title track from the band's studio album of the same name, and was released as the fourth and final single in April 1982.

[4] Björn Ulvaeus has stated that at the time of release he preferred that the song should have a sense of mystery so did not explain the exact meaning.

[5] In 1982, the album The Visitors was banned in the Soviet Union,[6] possibly due to the band allowing a video of "When All Is Said and Done" to be shown in the United States Information Agency television special, Let Poland Be Poland, along with a spoken message from Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson,[7] broadcast via satellite around the world on 31 January 1982.

The show, which also featured Frank Sinatra, Paul McCartney, Orson Welles, Henry Fonda, Margaret Thatcher, and Ronald Reagan, was a public protest against the then-recent imposition of martial law in Poland.

However, in a Rapport interview, Björn Ulvaeus mentioned that their message referenced human rights issues in several countries, including El Salvador and Chile.