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"I Know Him So Well"
Single by Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson
from the album Chess
B-side	"Chess" (London Symphony Orchestra)
Released	January 1985
Format	7" single, 12" single
Genre	Pop
Label	RCA
Writer(s)	Tim Rice, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson
Producer	Björn Ulveaus, Benny Andersson, Tim Rice
Certification	Gold

"I Know Him So Well" is a song from the concept album and subsequent musical Chess by Tim Rice, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. In this duet, two women – Svetlana, the Russian chess champion's estranged wife, and Florence, his mistress – express their bittersweet feelings for him and at seeing their relationships fall apart.

The duet was number one in the UK for four weeks in 1985 when released as a single by Elaine Paige (as Florence) and Barbara Dickson (as Svetlana), who laid down their vocals separately and never met during the recording of the song, only for the video and subsequent performances on Top of the Pops and the European tours. ^{[1] [2]} This recording remains in the Guinness Book of Records as the biggest selling UK Chart single ever by a female duo. Paige also appeared in the original London stage production of Chess.

In the UK on 18 September 2004, the BBC's All-Time Greatest Love Songs (hosted by Lionel Richie) saw the duet performed live by Paige and Dickson, together for the first time in 20 years, to a rapturous reception. Paige played her solo demo recording of the song on her BBC Radio 2 show, Elaine Paige on Sunday.

On the Chess concert DVD live at the Royal Albert Hall, the song is sung by Idina Menzel and Kerry Ellis.

Cover versions

The song has been covered by various music artists including:

• Barbra Streisand for her 1985 album The Broadway Album; the track was later included on her 1991 box-set Just for the Record
• Whitney Houston and her mother Cissy Houston on Houston's 1987 album Whitney
• Willeke Alberti and Simone Kleinsma in 1989 as a Dutch version renamed "Ik Ken Hem Te Goed"
• Steps for the 1999 Abbamania tribute album; their cover was later released as a single on their 2002 The Last Dance compilation album
• Vivian Chow and Shirley Kwan, who covered the song in Cantonese as (男人心)
• John Barrowman on his 2008 album Music Music Music, with Daniel Boys
• Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, who performed a spoof of the song on their TV comedy sketch series French and Saunders
• Amateur Transplants, who used the tune for Finals Fantasy on their second album Unfit to Practice
• Elaine Paige and Susan Boyle, who performed a live cover of the song on the TV program "I Dreamed a Dream: The Susan Boyle Story"

Original Recording Credits

• Benny Andersson - keyboards, synthesizers
• Barbara Dickson - vocals
• Anders Eljas - keyboards, synthesizers
• Rutger Gunnarsson - bass
• Per Lindvall - drums, percussion
• Elaine Paige - vocals
• Lasse Wellander - guitars

• Writers and producers - Benny Andersson, Tim Rice and Björn Ulvaeus
• Arrangement - Benny Andersson and Anders Eljas
• Engineer and Mixer - Michael B. Tretow

References