Analysis: ABBA The Day Before You Came

Yes indeed. At least for that one night every week.

 

What 'comes' is some sort of bad news or notification, probably in the form of a letter. A medical test result perhaps. She is a smoker. She eats take away food. She 'needs a lot of sleep' suggesting lethargy. Suddenly faced with her own mortality, or at least the advice to change her lifestyle, the most mundane things of the previous day become heightened in her consciousness. And that in itself exists as a metaphor for the demise of Abba at the time.

 

I must say: when I clicked on this thread about a song that I absolutely adore I had no idea that my mind was going to be opened up to quite such pessimistic interpretations. It’s true that the song has a chanson feel - very melancholy indeed - but I always felt that it was part of the genius of the songwriting that such a downbeat depiction of the day before the speaker falls in love anticipates the transformative joy of being in love. I still think that this is my preferred and most likely interpretation.

That said I really like the reading that says that the implied contrast is not between the day before he came and the day on which he came but between the day before he came and the day after he left. That's very bleak, but completely valid and it forces us to think what that contrast would be, and I would say that it is the contrast between being unconsciously unsatisfied and being consciously unhappy. For me, though, it's too miserable. Not as miserable as @CBS 65780’s idea that it isn't about a love relationship at all but still too miserable for me.

 

Still the best version around.

 

I think that actually nobody came, and this is just a desire/illusion/hope.

 

I abbasolutely love "The Day Before You Came" & picked up on the theatrical feel of the song right away. I first heard it when I bought the "ABBA: The First Ten Years" LP while visiting relatives in Virginia. I had to wait a few days till I returned home to play it though. When I did, I loved it! I first saw the video when I bought their "ABBA Again" VHS tape. Loved it! I played it over & over a half dozen times. In 2002 I bought the "ABBA: The Definitive Collection" DVD & I still play that video from time to time along with the others.

"Cassandra" is another theatrical sounding song & I had always hoped there'd be a movie based on it. It was the B side of "The Day Before You Came" & back then I was buying ABBA singles for the B sides because I played them too. Many years ago there was an unofficial website about ABBA & they had this video so I downloaded it to play. I loved it! Frida did a beautiful job on this song. I would love to see these types of videos officially released.

 

Read that Agnetha recorded the vocal for TDBYC in the dark. Talk about depressing

And The Visitors was one of the first digitally recorded albums and the very first to be pressed to CD

 

The entire reason for the phrase "I must have" that starts the explanations of what she used to do is because she doesn't know how to get back to it now that her lover, who changed all that, has gone.
He came along and for the better changed her mundane life, but now that he has left her, she is attempting to go back to a life without him and the only way she knows how is to try and recall what she did prior to his arrival.
While doing so she is realising not just how sad she is now but how sad she was then.
Making his departure all the worse.
It's hard enough to deal with the heartbreak but now she has to do so while living a miserable day to day routine which will now be endured while missing him.
The two references to the rain are both literal and symbolic of her life then and now.
It literally rained before she met him, now before she is over him it will figuratively rain.

 

I think SW's terrific (seeing him twice this year) but ... yo trippin’ Bro.

 

Another great cover by Blancmange

 

Not to forget Tanita Tikaram´s cover.

 

I always thought this song sounded like Agnetha Faltskog backed by Kraftwerk - an enticing prospect if ever there was one!

I don't think there is any intended meaning beyond the "obvious". The fact that it has such a moody musical background has probably more to do with the fact that it might have sounded incredibly cheesey to have had an uptempo, "happy-g0-lucky" approach. It works but it is a uniquely odd song in the ABBA canon. I have always loved it!

 

Unsurprising when it peaked at UK #32. Good enough piece, but always thought it was a poor choice for a single.

 

As much as I love "Cassandra" I think it would've made more sense to include "Just Like That" on the b-side of The Day Before You Came as the "Just Like That" lyrics kind of read as the aftermath of the events of TDBYC. Before and after. Those two songs go really well together IMHO.

 

I absolutely love TDBYC but it should have been backed with Under Attack. Instead Cassandra should have been the next A side. Cassandra is an instant classic though it's always been kind of hidden away in the ABBA cannon. Benny dislikes it apparently.

 

I love both "The Day Before You Came" & Cassandra" a lot! I think "Cassandra could be a good movie too because it sounds so theatrical. I also wonder if Benny was looking to write a musical based on "Cassandra" at some time. That may be why he didn't want it released as an A side yet.

 

I think it's even more remarkable when you consider English wasn't their first language !

 

And "The Visitors" too.

I remember an old interview where Benny said he wrote "The Day Before You Came" from the perspective of a plain working woman, leading a plain and boring life.

 

From the booklet of "The Visitors" deluxe edition:
"The tune is narrative in itself", says Björn, "and relentless. That almost monotonous quality made me think of this girl who was living in a sort of gloominess and is now back in that sense of gloom. He has left her, and her life has returned to how it 'must have been' before she met him."

 

I actually heard that version before the original, love them both, great song.

 

Some pretty ingenious interpretations being offered. I tend to go with the theory that it's about the transformative power of falling in love. The tone of the song is intended to convey the mundaneness of her life before. So mundane in fact that she can't quite remember what life was like hence she says 'I must have.'
I'd say she sings it in a matter of fact way rather than a sad way. The character may not be a romantic and may not even have wanted to fall in love. (I wonder if Agnetha is a romantic)

 

A good song in the Abba catalogue. But it was an unwise choice for single release.

 

Thematically „The Day Before You Came“ is a 80s version of Paul and Linda McCartney‘s „Another Day“ from 1971.

 

One of my favourite ABBA songs. I love the wordless operatic singing during the chorus. It’s a very ‘fraught’ lead vocal by Agnetha as well - like she’s just holding it together.

I really like ‘Cassandra’ but musically Benny’s synths sound much more ‘Super Trouper’ on that track to me.

 

At the time I thought this song and Under Attack were poor singles choices, and wasn't surprised that they weren't big hits.
Over the years I have grown to like them, but they are pretty far down on my list of favourite Abba songs..
I mentioned on another thread recently about how Elvis Costello raved about this single when reviewing it on a radio show.