The Day Before You Came

Infobox Single
Name = The Day Before You Came


Artist = ABBA
from Album =
Released = October 18, 1982
Format = 7" Single
B-side = "Cassandra"
Genre = Pop/Europop
Length = 5:54
Producer = Polar (Sweden)
Epic (UK)
Writer = Björn Ulvaeus,
Benny Andersson
Producer = Björn Ulvaeus,
Benny Andersson
Director = Kjell Sundvall and Kjell-Åke Andersson
Certification = N/A
Chart position = * #5 (GER)
* #32 (UK)
* #48 (AUS)
Last single = "The Visitors"
(1982)
This single = "The Day Before You Came"
(1982)
Next single = "Under Attack"
(1982)
Misc ="The Day Before You Came" is a song recorded and released by Swedish pop group ABBA. It was originally released in October 1982, as the first new song from Abba's double compilation album "".

History

After 1981's "The Visitors", both Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson took some time off to write new material, yet at the same time, they were beginning to create their first musical "Chess", alongside Tim Rice. Meanwhile, Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad slowly began their English-speaking solo careers. Fältskog recorded with fellow ABBA backing vocalist Tomas Ledin the song "Never Again" (a modest hit in Europe), while Lyngstad worked with Phil Collins to produce her solo album "Something's Going On".

The group returned to Polar Studios in the summer of 1982 to record new songs for a planned follow up album to "The Visitors". "The Day Before You Came" was one of six new songs that were recorded, with only two of them being released as singles, and two as the B-sides. One of the other songs recorded, "I Am the City", would not see international release until 1993's 'More ABBA Gold' CD, while another, "Just Like That", has never been released in its entirety (partially released in 1995).

"The Day Before You Came" was recorded and mixed on August 20, 1982, with the working title of "Den Lidande Fågeln" (The Suffering Bird). Apart from Fältskog's lead vocal and an operatic solo vocal line of Lyngstad mixed with the instrumental, the only instruments featured on the song were Andersson's synthesizer and drum machine, Ulvaeus' acoustic guitar and a snare drum by Åke Sundqvist. The song minutely details the story of a lonely woman's mundane life right before she met her loved one, blended with a sombre, haunting melody. Though it was the first song off "The Singles: The First Ten Years", "The Day Before You Came" was the last song the group ever recorded together in the studio.

In reissues of "The Visitors" on CD, "The Day Before You Came" has been added as one of the bonus tracks.

Reception

The single was officially released on October 18, 1982 with another new song, "Cassandra", as the B-side. By this time, ABBA were experiencing a slow decline in UK single sales. Accordingly, the single peaked at no.32 there. It did, however, hit the Top Five in Finland, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway and West Germany. It also reached No.5 on the RPM magazine Adult Contemporary chart in Canada. The song was promoted by a music video clip filmed on September 21, 1982, and directed by the team of Kjell Sundvall and Kjell-Åke Andersson, breaking ABBA's eight year directing relationship with Lasse Hallström. The video featured Swedish actor Jonas Bergström as Fältskog's love interest.

Chart positions

Cover versions

* In 1984, two years after the song's original release, the first cover version of "The Day Before You Came" was released by British synthpop duo Blancmange. The cover charted at # 22 in the UK singles chart and was included in that year's "Mange Tout" album. Blancmange's version included a slight lyrical alteration. Instead of referencing novelist Marilyn French as the Abba original does, Blancmange singer Neil Arthur sang "I must have read a while, the latest one by Barbara Cartland or something in that style".
* British singer/songwriter Tanita Tikaram covered the song on her 1998 album "The Cappuccino Songs".
* A dance cover by Abbacadabra was released by Almighty Records during the late 1990s.
* UK indie band Jacques covered the song for their 2000 album "To Stars".
* Dutch singer Sarah Fairfield included a cover of the song on her 2004 debut album "Green".
* Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree covered the song on his EP "Cover Version II".
* Swedish opera singer Anne Sofie von Otter covered the song on her 2006 ABBA tribute album "I Let The Music Speak".
* British Antique-Beat band The Real Tuesday Weld covered the song on the 2007 compilation album "Backspin: A Six Degrees 10 Year Anniversary Project".