The Story Behind The Song
Covering an ABBA song is like a heist: it's an audacious move involving fabulous art but the most likely outcome is that you won't pull it off. In our view, no ABBA cover has eclipsed the original apart from one: Blancmange's version of The Day Before You Came. Given that the original was considered the 6th best pop song in history by NME (2011) and fans have rated it as the third most popular ABBA track in a ITV poll (2010), ours might be a minority view, but it is one we are happy to defend.
First, we turn our attention to ABBA's original. It has rightly received critical acclaim, but invariably in retrospect, decades after the song was released in 1982. The NME declared it ABBA's finest song; the Guardian described it as ABBA's forgotten masterpiece; and Pitchfork stated it was the highlight of ABBA's career. It is among the group's best work, we agree, but you would be hard pushed to say it is superior to Knowing Me Knowing You or The Name of The Game, which have a similar mood, or better than feelgood-pop perfections When I Kissed The Teacher or Dancing Queen.
The original was the last song ABBA recorded together as a quartet. It is reported that Agnetha sang her vocal in near darkness and that the atmosphere in the studio was subdued and foreboding: everyone present knew it was the end of a pop era. This is captured by the downbeat and dimmed vocal performance, out of keeping with Agnetha's normal style. It is one factor that creates the song's wistful and melancholic mood.
The other factor is the music. It is a great example of how music affects the perception of lyrics. Benny Andersson emphasised this point: "To me, when you read that lyric and take the music away it's just someone saying what they did that day — 'I read a book', 'I watched TV', 'I took the tube', whatever; it doesn't say what it really is. But when you put that lyric onto that music you realise something not good has happened. It's a very intelligent lyric."
And wonderful music. The track was recorded at the end of August 1982 with a minimal electronic arrangement that had been popularised by synth maestro Vince Clarke of Depeche Mode. Bass and guitar are used sparingly and there is no piano. The song's distinctive sound is synthesised flutes repeatedly playing a short, haunting riff. Björn Ulvaeus described the musical foundation as "relentless" and "monotonous" and this inspired his lyric of a woman recounting her humdrum life before she had an exciting affair. We know nothing else from the lyrics. We are not even told whether the relationship has ended – it's only the music that tells us that all is not well and her life returning to how it was.
It is a masterpiece but Benny reflected later, "The Day Before You Came is the best lyric that Björn has written: it's a really good song, but not a good recording." And we believe the Blancmange version improves upon it. It retains all the song's essential characteristics but uses a fuller, richer synth palette that fleshes out the more skeletal original. Neil Arthur's vocal is well suited to the task and his performance is even more compelling that Agnetha's.
The cover is not a revolutionary reincarnation, such as The Stranglers version of Walk On By, but more of evolutionary development, perhaps elevating it to where Benny thought it should be. The only change was in the couplet, "I must have read a while The latest one by Marilyn French or something in that style". The radical feminist author was supplanted by the famous romantic novelist Barbara Cartland.
Interestingly, the latest Marilyn French novel at the time was The Bleeding Heart about a passionate love affair that starts after a chance meeting on a train between a divorcee and a married man, which seems to echo the song's narrative. By contrast, Cartland published over 20 titles in 1982 alone! Clearly, in making our protagonist a hopeless romantic, Arthur was being ironic.
The cover received a big thumbs up from ABBA: the duo received a letter signed by all four members and permission to use shots of Agnetha in their video. The cover reached No. 22 in the UK chart, 10 places higher than the original, but a travesty nevertheless.
The ABBA original has the emotional cachet of being the last song the group recorded, but if you want to hear to this fine pop song at its best then listen to the single version by Blancmange.
Or put another way: The Day Before You Came by Blancmange is one of ABBA's greatest songs.
We hereby instate The Day Before You Came by Blancmange on The Wall as No.20 Best Single of 1984
I found this single in a retailer's discount bucket after it had dropped out of the chart. I hadn't heard it but liked the group, so took a punt at 20p. I loved the song from its first spin around my record deck. Still do.Ant B
