Reaction to ABBA's The Day Before You Came Song

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

Thanks everyone for your input. Please subscribe if you have not - I enjoy doing this for fun. I am a huge music fan and I have post 80 other videos of top 5's and top 10's throughout the last 53 years. If you have any requests - you can put them in a comment down below or email me at [e-mail]. I will do my best to organize them and do as many as an old man can. Much love to the fans who love their ABBA.

[@bennyshawny2129]

Abba's most underrated song. He is beautiful and so sad ... Abba tell stories that we know and have lived ourselves.

[@tconnolly9820]

Not anymore. I think it's appeal and appreciation has been growing steadily over the years and I think it's definitely always in the running for one of Abba's favourite songs now.

[@tuijakarttunen9164]

To me, this is one of their absolute masterpieces. The simple but beautiful melody line, the simple lyrics with no actual chorus, those haunting operatic vocals by Frida in the back ground which she came up with and Agnetha`s lead vocals, absolutely brilliant song. Björn and Benny said they asked Agnetha not to sing as well as she could, but more like an ordinary woman. As if she could with a voice like that.

[@guyinnyc1]

That's Frida doing the background singing opera-style. This song definitely grows on you. Lyrically it's one of their best late-era combining moodiness and ambivalence. Lyrics melody and arrangements are so perfectly matched. Try I Am the City another late era overlooked earcandy...

[@joergen11111]

love this song and AGNETHAS interpretation......unique storytelling

[@jeffstevens4262]

Incredibly, it wasn't one of their better known songs, but like so many other great hits, it's a perfect example of the songwriting genius of Benny & Bjorn. 🙋‍♂

[@Muckylittleme]

One word. Ambience. Such a haunting tune.

[@antonwiderberg7571]

This one is in my top 5 of favourite songs by ABBA. It's such a great song.

[@MarkJohnson-dr4ws]

Beautiful song and, as others say, definitely their most underrated and under appreciated. By this stage (1982) ABBA's music had gone way past their predominately teen base. They were writing for adults, sophisticated adults. The teens weren't buying. But what a majestic song ...just needing an audience.

[@paulecrosby2006]

This is a Hauntingly beautiful Masterpiece ♥

[@halldorra]

Beautifully crafted songs,everyone of them

[@willswomble7274]

THE very finest ABBA song, recorded digitally (!) at 'Polar Studios', Stockholm, 20 Aug. 1982, which Agneta sang in a darkened studio, the end of all ABBA, until 'Voyage' album to be released Nov, 2021! I am booked for the show in the the stadium they are building in east London for my 70th birthday Sept. 2022. Cannot wait for it!

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

I am sure there are some envious fans out there Wills

[@stevewickens1163]

I'm going in September next year too. Tickets were easy to book and cheap. They even offer a patment instalment plan for those who book the dearest tickets.

[@erikskifte8862]

THE VOCAL, THE LYRICS, THE MELODY= MASTERPIECE. BIG MYSTERY TO ME, WHY THIS WASN'T A MASSIVE HIT. JUST LIKE UNDER ATTACK, HEAD OVER HEELS, WAISAD.......🤗🤗🤗🤗

[@ingelaelvyson5862]

Underrated masterpiece, glad you liked it 😊 If you're in to more ABBA, please take a look at " If it wasnt for the nights and "When all is said and done" the lost singles in my humble opinion 🤗

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

Ok...got a long way to go...but a good journey

[@abbagodz]

@@masseysmaineentertainment 'When All Is Said and Done' was their last U.S. Top 30 single and happens to be my favorite ABBA song! :-)

[@holgerschink1341]

This is awesome, brilliant and THX they`re back !

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

Welcome

[@malvanlondon8683]

If you watch the accompanying video - at the end you realise the man on the train (a potential new acquaintance) that could have made a difference to her life has vanished - perhaps for ever. So it's a sad (though beautiful) song. Fantastic!

[@marcodebrabander5751]

everything is done by Benny, everything on synths except the snare drum.. very original song, ahead of its time because it didnt do that well when it came out but now it is a favorite for a lot of fans

[@traindriver35]

The thing I can't get my head round about Abba's song writing is that Benny always came up with the tunes first then Björn wrote the words, but when you listen to them it's hard to believe they didn't come together as they fit perfectly.

[@Germania72]

When she sings "the day before you came", it sounds very ominous. There are quite a few theories about the meaning of the song. Some fans think it's a negative thing that happened to her (she had a normal life until he came and just ruined it) or she had a boring life until he came and changed it in a positive way. Some people think of a woman who had a normal life until this guy arrived and killed her, so it sounds like a woman singing from the outer life (that's why that haunting sound). I read an interview with Benny and he loves that people give different meanings.

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

I love that about music

[@traindriver35]

Yes, I agree with you... I don't things turned out very well when he came. If she's looking back from 'happier times' it certainly doesn't sound like it!

[@georgesyrimis3583]

@@traindriver35 Sometimes the simpler answer is the best. The haunting sounds of this song, including the minor key, is a wonderful way to encode the time she is singing. The song is about the day before he came but the singing is the day after he left. A bold attempt by ABBA to make something beautiful out of daily boredom.

[@stevewickens1163]

Another theory is that "you" is death itself.

[@tuijakarttunen9164]

To me it seems the video is pointing out that she met this guy in the train, but in the end they were in different places in their lives and it could not happen for them.

[@RalphWigg1]

This was one, if not the, last recordings they made before the final break in1982. The song reflects the mood in the studio. The story goes that as soon as the final take ended, Agnetha took off her headphones and left, never to return to an Abba recording session until years later. There's a great, atmospheric video of this.

[@supastah68]

My favorite ABBA song

[@bobtrouper]

I love how the working title of this song is "The Suffering Bird" and you can definitely hear it in that sad mechanical cooing in the song. Beautifully haunting.

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

very interesting title....

[@latifulkabir835]

thank you. there's more. keep going. you gonna love it.

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

Will do.

[@staalmannen2522]

This is ABBAs last recording from 1982. It's a sad song. The end of an era. The contrast to Don't Shut Me Down is huge.

[@traindriver35]

I like your abba reactions.... You obviously appreciate the technical detail they contain. This song was their very last recording, along with 'Under Attack'. They had these couple of songs written after the last album, they didn't do very well in the charts. As you appreciate Benny's compositions may I suggest 'I let the music speak' from the last 'Visitors' album.

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

Thx traindriver....

[@bobbyboko6317]

My favourite ABBA song , covered by a band called Blancmange here in the UK , loved both

[@Bandido894]

4:58 Always loved the haunting synth added 3.verse. Also the last melody line 7:19 is like good bye, both sound almost heartbreaking. ;(

[@vikingbrace]

You’ve found a sweet spot here haven’t you? I love Abba. I have since I was 12. This song style is somewhat similar to other songs around this time period. Kind of ominous and open to interpretation which is what separates it from the other similar sounding songs. Great job

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

I have no real memories of ABBA save for the 'hits' as dictated by American Top 40 radio - I guess I didn't realize how melodic their sound was and how good the writing was....

[@nickchristoforou7850]

Love the hypnotic synths in this and the deliberately “ordinary” style Agnetha performs. Love Frida’s superb operatic backing voice. Such a beautiful tune tinged with sadness - did her lover leave her? Is he now dead. Is she just remembering how dreary her life was before he came into it or has she returned to that dreary life?

[@caelicavideos]

Love your reactions man! 😎 Please do one of “Pity the child” from”Benny’s & Björn’s (and Tim Rice’s) musical Chess! Their first project after ABBA. Search for ‘Murray Head - Pity the child “from chess”. (I’d actually like your reaction for the whole original recording of the musical but I don’t want to push it 😂).

[@glenngastonjonsson7954]

Thank you for shining a light to a very under rated song.. Good work!

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

Thanks for listening - truly Glenn.

[@terjoe6643]

The Day Before You Came and The Visitors are my 2 favourite ABBA songs. TDBYC is musically sad but the story is remarkably uplifting, in a reversal of what they often do in the story. I can hear Kraftwerk's influence in the TransEurope Express train rhythym throughout. The Visitors is mesmeric in confronting the Russian abuse of dissidents and Frida's voice, as always, is stunning.

[@Flatwoodsdad]

Thanks for the ABBA. This is my favourite ABBA song. It's also the last song recorded by them. I didn't suggest it because I was gonna wait till you got some of the more mainstream stuff under your belt. If you like it you should look up their 1982 "Show Express" clip of it, Agnetha is brilliant and it's one of their last TV spots before the breakup.

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

I am taking it one song at a time

[@KennethSorling]

It took one listening for me to be smitten. It didn't help that Agnetha was an absolute smoke show in that curly haircut. But what did it for me was those aethereal, haunting vocals after "the day before you came". They elevated the track from a mundane "day-in-the-life" story to a "Date with Destiny" one.

[@glenonoko4918]

Another ominous song by ABBA is the title track from "The Visitors" album. The song is about a dissident about to be arrested by the secret police. Written at a time when submarines of the Soviet Union were menacing Sweden's coastal waters.

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

I am seeing that one on many lists - I am hoping to get to another reaction on Tuesday.

[@equator2010]

Always nice seeing someone appreciating the nuances of a song like you do, and you hit the nail on its head when you mentioned how the synths created a nice atmosphere. Abba did great by pairing the synths (Vangelis-like) with the haunting soprano as well

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

Vangelis has done some amazing soundtracks over the years - so what a huge compliment that is.....thanks equator for the compliments and for watching. be safe.

[@londonsheraton1]

The haunting thing with this whole song is that he came, but then he went. She didn’t notice how mundane and pointless her life was before. But now when he is gone, she painfully remembers, and now afterwards it’s even worse. Abbas very last song. (Before the comeback 40 years later). Very haunting and sad.

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

Totally agree.

[@Germania72]

I heard this song while growing up. I might have been 8 or 9, but I learned to appreciate it once I grew up and managed to understand the lyrics. It's one of the staples in my playlist now. I love the background synthesizer.

[@dennislindqvist8443]

It sounds very minimalist to be ABBA. The mix also sounds almost unprocessed, like a live recording. Like the Beatles, they wanted to end where they started even though this didn't turn out to be the end.

[@jari2018]

Abba s "lay your hands on me "is a another syntheziser song by them

[@tuijakarttunen9164]

Lay all your love on me. :)

[@jari2018]

@@tuijakarttunen9164 true

[@birgittalagerstrom6264]

Very good reaction !

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

Glad you enjoyed

[@markgwinnell7259]

Keep the Abba reviews/reactions coming 👍

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

Will do!

[@eduardooscar309]

how are You? so glad to see you very well "The day before you came" It is the last song ABBA recorded, although it was not the last single (it was the nexte, "Under Attack") It was one of the last three that barely entered the Top 30 in the UK, a low expectation for what ABBA was used to. It is said to have been recorded in a dark and damp room, to make it more gloomy and to help Agnetha interpret It's a fiction story, a cryptic lyrics by the guitarist Björn and a dark music by the keyboard from Benny I will be honest of all Their singles (I think that ABBA have 27 in UK) this is the one I like the least Agnetha's vocal performance is the best, but She is very lonely without a chorus and with a few of musical instruments These is one of the last TV show express of ABBA in 1982 Agnetha looks alone, as an actress, the rest of the members of ABBA appear after together in the scene I understand that so many fans like it, ranked #3 for British fans in the votes for the best ABBA song , (only besides #2 Dancing Queen and #1 The winner takes it all) I also know that is part of research and musical experimentation of the last years of ABBA But this song is not the style of music that I like, and Agnetha remains as a soloist That is why I prefer his other songs, where the four most involved are, in addition to other musical genres Thanks for your reaction I see you in the next GOD bless you and stay safe best regards from Buenos Aires Argentina

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

Amazing how so many different songs have been suggested for ABBA. They cross genres and span decades with their music. How amazing is that....thanks for the well wishes Eduardo - you be safe as well.

[@iphonad]

Great song, i recommand to watch the official music video, it will make more sense🌻☀️

[@rocco...]

I prefer the live performance done in a studio in Germany where the stage swings around and shows the other three.

[@paulsparks7035]

Should I laugh or cry. Different.( Frida on vocals)

[@HughJaxident67]

Bit of trivia, Agnetha did not sing this at full tilt as it was supposed to be an ordinary woman recounting her experience so was sung in an 'ordinary' woman's voice.

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

Makes sense to me Hugh....Agnetha was very smart....

[@nickmailer1598]

It has been theorised that the "You" is death. Bjorn kind of alluded to it when he said "yes, you can hear in the music that something very bad had happened". Notice the vagueries of the language "I must have.." etc. And that there's a finality. "There's not, I think, a single episode of Dallas that I didn't see". Notice that past tense. It's done. She's referring to something that will never happen again. It's like a fading soul in some temporary pergutory realising she just wasted her life.

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

Nick....thx...you r good 👍

[@christianoazzuro6711]

Not a typical abba song.Benny stated it was a song without a chorus with Agnetha sounding very vulnerable.Working title was "The suffering bird".You better watch the fab "cinematic" video clip.Critics finally gave this song the recognition it deserved many years later.its kind of a cult legacy.

[@sharifuddinsalleh7119]

Yup, I've already subscribed to your channel. Hi, solid review of this song. Wish you have reacted to the music video and not only the audio.

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

I am hoping that going forward I can do more videos - sometimes they get taken down for copyright and lose the 1 hour or so that it took to make and upload. Promise I will though.

[@sharifuddinsalleh7119]

Ooo..ok. trying to avoid the reaction from being taken down. Yup, maybe it's better to be safe than sorry

[@kevhynaleks2631]

I found funny how people trying to explaining and misunderstanding this consequently. This song not made to the pop world level of interpretations, even it's a pop song, but far more complex and touching even the metaphisical levels.... I call this song Abba's Requiem, because Benny Anderson addiction with Mozart is obvious (just hear how "As Good as New" starting), but here he going more further, with it's dark harmonies in the middle and especially in the final parts of the song - these harmonies are concrete reminisences to Mozart's Requiem Confutatis title closing chords! And about the lyrics. The videoclip totally misinterpreting the meaning of the song! I see some intention behind, maybe they thought the original meaning absolutely out of the image, what people thought about ABBA, and they just created this clip to masking this fact....The concrete lyrics doesn't talking about any kind of relationship. It's about a full day of a lonely person, with routin like strict schedule. The big question is - inside this empty, repetiting life, who will make the change, who is this "You" who will came on the next day, changing everything, breaking all the routine? This has no answer in the lyrics, but on the final chords overhears from Mozart masterwork giving a proper answer....Mozart Requiem's last two title is Confutatis and Lacrymosa, where the souls, leaving their earthly life asking forgivness from God, just before they meet with Him. If we enriching this meaning from a single person to the world, we can found the metaphisic level of the song - very much not fitting with pop expectations... Some home made videoclips was able to catching this level of the song, and it's obvious, that if you just hearing, something not okay with that - impossible properly interpret anything from the song first time... Because this "You" who "came" on the next day it's not just a new lover or something very banal thing, but something much deeper. This is why the detailful story telling of a very boring, routine day. On the shadow or hope of the next day all these boring routine revalued as it is - a valueless lonely life. But "Sorry but I have no sense to living without aim".... The "turning off the light" symbolizing the end of the ABBA project once and for all... (This was one of their last songs)...Two marriage finished with break, no way to continue without harmony, without faith...(They needed 40 years to find their faith again - I have a faith in you - in each other, after 40 years of indemnity).... This song is something what very rare in the world of non-classical music - a song with very complex meaning and very unique sounding..... Not something you just hear and could interpret as it is, you need time, self-reflection and knowledge....

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

That is the beauty of music - the best music makes everyone feel a very different way. When music connects to you and you begin to associate it with your personal journey in life - that makes it special. I have now only listened to that song twice and I think its one of their top 6 or 7 songs of all time.

[@theresenydahl9531]

Thank you for another first reaction 🌷🌷🌷🌷 Epic song for many, did'nt gain momentum when it was published but rather 20 years later or so. I believe the song was in the widely successful Australian movies "Muriel's wedding" and "Priscilla Desert Queen", thereby became a big favourite among ABBA"s gay audience🇸🇪❤🏳️‍🌈 Good song but not one of my favourites at all, too theatrical for my taste, sounds like a musical song😃 ps. Btw, Australia is ABBA Nation No.1, the Australians gave them their international breakthrough one year after the Eurovision win with "Waterloo". If you have not done a first reaction to that song, I recommend you do, it was instrumental to the international career they were about to start. ds

[@sharifuddinsalleh7119]

Besides 'Move On' and 'One Man One Woman', would also hope to see you reacting to a few more least popular ABBA tracks, but all are masterpieces for sure. They are: 1. Slipping Through My Fingers- Agnetha leads 2. Soldiers- Agnetha leads 3. Two For the Price of One- Bjorn leads 4. Does Your Mother Know- Bjorn leads 5. He's Your Brother- Bjorn, and Both Girls 6. Visitors- Frida leads 7. Like an Angel Passing Through My Room- Frida leads 8. I am The City- Agnetha leads PLUS the first 2 I've mentioned above: 9. Move On- Agnetha leads 10. One Man One Woman- Frida leads. Enjoy bro

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

Visitors keeps coming up ....I am thinking that has got to be a track I try.

[@sharifuddinsalleh7119]

Was Visitors being referred to as Visitors, the song, or Visitors the Album? For your info, in ABBA's album The Visitors, some of the songs which I mentioned in my list are in that album: 1. Slipping Through My Fingers- ABBA: The Visitors 2. Soldiers- ABBA: The Visitors 3. Two For the Price of One- ABBA: The Visitors 4. Does Your Mother Know- an earlier ABBA album 5. He's Your Brother- an earlier ABBA album 6. Visitors- ABBA: The Visitors 7. Like an Angel Passing Through My Room- ABBA: The Visitors 8. I am The City- New song released only in 1993 as part of More ABBA Gold PLUS the first 2 I've mentioned above: 9. Move On- ABBA: The Album. 10. One Man One Woman- ABBA: The Album.

[@sharifuddinsalleh7119]

ABBA: The Visitors contains a combination of 2 types of ABBA song, firstly, the typical ABBA style, and the other, ABBA new style. Check it out, both styles are cool: 1. Slipping Through My Fingers- Classic ABBA 2. Soldiers- ABBA: Classic ABBA 3. Two For the Price of One- Classic ABBA 4. Visitors- ABBA: New Revolusionary ABBA 5. Like an Angel Passing Through My Room- New Revolutionary ABBA 6. One of Us- Classic ABBA 7. I Let the Music Speak- Classic ABBA 8. When All Is Said and Done- Classic ABBA 9. Head Over Heals- Classic ABBA. Enjoy the journey

[@rpieterson2858]

checkout som faster disco songs of ABBA, on and on - hole in youre soul - does your mother know.

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

Can try....my wife would love them

[@theodorepanglao9552]

Hi please react to marcelito pomoy cover of the prayer on wish bus thank you.

[@masseysmaineentertainment]

Added!

[@eirikrdberg1161]

This song is about suicide. There is nothing Happy about the day he came. Just an illusion. He never came. She just left.

[@klausolekristiansen2960]

She does not remember the day at all. "I must have ... because I always do. ,"I am sure that ..." and so on. And yet she can describe it in detail. That is how monotonous her life was before you came.

[@baconair]

I totally feel there's a sinister undertone in this tune. He wasn't a nice guy, and the secure, planned out, albeit mundane, life of hers was forever ruined.