Blancmange : The Day Before You Came (ABBA) 1984 Stereo

Cover version released by British synth-pop duo Blancmange in 1984

Neil Arthur from the duo was stunned to receive a letter from the four members of ABBA after Blancmange covered their single The Day Before You Came.

The synth-pop outfit recorded their own version of the Swedish supergroup’s 1982 single two years later, with the recording peaking at No. 22 in the charts.

Revealing how the single – which appeared on their second album ‘Mange Tout’ – came into fruition, he tells Retro Pop’s October 2022 issue he was on holiday in Tenerife with former bandmate Steve Luscombe and Erasure’s Vince Clarke when he had the idea.
“We had a Sony Walkman and I had ABBA’s ‘The Singles: The First Ten Years’ on double cassette,” Neil reveals. “Steve [Luscombe, former bandmate] and I both loved ABBA and decided we had to cover one of their songs.

“So we chose The Day Before You Came because we loved the story in the lyrics and the idea of me as this great big lanky Lancastrian singing it.

“Vince said, ‘One day I’m going to do some ABBA stuff as well,’ and of course with Erasure he did.”

On receiving a signed letter from all four of ABBA following its release, he adds: “We were really gobsmacked to get the ABBA seal of approval.”

https://retropopmagazine.com/blancmanges-neil-arthur-gobsmacked-to-receive-letter-from-abba-following-the-day-before-you-came-cover/

Songwriters: Andersson / Ulvaeus
I must have left my house at eight, because I always do
My train, I''m certain, left the station just when it was due
I must have read the morning paper going into town
And having gotten through the editorial, no doubt I must have frowned
I must have made my desk around a quarter after nine
With letters to be read, and heaps of papers waiting to be signed
I must have gone to lunch at half past twelve or so
The usual place, the usual bunch
And still on top of this I''m pretty sure it must have rained
The day before you came
I must have lit my seventh cigarette at half past two
And at the time I never even noticed I was blue
I must have kept on dragging through the business of the day
Without really knowing anything, I hid a part of me away
At five I must have left, there''s no exception to the rule
A matter of routine, I''ve done it ever since I finished school
The train back home again
Undoubtedly I must have read the evening paper then
Oh yes, I''m sure my life was well within it''s usual frame
The day before you came
I must have opened my front door at eight o''clock or so
And stopped along the way to buy some Chinese food to go
I''m sure I had my dinner watching something on TV
There''s not, I think, a single episode of Dallas that I didn''t see
I must have gone to bed around a quarter after ten
I need a lot of sleep, and so I like to be in bed by then
I must have read a while
The latest one by Marilyn French or something in that style
It''s funny, but I had no sense of living without aim
The day before you came
And turning out the light
I must have yawned and cuddled up for yet another night
And rattling on the roof I must have heard the sound of rain
The day before you came
Source: LyricFind