She hasn’t met anyone at all, but is instead hoping to meet someone that will turn her colourless life exciting. Suddenly a lot of things make sense: she is not describing her life “before you came”. A different possibility suggests itself: that the narrator is simply unreliable. But considering the level of detail, is this really possible? Besides, how much can a daily routine really change? The trains will still run at the same time, at any rate. (It is remarkable that, in general, adding “I’m certain” or “undoubtedly” makes a statement less certain.) One interpretation is that the narrator after meeting her lover no longer remembers her life from before so different it has become. It is linguistically interesting as well: with few exceptions, the verbs are all accompanied by “must have”, “I’m certain”, “undoubtedly”, “I’m sure”, or “I think”. (Bilhana’s चौरपंचाशिका Chaura-panchashika comes to mind.) This is an inversion of the much more common poetic convention, that of recalling time spent in love, time spent together, etc. The author of the song describes her usual boring routine, presumably to contrast against her much-changed life after meeting the “you” of the song. I think this could be argued to be a first-class example of svabhāvokti, the achievement of a poetic effect by simply and ably describing things as they are. :-) ( a la Peter Cushing lives in Whitstable.) You’ve got to admire the sheer cheek of this, if nothing else. The entire lyrics of the song are merely a catalogue of an average day’s events. It is putatively a love song, but it makes no explicit declaration of love. I must have yawned and cuddled up for yet another nightĪnd rattling on the roof I must have heard the sound of rain It’s funny, but I had no sense of living without aim The latest one by Marilyn French or something in that style I need a lot of sleep, and so I like to be in bed by then I must have gone to bed around a quarter after ten There’s not, I think, a single episode of Dallas that I didn’t see
#ABBA THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME TV#
I’m sure I had my dinner watching something on TV Must have opened my front door at eight o’clock or soĪnd stopped along the way to buy some Chinese food to go Oh yes, I’m sure my life was well within its usual frame Undoubtedly I must have read the evening paper then Without really knowing anything, I hid a part of me awayĪt five I must have left, there’s no exception to the ruleĪ matter of routine, I’ve done it ever since I finished school I must have kept on dragging through the business of the day I must have lit my seventh cigarette at half past twoĪnd at the time I never even noticed I was blue I must have gone to lunch at half past twelve or soĪnd still on top of this I’m pretty sure it must have rained
With letters to be read, and heaps of papers waiting to be signed I must have made my desk around a quarter after nine I must have read the morning paper going into townĪnd having gotten through the editorial, no doubt I must have frowned My train, I’m certain, left the station just when it was due Must have left my house at eight, because I always do The music and the video are non-ABBAish too (gone are the exuberance and the outlandish clothes, the video is almost entirely Agnetha with the others getting only a few seconds of screen time and no action), but confining ourselves to the lyrics:
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