The Day Before You Came...

I love ABBA’s music. Their feel good tunes are especially awesome for roadtrips. Yes, most of the songs are melodic ballads or romantic tunes, but hey, I’m a diehard romantic...it’s good stuff!

I put in my favorite this morning to listen to on the way to work. I leave the office in another hour and head on my way home to Michigan, and so ABBA is a must for a long day of travel, and I wanted to get myself prepped for the ride. I heard my favorite track and couldn’t help but smile...

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 its usual frame
The day before you came

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
Its 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…

It’s sentimental and more than a bit cheesy, isn’t it? But I love it! [Incidentally, it is the last song the 4 Swedes ever recorded.] Did you notice that the word LOVE isn’t even in the song, and yet we all know what the song is about? (SIGH!)

Howard, where are you?