“It was very emotional. There was a feeling that this was the end”: The mystery of Abba’s melancholy parting shot

Swedish musicians Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, of the Swedish supergroup ABBA, sit at Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, May 1981.

Abba Voyage moves into its fifth year next week, but there’s one of the group’s classics that has been conspicuous by its absence in the much-praised, long-running avatar show. For that matter, it was also omitted from both Mamma Mia film and its 2018 sequel.

The Day Before You Came is Abba's own Banquo’s ghost. It doesn’t fit into the hen party version of the band; that is how mainstream culture prefers to view them. A bleak, haunting creation, six minutes long and without a chorus of any description, it’s one of the bravest singles they (or for that matter, any group of their standing) has ever released. It’s also one of their best.