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進入1982年﹐ABBA 4位成員均各有各忙﹐Björn Ulvaeus及 Benny Andersson正預備與 Tim Rice 創作音樂劇 Chess﹐Agnetha Fältskog及 Anni-Frid也忙於籌備自己的個人英語專輯﹐然而4人還是再聚首為新專輯灌錄了6首歌曲﹐可是最終專輯發不成﹐卻變成了一套新曲加精選的雙唱片集“The Singles: The First Ten Years”(1982/Polydor)。

有一點筆者感到很有趣﹐就是每逢甚麼樂團歌手發行首張精選以 Vol.1﹑Part 1之類命名﹐似乎都沒有好結果﹐印象中便有 Daryl Hall & John Oates﹑Backstreet Boys等﹐所以每次看到 ABBA這套精選﹐總會不禁發笑﹐相信他們命名為首個 15年的時候﹐似乎沒想到還會否有第2個15年﹐因為發了這套精選後﹐ABBA也告拆夥了。

記得當時因為沒正式擁有一張 ABBA專輯﹐故此曾計劃購買這套超值精選的﹐而且還打算選購CD呢。可是當時因為 CD價錢昂貴﹐自己挑選的CD習慣都是 Classical﹐故此當同期 Carpenters也發行了一套雙CD精選﹐經過一番考慮下﹐還是選了 Carpenters。

雖然 ABBA灌錄了6首新歌﹐不過這套精選卻只收錄了兩曲而已﹐首張單曲為The Day Before You Came。

The Day Before You Came (1982/Polar/Polydor) Track List:
01 The Day Before You Came
02 Cassandra

許多年前欣賞這電影Nine 1/2 Weeks (1986) ﹐才首次明白熱鬧喧嘩中的難過﹐ABBA很少有節奏緩慢的歌曲﹐然而他們有節奏的歌曲也能表達箇中悲傷﹐The Day Before You Came便是一例﹐從MV中更能突顯Agnetha Fältskog 演繹帶來的感傷。

The Day Before You Came﹕原收錄於“The Singles: The First Ten Years”(1982/Polydor) 精選輯中。
(Benny Andersson / Björn Ulvaeus)


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

**********

The Day Before You Came在英國取得第32位﹐至於芬蘭﹑比利時﹑荷蘭﹑瑞典﹑瑞士德國均是流行榜Top 5歌曲﹐而澳洲則取得第48位。這是精選中首張單曲﹐然而實際上它是4人灌錄的最後一首歌曲。至於The Day Before You Came的 B Side 也是一首全新歌曲﹐名為Cassandra。

Cassandra﹕原收錄於“The Day Before You Came”的 B Side。
(Benny Andersson / Björn Ulvaeus)


Down in the street they're all singing and shouting
Staying alive though the city is dead
Hiding their shame behind hollow laughter
While you are crying alone on your bed

Pity Cassandra that no one believed you
But then again you were lost from the start
Now we must suffer and sell our secrets
Bargain, playing smart, aching in our hearts

Sorry Cassandra I misunderstood
Now the last day is dawning
Some of us wanted but none of us would
Listen to words of warning
But on the darkest of nights
Nobody knew how to fight
And we were caught in our sleep
Sorry Cassandra I didn't believe
You really had the power
I only saw it as dreams you would weave
Until the final hour

So in the morning your ship will be sailing
Now that your father and sister are gone
There is no reason for you to linger
You're grieving deeply but still moving on
You know the future is casting a shadow
No one else sees it but you know your fate
Packing your bags, being slow and thorough
Knowing, though you're late, that ship is sure to wait

Sorry Cassandra I misunderstood
Now the last day is dawning
Some of us wanted but none of us would
Listen to words of warning
But on the darkest of nights
Nobody knew how to fight
And we were caught in our sleep
Sorry Cassandra I didn't believe
You really had the power
I only saw it as dreams you would weave
Until the final hour

I watched the ship leaving harbour at sunrise
Sails almost slack in the cool morning rain
She stood on deck, just a tiny figure
Rigid and restrained, blue eyes filled with pain
Sorry Cassandra I misunderstood
Now the last day is dawning
Some of us wanted but none of us could
Listen to words of warning
But on the darkest of nights
Nobody knew how to fight
And we were caught in our sleep
Sorry Cassandra I didn't believe
You really had the power
I only saw it as dreams you would weave
Until the final hour

I'm sorry Cassandra
I'm sorry Cassandra



ABBA Official Website: http://www.abbasite.com



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