SUMMARY: RUNNING TIME: 5:29 Min.
For the 2018 film sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, actress Meryl Streep goes solo on the album’s concluding track.
REVIEW:
Frankly, what artistic performing talent doesn’t Meryl Streep possess? Streep’s vocals are in fine form, but the tune itself leaves something to be desired. While the song’s tone is reminiscent of Carly Simon’s moody 1997 album, Film Noir, the lyrics are just odd without some prior context.
Case in point: the song’s rainy day-in-the-life storytelling seems intentionally ambiguous. Is Streep’s ghostly Donna Sheridan perhaps reflecting on the day before her imminent demise (or maybe a terminal diagnosis)? The narrative’s repetitive uncertainty of details (i.e. as if she is in a fog remembering a specific day’s events) might make one wonder. Or is the song meant more as a metaphor about a contented life and even taking for granted one’s familiar daily routines? In that sense, pondering this tune’s meaning becomes almost a needless distraction.
Still, Streep imbues this downbeat tune with the right touch of elegance – she, however, can’t overcome how the murky context of “The Day Before You Came” supposedly ties into the film. If anything, this enigmatic track is too bleak a contrast to the album’s bubbly vibe.
Note: There’s also an anachronism that suggests the lyrics were possibly touched up for the film. Streep’s Donna refers to not missing a single episode of House of Cards — yet, this TV series wouldn’t have existed at the time of the film’s setting.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 6½ Stars
