That Was Yesterday

When you dive into That Was Yesterday, you encounter a ballad that, while sharing the melancholic air of I Want to Know What Love Is, possesses its own identity. The song presents itself with an atmosphere that some describe as "gothic," marked by synthesizers that create an enveloping sound, sometimes tinged with hopelessness. Others see it as a "mid-tempo rock" song that, with an emotionally charged voice, delves into the complexity of lost love. The instrumentation, featuring a guitar riff that stands out from the beginning and a chorus that invites singing along, merges with keyboards and harmonized backing vocals to build a powerful and emotional atmosphere.

This piece, released as the second single from the album Agent Provocateur, was written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones. Jones, in fact, considered it his favorite from the record. The recording took place in early 1984, under the production of Alex Sadkin and Mick Jones himself, with Josh Abbey and Jason Corsaro among the engineers. Although Gramm had reservations about releasing two ballads consecutively as singles, the band opted for That Was Yesterday. The track, which runs about 3:50 in its single version, also had an extended version of over six minutes, featuring a different introduction. To accompany it, a music video directed by Jim Yukich was filmed, which, like that of I Want to Know What Love Is, was based on a live performance, this time at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center in Alabama.