Those Were the Days (song)
"Those Were the Days" is a song credited to Gene Raskin, who put English lyrics to the Russian song "Dorogoi dlinnoyu" ("Дорогой длинною", lit. "By the long road"), written by Boris Fomin (1900–1948) with words by the poet Konstantin Podrevskii. It deals with reminiscence upon youth and romantic idealism. The Georgian Tamara Tsereteli (1900–1968) in 1925[1] and Alexander Vertinsky in 1926[2] made what were probably the earliest recordings of the song. However, it is best remembered for Mary Hopkin's 1968 recording, which was a top-ten hit in both the U.S. and the U.K. On most records of the song, Gene Raskin is credited as the writer of the song, even though he just wrote the English lyrics and not the melody.
History
Gene Raskin frequented the White Horse Tavern in New York's Greenwich Village in the 1960s and the song lamented the passing of the golden folk days of Dylan, Paxton, Ochs, and The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem.
Although the song was popularized in the early 1960s by The Limeliters,[3] Welsh singer Mary Hopkin made the best known recording, released on 30 August 1968, shortly after Hopkin had been signed to the Beatles' newly created Apple label. Hopkin's recording was produced by Paul McCartney and became a #1 hit in the UK singles chart. In the US, Hopkin's recording reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Billboard Easy Listening charts for six weeks.[4] The Russian origin of the melody was accentuated by an instrumentation which was unusual for a top ten pop record, including clarinet, hammer dulcimer and children's chorus, giving a klezmer feel to the song.
Paul McCartney, who produced the session, also recorded Hopkin singing "Those Were The Days" in four other languages for release in their respective countries:
- In Spain, Que Tiempo Tan Feliz
- In West Germany, An jenem Tag
- In Italy, Quelli Erano Giorni
- In France, Le temps des fleurs
- In Brazil, Pedro de Lara-la
- In Hungary, Azok a szép napok
All four non-English sets of lyrics were also recorded by Dalida and Sandie Shaw with Shaw recording the English lyrics as well.
The UK and US recording's B-side was Pete Seeger's "Turn! Turn! Turn!", which had been a U.S. #1 hit for The Byrds in 1965.
"Those Were the Days" was catalogue number Apple 2 (APPLE 1 catalogue number was given to the unreleased version of 'The Lady is a tramp' by Frank Sinatra, recorded especially in 1968 for Maureen Starkey as Ringo Starr's gift for her 22nd birthday, under the name of "The Lady is a Champ").
Hopkin's version was released on the back of her success on the television talent show Opportunity Knocks and around the time of its release popular singer Sandie Shaw was also asked to record the song by her management, feeling that it should be done by a "real" singer. Shaw's version was released as a single but did not beat the success of Hopkin's version.
In the mid 1970s, after Hopkin's contract with Apple ended, "Those Were the Days" and "Goodbye" were re-recorded with producer Tony Visconti. Only these re-recorded versions can be found on music compilation discs because Apple never allows its original recordings to be used. On Christmas 1975, the President of Equatorial Guinea, Francisco Macías Nguema, had 150 alleged coup plotters executed in the national stadium while a band played Those Were the Days.[5]
In 2005, Dolly Parton released a cover of "Those Were the Days," which featured backing vocals by Mary Hopkin. That year, the song became the title track of Dolly Parton's album Those Were The Days.
Other versions
- 1953 - The original Russian song features in the movie 'Innocents in Paris' sung by the celebrated Russian chanteuse, Ludmila Lopato.
- 1962 - The Limeliters
- 1967 - Engelbert Humperdinck covers the song on the B-side of his 1967 album "The Last Waltz".
- 1968 - The French version of the song, "Le temps des fleurs," was popularized by the international recording star, Dalida. She also recorded the song in Italian and German.
- 1968 - The international recording star Vicky Leandros recorded the French version "Le temps des fleurs" and had a huge hit in Japan, Canada, and Greece with this song.
- 1968 - Halina Kunicka - To były piękne dni ("Those were beautiful days" in Polish)
- 1968 - Violetta Villas - Znowu Ciebie mam (in Polish). Her version caused controversy in Poland as Villas used lyrics she ordered from a songwriter and has re-written them without permission for the recording. As she wasn't happy with this song she wrote new lyrics herself in the 70s and performed this song under the new title of "Miłością znów żyję".
- In the 1960s Mary Hopkin and Sandie Shaw also sang the song in French, as well as in Italian, Spanish and German. Both Shaw's and Hopkin's versions were released roughly around the same time, as a sort of competition between the two, to see whose single would fare better with the public. When Hopkin's album, Postcard, was re-released on CD, the Spanish and Italian versions of the songs appeared as bonus tracks. Sandie Shaw has had all of her versions re-released on separate CDs, split up by language.
- 1968 - Gigliola Cinquetti covered the song in Italian ("Quelli erano i giorni", with Italian lyrics by Claudo Daiano) and Spanish.
- 1968 - Päivi Paunu covered the song in Finnish. Followed by eight other covers in 1968-1991, before the Leningrad Cowboys.
- 1968 - Turkish version by Semiramis Pekkan called "Bu Ne Biçim Hayat".
- 1969 - Mexican version by Los Rockin Devils band, entitled "Esos Fueron Los Dias."
- 1968-1969 - Olle Bergman lyrics in Swedish, "Ja, det var då", reached Svensktoppen wirh recordings by both Lena Hansson (3 weeks) and Anita Lindblom (7 weeks).
- 1969 - Margareta Paslaru recorded the Romanian version of Hopkin's song - "Azi vreau sa rad din nou"(Today I want to laugh again)
- 1968 - Mira Gubik - "Rég elmúlt víg napok" (Hungarian version)
- 1969 - The 5th Dimension covered the song in their album The Age of Aquarius.
- 1969 - Teréz Harangozó (Hungarian version: "Azok a szép napok").
- 1969 - Ivan Rebroff made a Russian version of the song, called "Такие дни, мой друг" (Takiyeh dni, moj drug). The song was a one-by-one-translation of the first two verses and the chorus of "Those were the days" without any rhythm and rhymes. It was found as a single and on the "Live" album Russische Party from the same year.
- 1969 - Shuli Natan recorded a Hebrew version - "כאלה היו הימים" (ka'ele hayou hayamim), to lyrics translated by Mickey Hartby. Later on, Avi Toledano made another Hebrew cover of the song.
- 1969 - Ryoko Moriyama and Akemi Hirokawa sung Japanese version of the song, called "Kanashiki Tenshi (悲しき天使)."
- 196? - Nani Bregvadze (Russian, Original Text, USSR)
- 1969 - Alexandra (Germany)
- 1969 - Brazilian singer Joelma sung Portuguese version of the song, called "Aqueles Tempos (Those Days)".[6]
- 1969 - Saxophonist Dexter Gordon recorded an instrumental version of the song on his album The Tower of Power.
- 1970 - Teresa Teng (Taiwan) sung Traditional Chinese version of the song, called "往日的時光."
- 197? - Irena Kohont, slovenian singer, made a Slovenian version of the song, named "To so bili dnevi". In the same year, the music video was created for this version.
- 197? - Ahmad Zahir, Afghan singer, made a Dari version of the song, called "Zeba Negaram"
- 1976 - Zoi Kouroukli made popular the Greek version of the song, called "Χαμένα Όνειρα (Khamena Oneira)", literally meaning "Lost Dreams", although the Greek version, under the above title, was first performed by Leo Leandros in 1968. The Greek lyrics were by Thanasis Tsongas in 1968.
- 1987 - Tiny Tim, covered this song on the 1987 album; Tiptoe Through the Tulips: Resurrection
- 1989 - Hungarian band Dolly Roll covered the song in Hungarian with different lyrics from the version of Teréz Harangozó. ("Ábrándos szép napok")
- 1990 - Demon Kogure covered "Those Were the Days" on his first solo album "Koshoku yorozu goe otoko".
- 1990 - Flamenco duo Azúcar Moreno covered the song in Spanish as "Cuando El Amor Se Va" on their international breakthrough album Bandido.
- 1991 - Leningrad Cowboys covered "Those Were the Days" for the Aki Kaurismäki short film of the same name. The song was later released on their 1992 album We Cum From Brooklyn.
- 1992 - Leningrad Cowboys and the Alexandrov Ensemble covered the song in the 1992 Total Balalaika Show and the performance was released on the live album Total Balalaika Show - Helsinki Concert later the same year.
- 1994 - Cara Jones covered "Those Were the Days" on her debut album Different Skies. Also, Ground Zero covered "Those Were the Days" on their album Plays Standards.
- 1994 - The Croatian group Vatrogasci (Firefighters) made a parody of this song, translating it into Croatian (naming it "Ajnc, cvaj draj") and making it in turbofolk arrangement.
- 1995 - The Irish folk group The Clancy Brothers & Robbie O'Connell recorded this song on their album "Older but No Wiser". The title of the album comes from the last verse of the song.
- 1998 - The German version of the song, "An jenem Tag", was popularized by the international top star Karel Gott on his best of triple album Einmal um die ganze Welt.
- 2000 - Brings covered "Superjeile Zick"
- 2000 - Ghetto People covered "Those Were the Days". In 2001 they showed the video.
- 2001 - Finnish folk metal band Turisas covered "Those Were the Days" on their 2001 EP The Heart of Turisas.
- 2004 - Dayna Kurtz covered "Those Were the Days" on her album Beautiful Yesterday. Also, New York cabaret artists Kiki & Herb included the song in their Carnegie Hall debut concert Kiki & Herb Will Die for You.
- 2005 - Folk singer, Susan Lainey, covered "Those Were The Days" in her self titled album. The song would later be selected in October 2006 by the internationally aired #1 television show Nip/Tuck; for a scene in Season 3 Episode 4.
- 2005 - Although not exactly a cover, 50 Cent used an electric guitar version of the melody of "Those Were the Days" in his "When It Rains, It Pours". Also, 2005 was the year Dolly Parton covered "Those Were the Days". Parton's recording featured guest vocals by Hopkin.
- 2005 - The Hungarian violinist Jozsef Lendvay covered this song on his Echo Klassik CD Lendvay & Friends.
- 2005 - Il Folklorista covered "Those Were the Days"; Il Folklorista is a project by Gigi D'Agostino and Luca Noise. The remix was featured in the compilation album Disco Tanz.
- 2006 - "Those Were the Days" was converted to a chant by Carsi, a supporter group of the Turkish fottbal team Besiktas JK, Istanbul. It is named as "Opera for Fener" and teases rival team Fenerbahce. The video of the chant on YouTube has been watched more than one million times. It has been observed that even Fenerbahce supporters can not stop themselves joining in when the cheer is sung nearby.
- 2007 - Slovenian singer Manca Izmajlova covered the original Russian version of the song on her album Slovanska duša (Slavic Soul).
- 2007 - Swedish-born Greek singer Elena Paparizou covered the French version of the song, "Le temps des fleurs", which was released on her CD-single "Fos" and was featured on the bonus CD on her Yparhi Logos: Platinum Edition album.
- 2007 - Jamaican Dancehall-Artist Shaggy covers the refrain of "Those Were the Days" in his album Intoxication.
- 2007 - Vietnamese Singer Ngoc Ha spelade in en cover på the new Vietnamese version in Asia DVD 49 as "Nhu la thu vang".
- 2007 - Latvian instrumental cello rock trio Melo-M included a cover version in their 2007 album Singalongs.[7]
- 2007 - Brazilian instrumental band Brasov recorded a ska version in their 2007 album Uma Noite em Tuktoyaktuk (in english, "A Night In Tuktoyaktuk").
- 2008 - Vietnamese Singer, Thanh Lan covered the Vietnamese version "Tuoi Thanh Xuan" on her CD Trong Nắng Trong Gió - In The Sun & In The Breeze.
- 2008 - Bad Boys Blue Heart & Soul.
- 2009 - The German band RotFront covered the song in "Red Mercedes" on their album "Emigrantski Raggamuffin"
- 2010 - The Russian countertenor Vitas covered the Russian version of this song[8] on his album Masterpieces of Three Centuries.
- 2011 - The Iranian Rock Band KioskCovered This Song In Their 2011 Album "Outcome of Negotiations".[9]
See also
References
- ^ "Topic: Дорогой длинною". Second Hand Songs. http://www.secondhandsongs.com/topic/34176. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
- ^ "Recording: Дорогой длинною - Alexander Vertinsky". Second Hand Songs. http://www.secondhandsongs.com/performance/19937. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O5EeBjxhiY
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 118.
- ^ Farah, Douglas (13 May 2001). "Oil Gives African Nation a Chance for Change". The Washington Post. Hartford Web Publishing. http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/35/238.html. Retrieved 9 January 2011. "...a far cry from the days of Macias, who on Christmas 1975 executed 150 alleged coup plotters in the national stadium while a band played "Those Were the Days.""
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnnzUlt_3u0
- ^ "Singalongs > Overview". Allmusic. Macrovision Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1187927. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRZcQy13QpE
- ^ http://www.kiosktheband.com/Kiosk_official_website/Music.html
External links