Those Were the Days

Writing about "MacArthur Park" put a bee in my bonnet. A few weeks ago I wrote about "Hey Jude," so why not comment on a few more hits from 1968, which was an awesome year for music. I happened across a video on Facebook of Mary Hopkin singing "Those Were the Days," which reached number two on the U.S. charts and was number 30 for the year. (This song should not be confused with the opening theme for All in the Family, which was initially called Those Were the Days).

Hopkin was an eighteen-year-old Welsh singer, and one of the first artists signed by the Beatles' fledgling record label, Apple. Paul McCartney produced the record himself. What I did not know until yesterday was that it was a Russian tune that goes back until at least 1925, and that lyrics were put to it by Gene Raskin. The Limeliters recorded it in the early '60s.

"Those Were the Days" is essentially a song about regret, and if it seems strange that a teen-aged girl should sing a song about being old and not accomplishing what she wanted to when she was young, she does have a beautiful voice. The refrain explains how life was when the singer was young and carefree:

"Those were the days, my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance, forever and day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way."

I have a feeling that most teens and people in their early twenties feel this way--they are going to reach all their goals and make a mark on the world and be the generation that changes things for the better. And, of course, it doesn't turn out that way. I was in theater in college, and I'm sure like me, most of my colleagues imagined a life in theater, if not as stars then surely as working professionals, exercising their creativity. Except for a few people (costume designer Mark Bridges and actor/comedian Colin Quinn) it didn't turn out that way. I've caught up with a lot of old classmates on Facebook and most of them are in regular jobs, though some are in show business: one is a professional magician and another is a cameraman for television.

The song goes on to express how bittersweet it is to remember those halcyon days, when everything seemed possible. If the message is sad, it has a very wistful sound to it, and not in the way nostalgia is defined (it is technically an illness) but more a fond remembrance. Since it's a Russian song, it has an Eastern European feel to it, especially by adding a balalaika, a clarinet, and a dulcimer. It also has a banjo, which I think makes the song that much more exceptional.

I hear this song a lot on the stations I listen to on Sirius/XM, such as the Classic Vinyl channel and the '60s station. Every time I hear it sticks with me for a day or two. It's really kind of perfect the way McCartney produced it, Richard Hewson arranged it, and Mary Hopkin sang it.

Hopkin would have a few more hits, notably "Goodbye," which McCartney himself wrote, but she faded from view to raise a family but came back and was an actress and performed concerts. She now, of course, has her own Web site.