Memories of The Past I (II)
Those Were the Days - Mary Hopkin (1968)
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Once upon a time there was a tavern
Where we used to raise a glass or two
Remember how we laughed away the hours
And dreamed of all the great things we would do
Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way
La la la la...
Then the busy years went rushing by us
We lost our starry notions on the way
If by chance I'd see you in the tavern
We'd smile at one another and we'd say
Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
Those were the days, oh yes those were the days
La la la la...
Just tonight I stood before the tavern
Nothing seemed the way it used to be
In the glass I saw a strange reflection
Was that lonely woman really me
Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
Those were the days, oh yes those were the days
La la la la...
Through the door there came familiar laughter
I saw your face and heard you call my name
Oh my friend we're older but no wiser
For in our hearts the dreams are still the same
Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
Those were the days, oh yes those were the days
La la la la...
In 1968, British model Twiggy telephoned Paul McCartney about a singer who performed on the
UK TV program Opportunity Knocks (the US had a similar TV show in the '90s -- Star Search).
Three-time winner Mary Hopkin was a 17-year-old from Wales who had people talking about her
performances. McCartney returned to London and auditioned Hopkin. He was impressed by her
voice and recommended that she record "an American folk song" that he heard a few years
earlier, "Those Were the Days." McCartney produced the recording session for this song and
played acoustic guitar. (songfacts.com)
Sunrise, Sunset - Sound Track from Fiddler On The Roof (1971)
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(Tevye)
Is this the little girl I carried?
Is this the little boy at play?
(Golde)
I don't remember growing older
When did they?
(Tevye)
When did she get to be a beauty?
When did he get to be so tall?
(Golde)
Wasn't it yesterday
When they were small?
(Men)
Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers
Blossoming even as we gaze
(Women)
Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears
(Tevye)
What words of wisdom can I give them?
How can I help to ease their way?
(Tevye)
Now they must learn from one another
Day by day
(Perchik)
They look so natural together
(Hodel)
Just like two newlyweds should be
(Perchik & Hodel)
Is there a canopy in store for me?
(All)
Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers
Blossoming even as we gaze
Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears
As Tears Go By - The Rolling Stones (1965)
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It is the evening of the day
I sit and watch the children play
Smiling faces I can see
But not for me
I sit and watch as tears go by
My riches can't buy everything
I want to hear the children sing
All I hear is the sound
Of rain falling on the ground
I sit and watch as tears go by
It is the evening of the day
I sit and watch the children play
Doing things I used to do
They think are new
I sit and watch as tears go by
Mick Jagger (1995): "I wrote the lyrics, and Keith wrote the melody. It's a very melancholy
song for a 21-year-old to write: The evening of the day, watching children play - it's very
dumb and naive, but it's got a very sad sort of thing about it, almost like an older person
might write. You know, it's like a metaphor for being old: You're watching children playing
and realizing you're not a child. It's a relatively mature song considering the rest of the
output at the time. And we didn't think of doing it, because the Rolling Stones were a butch
Blues group. But Marianne Faithfull's version was already a big, proven hit song... It was
one of the first things I ever wrote." (songfacts.com)
Green Green Grass of Home - Tom Jones (1966)
To soldiers serving their countries...
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The old home town looks the same as I step down from the train
and there to meet me is my Mama and Papa
Down the road I look and there runs Mary hair of gold and lips like cherries
It's good to touch the green, green grass of home
Yes, they'll all come to meet me, arms reaching, smiling sweetly
It's good to touch the green, green grass of home
The old house is still standing tho' the paint is cracked and dry
and there's that old oak tree I used to play on
Down the lane I walk with my sweet Mary, hair of gold and lips like cherries
It's good to touch the green, green grass of home
Yes, they'll all come to meet me, arms reaching, smiling sweetly
It's good to touch the green, green grass of home
(Spoken)
Then I awake and look around me at four grey walls surround me
and I realize that I was only dreaming
For there's a guard and there's a sad old padre
arm in arm we'll walk at daybreak
Again I touch the green, green grass of home
Yes, they'll all come to see me in the shade of that old oak tree
as they lay me 'neath the green, green grass of home
Yesterday, When I Was Young (Hier Encore) - Andy Williams (1969)
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Yesterday, when I was young
The taste of life was sweet, as rain upon my tongue
I teased at life, as if it were a foolish game
The way the evening breeze may tease a candle flame
The thousand dreams I dreamed, the splendid things I planned
I always built, alas, on weak and shifting sand
I lived by night, and shunned the naked light of day
And only now, I see, how the years ran away
Yesterday, when I was young
So many happy songs were waiting to be sung
So many wayward pleasures lay in store for me
And so much pain, my dazzled eyes refused to see
I ran so fast that time, and youth at last ran out
I never stopped to think, what life, was all about
And every conversation, I can now recall
Concerned itself with me, and nothing else at all
Yesterday, the moon was blue
And every crazy day, brought something new to do
I used my magic age, as if it were a wand
And never saw the worst, and the emptiness beyond
The game of love I played, with arrogance and pride
And every flame I lit, too quickly, quickly died
The friends I made, all seemed somehow to drift away
And only I am left, on stage to end the play
There are so many songs in me, that won't be sung
I feel the bitter taste, of tears upon my tongue
The time has come for me to pay
For yesterday, when I was young
Here, There and Everywhere - Beatles (1966)
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To lead a better life
I need my love to be here
Here, making each day of the year
Changing my life with a wave of her hand
Nobody can deny that there's something there
There, running my hands through her hair
Both of us thinking how good it can be
Someone is speaking, but she doesn't know he's there
I want her everywhere
And if she's beside me I know I need never care
But to love her is to need her
Everywhere, knowing that love is to share
Each one believing that love never dies
Watching her eyes and hoping I'm always there
I want her everywhere
And if she's beside me I know I need never care
But to love her is to need her
I will be there, and everywhere
Here, there and everywhere
Where Have All The Flowers Gone - Peter, Paul, and Mary (1962)
Mankind history repeating itself...
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Where have all the flowers gone? Long time passing
Where have all the flowers gone? Long time ago
Where have all the flowers gone? Young girls have picked them every one
Oh, when will they ever learn
Oh, when will they ever learn
Where have all the young girls gone? Long time passing
Where have all the young girls gone? Long time ago
Where have all the young girls gone? Gone for husbands every one
Oh, when will they ever learn
Oh, when will they ever learn
Where have all the husbands gone? Long time passing
Where have all the husbands gone? Long time ago
Where have all the husbands gone? Gone for soldiers every one
Oh, when will they ever learn
Oh, when will they ever learn
Where have all the soldiers gone? Long time passing
Where have all the soldiers gone? Long time ago
Where have all the soldiers gone? Gone to graveyards every one
Oh, when will they ever learn
Oh, when will they ever learn
Where have all the graveyards gone? Long time passing
Where have all the graveyards gone? Long time ago
Where have all the graveyards gone? Gone to flowers every one
Oh, when will we ever learn
Oh, when will we ever learn
Love is Blue (L'Amour Est Bleu) - Paul Mauriat (1968)
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Blue, blue, my world is blue, Blue is my world now I'm without you
Gray, gray, my life is gray, Cold is my heart since you went away
Red, red, my eyes are red, Crying for you alone in my bed
Green, green, my jealous heart, I doubted you and now we're apart
When we met, how the bright sun shone
Then love died, now the rainbow is gone
Black, black, the nights I've known, longing for you so lost and alone
Blue, blue, my world is blue, Blue is my world now I'm without you
A Whiter Shade of Pale - Procol Harum (1967)
Vintage sound of the Hammond tube organ...
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We skipped the light fandango
And turned cartwheels across the floor
I was feeling kind of seasick
The crowd called out for more
The room was humming harder
As the ceiling flew away
When we called out for another drink
The waiter brought a tray
And so it was that later
As the miller told his tale
That her face at first just ghostly
Turned a whiter shade of pale
She said there is no reason
And the truth is plain to see
But I wandered through my playing cards
Would not let her be
One of sixteen vestal virgins
Who were leaving for the coast
At the moment my eyes were open
They might just as well have been closed
And so it was that later
As the miller told his tale
That her face at first just ghostly
Turned a whiter shade of pale
Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin (1971)
My favorite song while in high school...
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There's a lady who's sure
All that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven
When she gets there she knows
If the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for
And she's buying a stairway to heaven
There's a sign on the wall
But she want's to be sure
'Cause you know sometimes words have two meanings
In a tree by the brook
There's a songbird who sings
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven
It makes me wonder
There's a feeling I get
When I look to the west
and my spirit is crying for leaving
In my thoughts I have seen
Rings of smoke through the trees
And the voices of those who stand looking
And it makes me wonder
And it's whispered that soon
If we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason
And a new day will dawn
For those who stand long
And the forest will echo with laughter
If there's a bustle in your hedgerow
Don't be alarmed now
It's just a spring clean for the May queen
Yes there are two paths you can go by
But in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on
And it makes me wonder
Your head is humming and it won't go
In case you don't know
The piper's calling you to join him
Dear lady can you hear the wind blow
And did you know
Your stairway lies on the whisperin' wind
And as we wind on down the road
Our shadows taller than our souls
There walks a lady we all know
Who shines white light and wants to show
How everything still turns to gold
And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll
And she's buying a stairway to heaven...
The Prisoner
The Saint
Get Smart
The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
"To be a Rock and not to Roll"
respectfully-yours@lycos.com