“THOSE Were the Days” is a song credited to Gene Raskin, who wrote new English lyrics for the Russian romance song “Дорогой длинною” (literally, “By the Long Road”), composed by Boris Fomin (1900–1948), with original lyrics by poet Konstantin Podrevsky. The song evokes memories of youth and romantic idealism. It also recalls lively evenings in taverns filled with drinking, singing and dancing.
“Those were the days” is also an idiom used to express fond nostalgia for a period in the past when life seemed happier, simpler or better than it is today.
Indeed, “Those Were the Days” is a nostalgic reflection on youth, unfulfilled dreams and the bittersweet passage of time.
Mary Hopkin’s 1968 debut single, “Those Were the Days,” produced by Paul McCartney of the Beatles and arranged by Richard Hewson, became a No. 1 hit on the UK Singles Chart and Canada’s RPM charts. The song also reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, behind the Beatles’ “Hey Jude.”
McCartney also recorded Hopkin singing “Those Were the Days” in other languages for release in their respective countries.
In Spain, it was “Qué tiempo tan feliz”; in West Germany, “An jenem Tag”; in Italy, “Quelli erano giorni”; and in France, “Le temps des fleurs.”
Yes, time flies. As I sit on a jet plane, I find myself thinking about it again. September already. Wow!
Do you always count the days until the next legal holiday when you will finally be off duty? Or do you start as early as September longing for Christmas? And do you wish the weeks and months would simply rush by until the next possible salary increase?
Many times, we are simply in too much of a hurry, yet we feel uncomfortable when we suddenly realize how quickly time is passing. We have no time for someone or something — sometimes, not even for ourselves.
When I was still a teenager, I longed to become an adult. Later, I enjoyed listening to my grandmother’s stories that began with phrases such as “Once upon a time” or “When I was young” — stories from her life of yesterday.
After all these years, especially as I observe how time seems to fly like a rocket to the moon, I find myself asking the same question: Are the hours and days of the present any less valuable?
Of course not. Each day brings its own share of happiness and trials. But each day also holds tremendous possibilities — opportunities for us to take the initiative, to act, to change something, if only we choose to do so.
Many of us retreat into the past and forget about our present existence. We create a topsy-turvy image of a golden youth, conveniently forgetting that the past also had its share of disappointments, pain, tears, darkness, difficult moments and desperate days. Yes, there were lost days, too — irretrievable moments of time.
Without accomplishing anything in the present, we dream our impossible dreams, drifting from the past to the future and back again. We forget that between yesterday and tomorrow lies something immensely valuable: today.
And perhaps that is the real lesson behind “Those Were the Days.” Yesterday may give us memories, and tomorrow may give us hope, but only the present gives us the opportunity to live.
Well, now then — if only we know how to make the most of it.
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