We were young,we were reckless and daring. We grew up in the 50's and 60's during the birth of R&R and we had the time of our lives. Today, it could never be duplicated the fun we had and the things we experienced.
Well, there were the killing fields of the Vietnam War, and John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated... but in between those events, there was the beautiful music, the wild days and nights, and the magic of growing up and breath-taking explorations and wondering what we would be when we grew up. I'm still wondering and hoping, even though I now have strong suspicions that I will never get there... Ahhhh, but still those were the days...
Lost my wife of 44 years (cancer) February 12 of this year. It has been harder than I thought it would be. This damn song (the parts I could remember) has been running thorough my head for the last three or four days, had to look it up. We pretty much did get to live the life we choose, but you always think you will get one more day together, until you don't. Damn.
My heart goes out to you, Gerald. She sounds like a lovely person, and I know how you must miss her. You AND her were lucky people to have known each other.
I had a crush on Mary and when I worked in London I dated a girl called Margaret who was the doppelganger of Mary. I can listen to this over and over again. Love you Mary ❤💋
Nostalgia ain't what it used to be! ;) Lovely Russian folk song produced by Paul McCartney with a hauntingly beautiful arrangement by Richard Anthony Hewson (RAH Band) and exquisitely sung by Mary.
+Phil Watson Yes, Boris Fomin wrote this piece with original name " Daroga Dlynaya ", in English " The Long Road ", funny thing my name is Alex Fomin, my parents now deceased were Russian, holy batman, am I related to Boris?
+Norman Witt Yes, when we are young we all think it will go on and on, but at age 70, I know now it doesn't, but I still love the song and its' sentiment.
Whenever I hear this song I am immediately transported back to a pub in Nottingham in 1968, when I first heard the song by Mary Hopkin. It has remained one of my favourite songs ever since.
The pub is called The Market Side,so called because it was adjacent to Sneinton Market. I believe it is closed now.Try The Bell Inn and The Trip To Jerusalem in town. Regards G
Just loved this song in high school, thought the lyrics were wonderful. Over the decades, I've found the lyrics more profound, and haunting. Still love it!
So much memories behind this song. From my high school, college and until now that my breath is about to end, living in senior housing. Thank you for this.
I had the tremendous pleasure of meeting mary, way back in the 1960s, when she went to birchgrove to say goodbye to her 2 school girl friends ,before she departed to london to sing with the beatles, we spent some time together, time that I will treasure forever. bless her.
To all of you who have commented and still in this world. I heard this song on last Sunday in my car radio in the retro station Gold FM of Sri Lanka which can be heard on the jnternet. They still play these ❤😊😊😊❤❤😊❤😊😊
Where dreams end and at childhood, or a tavern of the youth? The days after that, for a "thinking" and "doing" person, are much better in a free society. We have to dream more than just getting a job or coloring your hair blue though.
There is one line in this song that I do not like. "We are older but no wiser, because in our hearts, our dreams are still the same." Where does the writer think greatness comes from, slouches? What stopped you from achieving your dreams? Ask Preston Thomas Tucker. (look him up)
such a beautiful and powerful song about how fast life moves along... especially when we aren't paying attention... one of my favorite songs as a child ❤️
Souvenir de mon 'service militaire' en 1968-69 séparé de ma future épouse pendant 12 mois. Nous sommes toujours heureux ensemble depuis . 55 ans de bonheur.
I was born in 1968, but I remember hearing this song during my childhood. It hits me differently now, as I remember people and times in my life I cannot return to, maybe not even in my dreams. If you are a young person, treasure the people in your life for these are the memories you will cherish later.
Me too. Born in November I assume it was on the radio on the way to JSMC. In Nov 2000 I heard Breathless 4 times on the radio driving between the delivery room and home to let the dogs out, lol.
Once upon a time there was a tavern Where we used to raise a glass or two Remember how we laughed away the hours Think 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...
The Grim Reaper let the guy write what he wants it’s called freedom of speech and by the way my date of birth and Social Security Number and three fingers on my left hand all count 666
The Grim Reaper and in 1983 in Basic Training at Fort Benning Georgia I told John Travolta I had a Daughter in Alaska named Jewel and he met her before I did and he sings on a CD 💿 with my first born
The Grim Reaper and Jewel’s father gave me Jewel’s mother’s hand in marriage at an LRY Conference in Toronto Canada September 1,1973 because I had a Draft Card for the Vietnam War
The year I turned 9 years old (1968) my parents gave me a record player along with the 45 of this song, which was the first record I played on it. I loved the song back then and I still love it now. Of course, it has a more poignant meaning now than it did over 50 years ago.
I was 11 years old when my mother bought my sister and i a record player, and the first record we played on it was the 'Carpenters' song 'Rainy Days and Mondays' ( 1971 )
........the other night I stood and stared at the rubble where the taverns once stood and I sang this song after my companion said "those were the days". In the River I saw empty reflections where boats would dock, and happy times were had.....so sad. And I ask myself will we ever have fun like that again?
The body ages, but the heart is forever young. Get a group of your old friends together for a cook out or a camp out, or a couple of hours at a cozy pub; you don't have to be young and rowdy to have fun.
Dear Nae Nae.."Fun like that Again" ?...Oh Hell Yes Hon..ya just have to look in the right Places in real Life...NOT on the Big BS Cobweb here.. If Assholes could Fly...This place would be an International Air Port.
Yes... Go ahead and make a crazy whirlpool with our wild and crazy antics in those days. I loved them. Wish I could go back and stay there and never leave. Kalgon take me away!!!!!
When I first heard those were the days ..Mary Hopkins I was working in Wales as an apprentice away from home.. it came on in a bar Bistro where you got free cheese if you bought a bottle of wine I remember thinking I'll remember this moment I had my whole life in front of me I'm glad I still can remember it now.. I am in the Autumn of my years :)
hammy dave 1968 I was a young 18 years old when this song was being played on the Radio. I think back to the yr. 1968 I got married in that year. Mary a very beautiful Women.
I was a young punk undergraduate when this song was released. I loved this song. The Eastern European vibe and the sentiments captured my attention. I am now in my 70's - a doctoral level education, a 20-year military career, a 20-year clergy career, three dead-in-the-water marriages and a lifetime of personal loss all part of my life experience. I still love this song, and I can vouch for its sentiments. It's true; it's really true!!
they would not have chosen her if she wasn't. Plenty of 65 year olds who could do this song the same way, but they just don't look the same. And looks do sell
This song takes me to half a century ago to "those days" that I was a little happy boy ... I LOVE Mary Hopkin's voice. She literally and figuratively is a golden girl. ❤
I remember this song like if it was sang yesterday . I was young and so crazy about her voice. Those days were so much fun and bring me so many good memories.
I will always be amazed by the wisdom of many of the young in the sixties and seventies. I'm afraid it has been lost over the years. I think the post WWII world had something to do with it. I'm old now and realize the timelessness of this song. Each generation has its tavern.
The best thing about youth is believing dreams can come true. Suddenly you're in your fifties and you realise you don't have dreams anymore. Life has taken you places you'd never thought you'd find yourself in and you can't find your way out.
Hi I am apparently older than you. True BUT there are only two options: live your life or get-out. I don't recommend the latter, it is somewhat final and one would never see a Spring day again. So one must say "sod it" and make the very best of all the remaining time - why not? Do your best to have a good life from here and very good luck to you.
Personally I have found my fifties to be a highly interesting decade. I have been in hospital four times, twice of which I have been given the last rites. Live the life given you by God. Most of my school friends are dead due to their disabilities including one who suffocated to death at the age of eight years old under her bed clothes because she was to weak to remove the blankets. One friend who died aged sixteen, another at the age of seventeen. I am going to be sixty next month and the doctors said I would be dead before I was thirty years old. If you get to be eighty you will think being sixty is young. I had a friend who thought my father was young when my father became seventy. Do not waste your life. Do good to others, try to heal any resentments you may have. Lovingly obey God and serve others and you will not have wasted your life.
@@ingridlinbohm7682 This is the best advice I've had in a long time. Greatly appreciate your input. It gives me peace and hope. Thank you Ms. Ingrid 🥰💚
I was born at the end of 1964, yet I can clearly remember growing up with this song in the background. Be it on the radio or my sisters record player. I can remember this but haven't got a clue what I ate yesterday!
I was nine years old when this song was released, little realising how true it would become for me in my teenage years. I miss those days in the Inn, playing darts, drinking beer and the sound of youthful laughter.
Thanks - those were the days of my youth that now seem like another world. We should never look back but sometimes it's impossible not to, the good thing is we tend to only remember the good times and what good times we had!
Respectfully, it is not true that "We should never look back..." What is important is not to get stuck in the past. Maril and I had really good times, and really bad times together (we lost a daughter), but overall, this song gets it. "The busy years went flying by us..."). And here we are, with our memories and whatever life is left before us. This song is probably the best definition of 'bittersweet' ever written.] God, I miss her.
This is a winter-time song, as I remember it. It came out in the winter and was a hit during the winter. And it evokes, with its "looking through the window into the tavern" from out in the cold-type feel, a sense of winter. And that's how I'll always remember it, as a winter-time song.
Every time I hear this song, I am in my school uniform and getting ready to walk to school, but I wouldn't mind being eleven all over again. happy days,
Wow! I haven't heard this song since I was a child. I never knew who sang this and then I find out that Mary not only had an angelic voice, she had an angelic face to go with it.
many years ago,a dishwasher i worked with his name toni from cuba a nice fellow,one day, i've bought my cassette player in to work,with a mix tape of beatles and other apple artists and mary hopkin's ''those were the days''came playing out and toni was happy listen to it,i gave toni the cassette player and tape, sadly ton was a heavy smoker and died of cancer,i think of him whenever i play this song.
The first time I heard this song, I must have been 13 or 14 years old. It didn't impress me much. But now I'm 63, and it seems extremely powerful to me.
I was 5 when this song was out, all I remembered was the chorus. I'm 55 now and have rediscovered this song, and yes, it's extremely powerful to me also.
My goodness Mary Hopkin was so gorgeous back then! I just loved that song! I was 6 in 1968. Detroit Tigers were World Series champions, Motown was at its finest with all the great talent. Bob Seger was paying his dues all over town with Glenn Frey. Ted Nugent& the Amboy Dukes, Grand Funk Railroad, The Who and Cream at the Grande Ballroom on Grand River south of Joy Rd. Led Zeppelin at the Michigan Palace downtown with Jethro Tull warming them up. It will never be that great again. My sister was 11 years older than me so that's how I was aware of that stuff! Incredible!
Its only as you get older you realise just how poignant these lyrics are. I have no regrets, but wouldn't it be nice to do it all over again, yes those were the days.
Tenía 11 años cuando está canción se escuchaba en la radio Me trae recuerdos de tiempos felices Hoy tengo 66 años y retrocedí en el tiempo y vi a mis padres y hermanas a mi sobrinito de 3 años Hoy ellos ya están en el cielo Que bellos recuerdos con esa dulce voz Que pena que esos tiempos ya no regresen
I can really say that those where the days as a young boy now I"am 62 O how I wish I could turn back the hand of time most of all the kid's I hanged with have since passed bad choices I thank God he got into the right direction in life.
Percy, according to Wiki the first release of the song was in 1924. The lyric was written by Eugene Raskin (It's a Jewish name) and the tune by Boris Fomin. So you can't say it's a Russian folk song :) stylized like a Russian folk song
