"Those Were the Days" is a song composed by Boris Fomin (1900–1948) but credited to Gene Raskin, who put a new English lyric to Fomin's Russian romance song "Dorogoi dlinnoyu", with words by the poet Konstantin Podrevsky. The song is a reminiscence of youth and romantic idealism. It also deals with tavern activities, which include drinking, singing and dancing. The Welsh singer Mary Hopkin covered "Those Were the Days" as her debut single in 1968. Produced by Paul McCartney of the Beatles and arranged by Richard Hewson, the song became a number one hit in the UK and Canada, and also reached number two in the US on the Billboard Hot 100 behind the Beatles' "Hey Jude". It was number one in the first edition of the French National Hit Parade launched by the Centre d'Information et de Documentation du Disque. The song was included on Hopkin's 1969 debut album, Post Card.

Early history

Georgian singer Tamara Tsereteli (1900–1968) and Russian singer Alexander Vertinsky made what were probably the earliest recordings of the song, in 1925 and 1926 respectively. The song appears in the 1953 British/French movie Innocents in Paris, in which it was sung with its original Russian lyrics by the Russian Tzigane chanteuse Ludmila Lopato. Mary Hopkin's 1968 recording, with Gene Raskin's lyric, was a chart-topping hit in much of the Northern Hemisphere. On most recordings of the song Raskin is credited as the sole writer, even though he wrote only the later English lyrics, which are not an English translation of the Russian lyrics, and not the music.

Later history

In the early 1960s, Raskin and his wife Francesca played folk music in venues around Greenwich Village in New York, including the White Horse Tavern. Raskin, who had grown up hearing the song, wrote new English lyrics to the old Russian music, and copyrighted both the music and lyrics in his own name. The Limeliters subsequently released a recording of the song on their 1962 LP Folk Matinee. The Raskins were international performers and had played at London's "Blue Angel" club every year, always closing their show with the song. Paul McCartney frequented the club and, being quite taken with the song, attempted unsuccessfully to get several singers and groups, including the early Moody Blues, to record it. After the formation of the Beatles' own Apple Records label, McCartney recorded Mary Hopkin performing the song at Abbey Road Studios in London. He said later, "I thought it was very catchy, it had something, it was a good treatment of nostalgia... (Hopkin) picked it up very easily, as if she'd known it for years." The song was eventually recorded in over twenty languages and by many different artists. Hopkin's recording was produced by McCartney with an arrangement by Richard Hewson, and became a number-one hit on the UK Singles Chart. In the United States it reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 (held out of the top spot for three weeks by The Beatles' "Hey Jude") and topped the Billboard Easy Listening charts for six weeks. In the Netherlands it topped the charts for two consecutive weeks. The B-side of the record in the UK and the United States was a cover of Pete Seeger's "Turn! Turn! Turn!", which had been a US number-one hit for The Byrds in 1965. The Russian origin of the melody was accentuated by instrumentation that was unusual for a top-ten pop record, including balalaika, clarinet, hammered dulcimer or cimbalom, tenor banjo and a children's choir, giving a klezmer feel to the song. The cimbalom was played by Gilbert Webster. Hopkin said in 2015, " I did not play guitar on 'Those Were the Days.' Paul played acoustic guitar." McCartney also recorded Hopkin singing "Those Were the Days" in other languages for release in Spain (Qué tiempo tan feliz); in West Germany (An jenem Tag); in Italy (Quelli erano giorni); and in France (Le temps des fleurs). The non-English lyrics were also recorded by Dalida and Sandie Shaw. "Those Were the Days" was given catalogue number APPLE 2. The APPLE 1 number had been taken by an unreleased version of Frank Sinatra's "The Lady Is a Tramp", which was recorded in 1968 for Maureen Starkey's 22nd birthday as a gift from Ringo Starr, under the name "The Lady is a Champ". It was the second single to be released on the Apple label; the first,"Hey Jude" by the Beatles,had retained the catalogue numbers used by Parlophone in the UK and Capitol in the US. Hopkin's version was released following her success on the UK television talent show Opportunity Knocks. Around the time of its release, popular singer Sandie Shaw was also asked to record the song by her management, who felt that it should be done by a "real" singer. Shaw's version was released as a single, but did not match the success of Hopkin's version. At the peak of the song's success, a New York company used the melody in a commercial for Rokeach gefilte fish, arguing that the tune was an old Russian folk-tune and therefore in the public domain. The commercial included the line "The perfect dish, Rokeach Gefilte Fish", where the English-language song went "Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days." Raskin successfully sued and won a settlement, since he had slightly altered the tune to fit his lyrics and had taken out a valid new copyright. In the mid-1970s, after Hopkin's contract with Apple had ended, "Those Were the Days" and "Goodbye" were re-recorded with producer Tony Visconti, whom Hopkin had married in 1971. The re-recorded versions can be found on music compilations. On 25 October 2010, Apple Records released Come and Get It: The Best of Apple Records, which included the original recordings of "Those Were the Days" and "Goodbye". The 'greatest hits' compilation album contained songs by artists who were signed to the Beatles' Apple record label between 1968 and 1973, and was the first multi-artist Apple compilation. On Christmas 1969, the President of Equatorial Guinea, Francisco Macías Nguema, had 150 alleged coup plotters executed in the national stadium while the amplifier system played the Mary Hopkin recording of "Those Were the Days". The tune of "Those Were the Days" was used for the Republic of Ireland football chant "Come On You Boys in Green". In 2011, Hopkin's version of the song was used by Nando's South Africa in a satirical advertisement featuring Robert Mugabe as the "Last Dictator Standing". The commercial was axed quickly, due to the controversy it created and condemnation from pro-Mugabe loyalists.

Charts (Mary Hopkin version)

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Notable recordings