Those Were the Days

[stoutfellow]

The Welsh folksinger Mary Hopkin isn't well-remembered in the States any more, I think. (I didn't know her name myself until a few years ago; the memory of one of her hits and the help of a British LMB listie led me to her.) She had only two hits Stateside, both in the late '60s, though she was more successful in the UK. What I know of her comes largely from her Those Were the Days album, and I'll discuss some of the tracks from that album under the cut.

One of the parameters I use to classify voices is clarity of tone; Patsy Cline, Sheena Easton, and Jim Nabors are at one end of the scale, Bonnie Tyler, Taylor Dayne, and Kenny Rogers at the other. Mary Hopkin's voice belongs with the former group. It's high and sweet, and if it doesn't display the emotional range of, say, Easton's, there are other ways of achieving those effects, and her voice is a pleasure to hear. (Even when, as is true in a few cases, the song's content is uninteresting, it's easy to tune out the meaning and just enjoy the sound of Hopkin's voice.)

Her best-known song, and the one for which I bought the album, is the title track. By an odd coincidence, it reached the US airwaves at about the same time as All in the Family, whose theme song was also titled "Those Were the Days". The songs, though both nostalgic, are otherwise very different: where Archie and Edith lament the ways in which the world has changed, Hopkin sings of the way she and her friends have changed. The song belongs in the same category as, for instance, "Yesterday, When I Was Young":

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

But where "Yesterday, When I Was Young" ends in bleak despair, Hopkin is more rueful; the last verse ends

Ah, my friend, we're older but no wiser
For in our hearts the dreams are still the same!

Hopkin's other US hit was "Goodbye". It's a rather slight effort - the chorus consists almost entirely of repetitions of the word "goodbye" - but the tune is very catchy and whistleable.

"Temma Harbour" is an infectiously joyful song of a tropical idyll:

Sing a song of Temma Harbour,
Climb a coconut tree,
Catch a fish and light a fire,
Drink some wine with me.

There's a touch of calypso to the accompaniment, and the song always makes me smile.

Hopkin is capable of other effects. In "Streets of London", she takes a clue-brick (o deceptive sweetness!) to an emo friend:

How can you tell me you're lonely,
And say for you that the sun don't shine?
Let me take you by the hand
And lead you through the streets of London.
I'll show you something to make you change your mind.

You think you're lonely? I'll show you lonely! - and so she does, in a vivid series of pictures of the aged, the homeless, and the disabled.

"Water, Paper and Clay" is different again, solemnly pacing through the rituals of life from cradle to grave. It begins with a slow à capella and builds to a multi-voiced and percussive finale, and it's simply beautiful.

"Knock Knock Who's There" is oddly upbeat. Like Billie Holiday in "Good Morning Heartache", the singer is separated - perhaps estranged - from her loved one, but instead of wallowing in despair she imagines his return:

Knock knock, who's there?
Could it be love that's calling?
The door is always open wide!
Knock knock, who's there?
Now that the night is falling,
Take off your coat and come inside!

I won't claim that it's anywhere near as powerful as Lady Day's song, but it's fun.

I'll mention one more: "When I Am Old One Day". In this song, the singer pictures her own old age, running through possible futures, from the daft biddy who talks to the air to the accomplished and still-productive matriarch. Through it all, she seems amused rather than fearful or resigned, and, again, it's fun to listen to.

Not everything on the album is good - I'm not fond, for instance, of "Let My Name Be Sorrow" - but there's enough variety to keep things interesting, and Hopkin's voice is always a pleasure to listen to.

Comments

[dan-ad-nauseam.livejournal.com]

I lived in a co-op house when I was in college. One day, I was rummaging in the bookshelf and found a then-20-year-old score for "Sparrow." First time I'd heard of Mary Hopkin.

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

"Sparrow" is on this album, too. It's a rather odd song; I find the imagery a little hard to interpret.

[filkferengi]

I too have recently acquired a cd called "Those Were The Days." It's Dolly Parton, covering mostly 60s songs, with a kickin' guest list. I haven't gotten around to listening to it yet, but it's near the top of the pile.

Thanks for the thoughtful review; I've been inspired to listen to the title song. You forgot to mention the nifty instrumental intro.