Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I remember that she spurned Pauls affections.

Mary Hopkin was a young (14? 15?) year old at the time. Much was made of her schoolgirl life, and she was portrayed as a virginal talent. Her mother was quite protective. Shame on Paul.

She was 18 actually Paul, born in 1950.

Oh, by the way, an interesting detail i found at the site Peter L. dropped a link to:
I discovered also during my research that there is another song, Russian title given as "Darogoi Dli Mayou", calling itself "Dear to Me", this too is supposed to be a version of "Dorogo Dlinnoyu", this is where it all starts to get very confusing..
Never heard of it, to be true, but the only thing i can say for sure... "Dear to me" would sound in Russian as either "Dorogoj [ty] moj", or "Dorogoj dlya menya", or "Ty mne dorog", just for example, there are other ways to formulate it - not to mention the strange spelling, it's also strange from the grammatical point of view... if it is Russian, of course - that sounds a bit like Bielorussian, but i'm not sure since i don't speak this language...

This is fascinating discussion Sheena.

To me "Those Were The Days" is equally strong in both lyric and melody. It touches on something that is instinctually primal, at least to my way of thinking, and sweeps the singer and the listener away. The minor key stirs the emotions, pulling at the heart strings, all the while we reflect on what once was. Its translation suggests a carol.

My question to you would be, does the song captivate the listener in a similar way given the lyrics in the Russian language, or whatever language it may be? Is it better known in the Russian culture than in Western countries?

I can see where you get your points, Peter. I'll try to explain...
As you might know, lyrics, when translated to the other language by a non-professional translator (i mean word-by-word translation), lose a lot. Both assonances and feeling, associations, etc. It may happen when you translate a lyric from French into English and vice versa, and Russian has less in common with English than French. The intonation, the suffixes that reflect the feeling in original Russian text cannot be saved in English translation, and the result sounds like a lightweight carol. In fact, the Russian text to a Russian speaker brings back memories and associations with many traditional songs and even books by famous Ukrainian writer Nikolay Gogol. It feels like... you know, "once we were young, been on the road, there were many of us... we were curing our grief with a fast horse-ride, never thinking about what happens next, and now those days are gone, we've "burnt" them, like those bridges..." Russian song tradition is much about that. "Those were the days" lyric, however, has a more Gipsy feeling.
How could i explain the difference between "ogon'ki" and "ogni"? They would both be "lights" in English... And i've read some translation of Beatles' songs into Russian... once - i'd prefer to stick at English original, to be true...
And yes, i think it would be hard to find somebody from former USSR who never heard it - i mean the Russian song, of course. But "Those were the days" is also known here...

This is a really interesting global one to one (two to two or more) thing going on here. It is like reading a book then asking the book questions and getting answers. Where else can you do this?

http://storeandserve.com/download/135557/178-Sandie_Shaw_-_Those_Were_The_Days_My_Friend.mp3.html]178-Sandie_Shaw_-_Those_Were_The_Days_My_Friend.mp3[/URL]

trying new link let me know if it works got a number of versions of the song here is version 1 Sandie Shaw

Anybody know where I can legally (pay) download Mary Hopkin's original and that of "Goodbye"? Apple recordings not available on iTunes. Others?

Paul: http://www.grammy.ru/music/download.php?act=dl&singer=Mary+Hopkins&album=&song=Those+were+the+days+my+friend&id=95251 - click on ñêà÷àòü, - absolutely legal and 100% free, but it might take some time... as far as "Goodbye" is concerned, i'll look...

Paul I'll contact you offline and send you the tracks as J J Barrie once sang No Charge

Whilst on subject I did intend to post a number of versions of Those were the days for comparison

Sandie Shaw(posted), Mary Hopkin, Engelbert, Petula Clark, Lenigrad Cowboys, Disco version by some band, Dolly Parton featuring Mary Hopkin. However if really no interest it seems futile to do so on the forum, if anyone is interested in hearing any version let me know, if enough interest post on here or send direct.

Leningrad Cowboys?! I can hardly imagine that, and i'm curious...

Didn't mean to sound too patriotic, but another hint. Does anybody remember an old movie "His Butler's Sister", released in 1943? It was very popular here, partly because Deanna Durbin sang a few Russian songs in Russian in the movie, "Dorogoy Dlinnoyu" was one of them. I cannot speak for sure since i wasn't even born at the time, but perhaps this movie "brought" the tune to USA.
Overall, the music is clearly typical for Russian Gipsy tradition - the key, the feel, etc.
In addition, the Seekers' "Carnival is over" is actually based on a Russian folk song called "Iz-za ostrova na strezhen' (Sten'ka Razin)" - one of the most famous major key Russian traditional songs.