Strictly speaking, not related to learning Welsh, but I can’t resist it…
50 years ago today this fantastic song was released, and I can still remember hearing it being played constantly on the radio then.
“Those Were The Days” by Mary Hopkin, one of the songs released that day to launch the new Apple record label.
And the only Welsh song that I happen to have on CD is “Y Blodyn Gwyn” by this great singer from Pontardawe.
Her version of Aderyn Pur is really nice. I think I posted a copy on the Welsh music topic.
Also, Mary Hopkin is currently releasing an updated version of Those Were the Days. She likes to lead a fairly quiet life now, so tends to release her music with only the help of her family now. Having said that, her family members are at the top of their field. You can follow her on Twitter, or her website. I think it is Mary Hopkin Music.com
Will ask her if she still can find the lirycs somewhere. With the last song about which one asked on FB and has been written by her Chemistry teacher (as she told me) I didn’t have much luck though. But you never know if you don’t try … here we go … Will post the answer back if I get it (which I always did so far).
Pete Seeger’s lyrics of ‘Turn, Turn, Turn’ changed the last line of Ecclesiastes v8, so that instead of ending “a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace” he wrote:
“A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time for peace, it’s not too late.”
I love Mary Hopkins singing the Welsh version!
Now I need to listen again to see if she followed Pete’s amendment which seems so appropriate as a timeless and timely plea.
Brilliant! Thank you so much for sharing this. I pinched it and posted on Facebook and Twitter. I too remember singing this. Thanks to everyone for their comments.
Just listened to Y Blodyn Gwyn as well.
And it is one of those glorious mornings here… I was just been listening to “Tro, Tro, Tro” again and caught sight of a spider building its web, going around and around—it’s that season, “…a time for everything under [the the sun]”.
50 years ago—yes, for some of us “Those were the days…”—at university, skiving off to go climbing in N. Wales, strumming guitars, singing the latest protest and folk songs about peace, shimmying around in micro-mini skirts or bell-bottom pants—and all this when we were supposed to be studying the laws of thermodynamics and partial differential equations—no contest really.
What else goes around—so is new again? Three years ago I led a weekend retreat for stressed-out business people based on the passage from Ecclesiastes, with “Turn, Turn, Turn” as a meditation piece. I teamed up with a lovely young Celtic harpist who has a voice and singing style similar to Mary Hopkins—but sings in English, this being on an island 20 minutes away from Vancouver. It was amazing to hear the lyrics and stories people wrote, see the pictures they drew or scenes they photographed, and joy they had playing with stones when the had ‘time for everything’. It was 48 hours of pure magic.
Comming back here to let you know that I’ve got the answer from lovely Mary Hopkin and it might be the best to put the whole conversation here for you to read.
I’ve tweeted in Welsh asking her about the lirycs
@themaryhopkin Noswaith dda. Ar y @SaySomethingin Welsh fforwm yn ni wedi cofio am y 50 mlynedd o'r gân "Those Were The Days"ac mewn yr trafodaeth rhoedd rhywun yn ofyn am y geiriau o eich gân "Tro Tro Tro". Ga i ofyn os ych Chi'n gallu ddweud wrtho ni ble i ffeindio nhw. Diolch.
In short I’ve told her that ww’ve remembered 50 years of her “Those were the days” song and in the discussion the question about lirycs of “Tro Tro Tro” was put. After that I’ve politely asked her to let me know where we might find the lirycs to the Welsh version if it exists.
Her reply was this (in English so I presume my Welsh must be really poor and I still don’t want to stop writing in Welsh ) :
I don't believe the beautiful Welsh lyrics (by Gwyn Davies) have ever been in print. Hopefully, my diction is good enough for someone to transcribe them from the record :-) Diolch am eich diddordeb! #TroTroTro
And then I’ve thanked for the reply and invited her to read the topic if she has the interest.
Diolch am Eich ateb. Ac os ydych chi'n moyn darllen yr pwnc mae fe'n yma https://t.co/wO54Krxr8Z. Dw i'n siwr bydd rhywun yn trio gneud yr drawsgrifiad. #TroTroTro
I’m all in favour of Pete Seeger’s and Mary Hopkin’s versions of “Turn Turn Turn” (and hey, who wasn’t in love with Mary Hopkin, at the time???). But I’d like to put in a plug for the “commercial” version of “Turn Turn Turn” by “the Byrds”. (and lots of other good stuff by “The Byrds”). (They were probably literally and metaphorically “eight miles high”, but I was a good [square] boy, and never took anything other than nicotine or ethanol (best bitter ethanol, in pint doses, please)., at the time, or since actually.
Haha, yes. I used to work at blood donor sessions in the 70s. The occasionsl donor blood was suspected of being a bit too merry. To avoid upsetting them, we used to mark their donation *CH2…". The chem symbol for alcohol to make sute that no patient received it.