REVIEW

Those Were The Days - The Immortal Song
October 25, 2009
Amitabh Mitra

I always wonder about Ranu Mukherjee. A prolific singer of the sixties and seventies, she sang in Hindi and Bangla but success eluded her

Ranu is the daughter of Music Director Hemanta Mukherjee and Bela Mukherjee. Bela Mukherjee herself a great singer left her singing career after marrying Hemanta. Hemant Mukherjee gave music to this little known film of the seventies, Bees Saal Pehley where he tried to launch his son Jayanta Mukherjee in an acting career. Jayanta Mukherjee is married to popular film actress Moushmi Chatterjee .

Bees Saal Pehley is known for its melodious song, 'Kyu Hain Diwane Tu Akela' sung by Ranu Mukherjee. The beautiful Padma Khanna does a scintillating dance number with this song. The actor playing the saxophone does justice to his role.

This song is based on the original song in English, 'Those were the days my friend'. Sung by Mary Hopkin, it was a regular number played repeatedly by Radio Ceylon during the sixties and seventies. I used to hear it on our GEC valve radio in Gwalior. A Sri Lankan group called 'The Gypsies' sang it in their own way.

Much later I sang this song at the popular night spot, Karko in Kolkata.

Meena Chopra a well known artist and poet based in Canada writes about this number on Facebook,

'Almost an everyday feature on Forces Request on All India Delhi B in seventies. Usha Utthup then Usha iyer did a very good job with this'

A few years back I was sitting with my Polish colleague at his home, drinking rum when I suddenly broke out into this song. I was amazed and delighted to hear him singing it in Russian.

This song originally was sung in Russian in the fifties and later sung by Mary Hopkin, a Welsh folk singer in 1968, the music was of Paul McCartney. It reached number one on the UK singles chart and number 2 on the US Billboard Hot Hundred.

Sung in nearly every international language of the world, this song remains immortal, a part of a slice of our life predominantly as exciting as its memory.
'In our hearts the dreams remain the same.

An orthopaedic surgeon in a busy hospital in East London, South Africa, I actually belong to Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, its long summers and hectic politics. I edit a print poetry journal called 'A Hudson View', a journal on African arts called 'Inyathi' and dream of going back to Gwalior. My blog on South African Arts is http://www.amitabhmitra.blogspot.com/
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#1
Aaman
URL
October 25, 2009
08:30 PM

Thanks for collecting these great samples of a classic song - I'm sure there must be many other fine versions - would love to hear the Usha Uthup one.

#2
Pat
URL
October 25, 2009
09:29 PM


An American called Gene Raskin (who sang with the "limelighters" and recorded it first) wrote the lyrics for the song "Those were the days", This is not a translation from the Russian song "Dorogoy dlinnoyu" which means "By a long road" The song in Russian Ð"орогой длинною ("Dorogoy dlinnoyu"), was written by Boris Fomin (1900-1948) with words by the poet Konstantin Podrevskii. Mary Hopkin had the biggest and best-known hit with this song

I have a page dedicated to this song on my website

#3
Amitabh Mitra
URL
October 25, 2009
11:31 PM

Thanks a lot Pat
This was never a translation
Even the Hindi one has a different interpretation but the catchy tune remains the same
Would definitely check your site
Thanks Aaman

#4
Ruvy
October 26, 2009
11:03 AM

Thanks for this article and for the songs, Amitabh. When I heard this tune in the States in the late '60's, I had the gut feeling that the melody, at least, was Russian. And the previous comments here have proven it.

Here in Israel, we hear lots of Russian music translated into Hebrew. "Moscow Nights" is an example that everyone knows is from Russia. But otherwise, even Israelis often don't comprehend the actual origin of the music they enjoy so much....

#5
temporal
URL
October 26, 2009
01:46 PM

thanks amitabh:

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 soldier really me.

each time i listen to these words am transported to TSE's

LET us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherised upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question...
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?â€
Let us go and make our visit.

In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

#6
Amitabh Mitra
URL
October 27, 2009
03:25 AM

Thanks Ruvy
Thanks Temporal ji
I am sure you would like this version sung partly in English and Russian by The Leningrad Cowboys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh_h-KdbBrE

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