Mary Hopkin stepped from obscurity into the circles of the biggest act in music, almost by accident. It led her to record the smash single “Those Were The Days”, which became a monster hit in 1968.
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Hopkin certainly benefited from the song’s connection to The Beatles, as Paul McCartney was heavily involved in its recording. But the touching heartache she lent to the story within the song made all the difference.
A Big ‘Opportunity’
Mary Hopkin balked at first before appearing on the popular talent show Opportunity Knocks. Born in Wales, she had been singing since she was a young girl and was just 17 years old when she relented and appeared. She ended up winning the big prize on the show.
Among the millions watching her victory was the British actress/model Twiggy. Knowing that The Beatles were looking to start their own record label and needed to find some acts, she suggested Hopkin to Paul McCartney. McCartney liked what he heard and made her an offer over the phone.
Hopkin charmingly explained that she’d have to consult with her mother first, and McCartney agreed that she should. Once she signed with the newly minted Apple Records, she found herself at Abbey Road with none other than McCartney producing the record. But she struggled to get the hang of the song that she was provided.
“Days” Gone By
Paul McCartney heard “Those Were The Days” a few years before when it was sung in a club by a man named Gene Raskin. Raskin had written the English lyrics to music that was penned by Russian composer Boris Fomin back in the 1920s. After trying to convince a few of his fellow British Invasion acts to record it, he presented it to Hopkins.
On the first day of recording, Hopkin as a teenager didn’t know how to sing the song, considering the narrator is older and looking back to her youth. After failing to get anything done that day, she went home and received a phone call from John Lennon, who encouraged her with a pep talk. Hopkin came back the next day and delivered a powerful vocal.
McCartney had the idea to include the cymbalom, a keyboard that’s struck by hammers, as the main instrumental driving force. Meanwhile, Richard Hewson, who’d had no previous experience in pop music, did the arrangement. All these disparate elements came together in a song that sounded as if it were beamed in from some time in antiquity.
Behind the Lyrics of “Those Were The Days”
The narrator of “Those Were The Days” takes us through the years, her focus on a tavern that once housed all her good times. “Remember how we laughed away the hours,” she recalls. But time interfered with not just the experiences, but the people. “We lost our starry notions on the way,” she laments.
She returns to the tavern as an older, sadder woman. “In the glass, I saw a strange reflection,” she muses. “Was this lonely woman really me?” Luckily, she finds an old friend, and that eases her pain. “Oh, my friend, we’re older but no wiser,” Hopkins laments. “For in our hearts, the dreams are still the same.”
In a bit of self-fulfilling prophecy, the chorus became the ultimate barroom sing-along. Mary Hopkin’s biggest hit, “Those Were The Days”, topped charts worldwide, but got stuck at No. 2 in the US. The song that kept it out of the top? Ironically enough, “Hey Jude”, by her good friends The Beatles.
Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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