"It is intensely painful to see that one's future has been mostly transmuted into one's past by the mysterious process of time. Yet, time itself is so serene and tranquil it's hard not to think of it as ultimately benign, even as it slowly begins to draw the shroud around us, as it inevitably does. This song captures that perfectly."
~oamericanos69
Many of us are familiar with the Judy Collins rendering of this song. It has always moved me. Even so, when I heard Nina Simone's version in The Dancer Upstairs, it truly floored me. Perhaps it was the song's position in the film. The juxtaposition of innocence and experience in that final scene with Javier Bardem watching his daughter perform was scintillating in its simplicity, this song serving as a backdrop.
The statement at the top of the page was lifted from the Comments section on YouTube. If the video here doesn't play, you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXeh742_jak
The opening track on side two of Judy Collins' Colors of the Day* is "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" Her delivery is heartfelt, poignant and moving. I've listened to it countless times over the years and it always soothes. The lyrics begin like this.
Across the morning sky, all the birds are leaving How can they know it's time for them to go? Before the winter fire, I will still be dreaming I do not count time Who knows where the time goes? Who knows where the time goes?
Time is experienced in many ways. There are the seasons, and there are the days -- sunrise, sunset, sunrise, sunset. Sometimes, when you are longing for something, time drags. Other times it seems to fly.
The birds, in tune with the seasons, depart for warmer climates each autumn. But the narrator accepts the winter, lost in a different kind of time... that is timeless.
Sad deserted shore, your fickle friends are leaving Ah, but then you know it's time for them to go But I will still be here, I have no thought of leaving I do not count the time Who knows where the time goes? Who knows where the time goes?
The second verse addresses departure in a different manner. But our narrator is unconcerned, floating in that timeless sphere beyond it all. The reason is explained in verse three. She is not alone while her lover is near. And though disruptions occur, and he flies away, she knows that he will return, like the dawn, like the birds, like the ebb and flow of the sea. She's in that state of being where she's untouched, nourished by the painful sweetness of things we don't fully understand but accept. And I am not alone while my love is near me I know it will be so until it's time to go So come the storms of winter and then the birds in spring again I have no fear of time Who knows how my love grows? Who knows where the time goes?
The song speaks of mystery, of something ethereal, indefinable. Resignation? Acceptance? Perhaps it's simply that sense of being immersed in timelessness.
Where is this timeless place? It's an interior spatial plane, a place we miss because of the blistering pace of most of our lives. We rush about from here to there, escaping from our selves.
In Psalm 23 the psalmist writes, "He leads me beside still waters." Those "still waters" are within. If we would just be still we could be comforted and nourished by them.
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Myintroduction to Javier Bardem came via the Coen Brothers’ No Country For Old Men. His portrayal of Anton Chiguhr, the villain he brought to life on the silver screen, was more than memorable. It also won him a well-deserved Oscar as Best Supporting Actor. And it stirred a desire in me to see more of his films. (I have since seen many.)
One of these was The Dancer Upstairs, directed by John Malkovich. It's a powerful film on so many levels. The casting is perfect, especially the lead characters played by Bardem and Laura Morante. (You can read my review here.)
In the final scene, post-climax, there's a subtle resolution that takes place. The scene is accompanied by a soundtrack featuring another version of "Who Knows Where The Time Goes?" except it's not by Judy Collins or Sandy Denny, the song's author. Rather, it is Nina Simone, and it's an absolutely wonderful rendition, beginning with a lengthy spoken introduction, both in this recording and also in the film. The purpose of this blog post was, in part, to share this song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXeh742_jak
* Colors of the Day is actually a Best of Judy Collins album, so the song originally appeared earlier, on the flip side of her version of "Both Sides Now."
There's beauty in the silver singin' river, there's beauty in the sunrise in the sky, and there's richness in the simple beauty of this stellar song Bob Dylan penned as a 21-year-old.
About ten days ago I was listening to the Judy Collins station on Pandora when her version of this song played and it made me wish to share it. It's almost incomprehensible how many songs Dylan wrote as an emerging artist those first years in New York, songs so timeless and evocative that they are still being sung today. According to The Story Behind Every Song, Dylan played the song for Artie Mogull, an A&R record exec involved in Dylan's signing, and Mogull's first thought was that it would make a great number for a young Judy Collins whose star was also on the rise. Mogull called Collins to come hear it, and when she did she cried. She was first to record it as a result, and would not be the last.
Though Dylan recorded the song himself, it was part of a series of sessions never released called The Witmark Demos, which emerged in 2010 as Bootleg Series Volume 9, one of my favorite sets in the Bootleg Series. Though tapes of these sessions circulated amongst hard core Dylan circles as bootlegs, the first version of the song to arrive on vinyl appeared on his 1971 Greatest Hits, Volume II, a live recording from his 1963 concert in New York's Town Hall. Throughout the Sixties numerous other artists performed and recorded the song, however, including Harry Belafonte, We Five, Joan Baez, and the Kingston Trio. It's been recorded by countless others, and was even used in the wind-up episode of The Walking Dead. Elvis Presley also recorded itin 1966, which led Dylan to remark that this was his all-time favorite cover recording of one of his songs.
I recommend Dylan's Witmark Demo version, but have included versions by Odetta and Ms. Collins at the end of this post.
Tomorrow Is A Long Time
If today was not an endless highway
If tonight was not a crooked trail
If tomorrow wasn’t such a long time
Then lonesome would mean nothing to you at all
Yes, and only if my own true love was waitin’
Yes, and if I could hear her heart a-softly poundin’
Only if she was lyin’ by me
Then I’d lie in my bed once again
I can’t see my reflection in the waters
I can’t speak the sounds that show no pain
I can’t hear the echo of my footsteps
Or can’t remember the sound of my own name
Yes, and only if my own true love was waitin’
Yes, and if I could hear her heart a-softly poundin’
Only if she was lyin’ by me
Then I’d lie in my bed once again
There’s beauty in the silver, singin’ river
There’s beauty in the sunrise in the sky
But none of these and nothing else can touch the beauty
That I remember in my true love’s eyes
Yes, and only if my own true love was waitin’
Yes, and if I could hear her heart a-softly poundin’
Only if she was lyin’ by me
Then I’d lie in my bed once again
Question: What is the first rock song ever written and who was it's author? Answer: Turn, Turn, Turn and the lyrics are attributed to King Solomon, son of David.
Folksinger Pete Seeger actually wrote the tune for this memorable song which in 1965 entered the pop mainstream by way of The Byrds. The lyrics were essentially a re-arrangement of the opening lines of chapter 3 from the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament. When first released it was called "To Everything There Is A Season."
Seeger's song was recorded in 1962. The only line added to Solomon's poem was, "I swear it's not too late." Oh yes, and the words turn, turn, turn.
Even though we actually had a couple early Pete Seeger 45s, I was not aware of Pete Seeger as the origin of the song. The Byrds, who were bringing some of Dylan's songs into the wider public, put the song on America's playlists. But like "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "All I Really Want To Do" I initially thought this was another Dylan tune, which shows how much I knew of both the Bible and Dylan at age 13.
Roger McGuinn, David Crosby and company pioneered a folk rock style of music, influenced both by the folk scene and the British Invasion. This hybrid sound, with McGuinn's jingly-jangly 12-sting, produced a string of hits that made their music distinctive.
Here's a nice folk version of the song by Judy Collins, also a part of this circle.
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, a time to reap that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
