For Song Lyric Sunday this week Jim has given us the mission, should we choose to accept it, of playing a song that includes the words Yesterday, Today or Tomorrow. His post Inescapable Concept Of Time tells all. As I don’t want anything – including me – to self-destruct within five seconds, I do accept the mission, so here we go.
I gave this a lot of thought, as there are so many to choose from, and there are plenty of songs which contain all three words, but in the end I settled for a classic from the early Sixties – this one:
That was, of course, Bob Dylan with Tomorrow Is A Long Time. And here are its lyrics:
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
Lyrics ©️ bobdylan.com
Songwriter: Bob Dylan
Bob wrote the song, as I said, back in 1962, but a version by him wasn’t released until November 1971, on the album Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol.II, which reached #14 in the US and #12 in the UK. The performance was recorded live at Town Hall, New York on 12 April 1963, and it still sounds remarkable: if you didn’t know it was a live recording the first clue was probably the applause at the end. He recorded a demo version in December 1962 which has since appeared on one of the Bootleg series albums, and a studio version of the song, an outtake from the June 1970 sessions for New Morning, has also been bootlegged.
By the time Bob’s version was released the song had already been covered several times by, among others, Joan Baez, Elvis Presley, Judy Collins, Esther and Abi Ofarim (!), and The Kingston Trio. I know several of those, but am not playing any of them today, and I’ll admit to not seeking out the Ofarims: what the duo who gave us the dreadful Cinderella Rockefeller did with it scares me, frankly!
I am, however, going to play you a couple of cover versions, each of which I think adds something to the song, as a good cover should. The first is also one which came out before Bob’s first appearance with the song, and you may well know it, as it is on a blockbuster album:
See what I mean? Rod’s distinctive style suits the song so very well, and I love the musical treatment he gives it. As the clip showed, that was on his third album, Every Picture Tells A Story, which was the one that made him a superstar. The album was released in May 1971 and topped the charts in both the UK and the US, selling more than 2.5m over there. It has since been included in the Rolling Stone lists of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time, and to my ears still sounds great today.
The second cover I’m playing is by one of my favourites. I never pass up a chance to share one of her songs, so here is Sandy Denny’s take:
Her version was released on her second album, Sandy, in September 1972. It is perhaps a little ironic that an English folk singer gave an American song a country treatment, but as someone who could listen to Sandy singing the phonebook I’m not complaining. And I’m in good company on that, as Bob himself has gone on record as saying that this is his favourite version of the song, as Sandy made it her own and brought something new to it. Her beautiful voice is further enhanced by Sneaky Pete Kleinow on pedal steel guitar, and by accompaniment from Richard Thompson and Dave Swarbrick of Fairport Convention.
So that’s my contribution for SLS for today: one song, and three very different versions, all of which I love. And thanks as always to Jim for running the show.
Enjoy your day, and I’ll see you again for Tuesday Tunes. Take care 😊
