“Those Were the Days” is a song credited to Gene Raskin, who put a new English lyric to the Russian romance song “Дорогой длинною” (Romance transliteration “Dorogoy dlinnoyu”, literally “By the long road”), composed by Boris Fomin (1900–1948) with words by the poet Konstantin Podrevsky. It deals with reminiscence upon youth and romantic idealism. It also deals with tavern activities, which include drinking, singing and dancing.
The Welsh singer Mary Hopkin covered “Those Were the Days” as her debut single in 1968. Produced by Paul McCartney of the Beatles and arranged by Richard Hewson, the cover became a number one hit in the UK and Canada,
and it also reached number two in the US on the Billboard Hot 100, behind “Hey Jude” by the Beatles. It was number one in the first edition of the French National Hit Parade launched by the Centre d’Information et de Documentation du Disque.The song was featured on the US version of the debut album Post Card.
