Lyr Add: Those Were the Days (All in the Family)

Subject: Those Were The Days
From: BlueJay
Date: 16 Apr 00 - 02:14 AM

Folks- I am referring to the song sung as the theme for the TV show "All in the Family", not the one that goes: "those were the days my friend". The only version I've heard is the TV version by Edith and Archie Bunker, and I can't understand what the hell they are singing in the fifth and sixth lines. This is not a life or death thing for me: I don't intend to play the song. Just curious. What brings this up is that I saw the song's title in the DIGITAL TRADITION database, but when I clicked, it took me to a song called "The Ballad of Bloody Thursday", a union strike song. I tried it several times. I thought to click on that songs title, in hopes of finding "Those Were the Days", but it is not listed in the DT. The DT does list a good parody of the song, but if anyone can add the lyrics, it would solve a mystery, (for me anyway, maybe it's my ears), that's been on my mind since the show started. Many thanks. BlueJay

Subject: ADD: Those Were The Days (All in the Family)
From: Charlie Baum
Date: 16 Apr 00 - 02:24 AM

THOSE WERE THE DAYS
All In the Family theme

Boy the way Glenn Miller played.
Songs that made the hit parade.
Guys like us they had it made.
Those were the days.

And you knew who you were then,
Girls were girls and men were men.
Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again.

Didn't need no welfare state.
Everybody pulled his weight.
Gee, our old LaSalle ran great!
Those were the days!!!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Those Were The Days
From: BlueJay
Date: 16 Apr 00 - 03:18 AM

Charlie, thank you. Actually it was the part about the LaSalle that I didn't understand. I thought it might be something about sour grapes. Does anyone know who wrote it? Or why the link in the DT is screwed up? BlueJay

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Those Were The Days
From: Irish sergeant
Date: 16 Apr 00 - 07:51 PM

Blue Jay: The lyrics are right buut I never understood how a working stiff like Archie Bunker could afford a piece of rolling stock the caliber of the LaSalle. They were very pricy cars from what I was told. Of course the show was a comedy and I suppose that the lyrics were meant tro showcase Archie Bunker's view real or iimagined of the world as he saw it. Neil

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Those Were The Days
From: Joe Offer
Date: 16 Apr 00 - 08:16 PM

http://www.allinthefamilysit.com/ (clever, eh?) is a site that should give you all the information you'd ever want to know about "All in the Family." Except for one thing - that "Those Were the Days" was written in 1971 by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams.

The Digital Tradition "titles" list has a bit of a problem - instead of going straight to the song with that title, it searches for all the songs that contain the words "those were the days," in any order. Those being common words, a search brings up a number of songs. At the top of the lyrics for each song is a link that says "next entire page." If you keep clicking, you'll eventually get to your song.

Doesn't work quite as well as a LaSalle, but it works.

-Joe Offer-