1989. I was obsessed with Mandy Patinkin’s version of this song. I would listen and ache and love the aching.
And I still love this song.
Once upon a time
A girl with moonlight in her eyes
Put her hand in mine
And said she loved me so
But that was once upon a time
Very long ago
Once upon a hill
We sat beneath a willow tree
Counting all the stars and waiting for the dawn
But that was once upon a time
Now the tree is gone
How the breeze ruffled through her hair
How we always laughed as though tomorrow wasn’t there
We were young and didn’t have a care
Where did it go?
Once upon a time
The world was sweeter than we knew
Everything was ours
How happy we were then
But somehow once upon a time
Never comes again
Once upon a time
Never comes again
Oh I just got goosebumps. I have the album this song is on. It’s so sweet and sad and lovely.
24 years before the Mandy version, it was on Sinatra’s “September of My Years” album. I was young then, but the song pulled off the neat trick of making me nostalgic about stuff that hadn’t even happened yet!
Jayne — I had that CD and then I lost it. I need to at least get this song in my iPod.
Dave — Yeah, that’s a perfect way to say it: nostalgic about stuff that hadn’t even happened yet.
Now I want to look this up to listen to it. And Patinkin has a wonderful voice. If he sang about that cholesterol drug, sales would go right up.
I have Tony Bennett’s version on my iPod. It is a wonderful song!
Mandy performed at my school when I was in grad school and I got to be his “personal assistant” while he was in the building. What a phenomenal man. After his sold out performance, he stayed for about an hour onstage talking to all the students who had come to the show and others that we snuck in after the audience had cleared. The last thing he did was his famous lines from “The Princess Bride” and it brought down the house. We found out later that he was sick with the flu that night and running a fever to boot! I love this man!
sam — That is so COOL! I love to hear stuff like that, especially with someone like Mandy PAtinkin because he’s very polarizing. People either love him or hate him. He’s got a rep as kinda difficult and over-the-top — which I agree with on some things, actually — but I love hearing how generous he was with all of you. Sounds like it was so much fun — would have loved to have been there. Thanks for sharing that story. I love that kind of stuff.
You guys have now inspired me — I must tell you. I think I’m gonna start collecting various versions of this song for my iPod.
Didn’t Johnny Mathis do the original? Or is it just a Mathis-like song?
Sam, i’m with Tracey- what a neat story.
By the way – this song has been playing on an endless loop in my head since I read the post yesterday. : )
Glad you liked the story…got more where it came from…just waiting for you to post about the different personalities I worked with 🙂
I also loved his suite of Evening Primrose songs…they always grabbed hold of me and wouldn’t let go. Unfortunately, I’ve lost the CD so I haven’t been able to listen to his voice in too long…maybe I can get hubby to get it for me for Christmas!