Who Knows Where the Time Goes

Sometimes a song just hits that spot. Listening to the radio earlier, Nina Simone’s wonderful version of “Who Knows Where the Time Goes” came on. I was spellbound. And completely immersed in the moment.  

Written by folk-rock singer Sandy Denny when she was just 19, the song has an emotional strength that belies her age. Naturally, it’s been covered by many musicians over the years. Ranging from Judy Collins to Charlie Louvin to 10,000 Maniacs.  

This undoubtedly relates to the strength of the original songwriting. Simplicity combined with emotional intensity. But also in its ability to lend itself to subtle re-interpretation.

The song is an intimate reflection on the eternal themes of love, loss and change. The song is rooted in melancholy. There’s an underlying sadness that runs through the lyrics. But if it’s a song about transience, it’s also a song about resilience and connection. About how we handle all the things that fate throws at us.  

Across the evening sky, all the birds are leaving

Oh but then you know, it was time for them to go

By the winter fire, I will still be dreaming

I do not count the time

for who knows where the time goes?

Nina Simone recorded the song at a concert in New York in 1969. In a lengthy, and very personal, introduction she reflected on how we deal with the demands made on us by others, and how time dictates our work as well as our personal lives. This was a distinct shift from the anger or passion on display in earlier material such as "Mississippi Goddam", “Four Women” or “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free”.

But she was posing a very pertinent question: “At some time in your life you will have occasion to say what is this thing called time?” This was at a point where the Civil Rights Movement, in which she played a significant role, was running out of steam after the assassination of Martin Luther King. And she was also experiencing personal disappointments.  

As the early Quaker, William Penn, said, “Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.” So, it’s over to Nina Simone as she starts to play the song, “Let’s see what we can do with this lovely, lovely thing,”