And I am not alone while my love is near me/
I know it will be so until it’s time to go.

Fairpoint Convention’s “Who Knows Where Time Goes” is an amazing song about love and the passage of time. Time passes so quickly regardless–but isn’t it so much better when it is with someone you love? And the time passes so much faster. But this is no reason to be afraid of time. When you are with someone you love, your love can grow as the time goes.

Sandy Denny wrote the song and sings lead. She was lead singer of Fairpoint Convention and the Strawbs. But this was the song that put her in the history books. Her version of “Who Knows Where Time Goes” with Fairpoint Convention is somewhat folk-rock, but there are other arrangements by her that offer other sounds.

You must check out Nina Simone’s version of “Who Knows Where Time Goes”. Simone’s version seems to focus on the theme of Time more than Love, simply due to her phrasing. It is a live performance and is amazing. It definitely elevates the ranking on this list to have two beautiful versions that are so different.

Simone is who you want to cover your song. She elevates every song she sings with her beautiful reinterpretations and expert piano playing. Her voice is so unique.

Who Knows Where Time Goes? Lyrics

Across the evening sky, all the birds are leaving.
But how can they know it’s time for them to go?
Before the winter fire, I will still be dreaming,
I have no thought of time.

For who knows where the time goes?
Who knows where the time goes?

Sad, deserted shore, your fickle friends are leaving.
Ah, but then you know it’s time for them to go.
But I will still be here, I have no thought of leaving.
I do not count the time.

For who knows where the time goes?
Who knows where the time goes?

And I am not alone while my love is near me.
I know it will be so until it’s time to go.
So come the storms of winter and then
The birds in spring again,
I have no fear of time.

For who knows how my love grows?
And who knows where the time goes?

written Sandy Denny of Fairpoint Convention

I want to know do I stay or do I go…

At the beginning of “The Fairest Of Seasons”, Nico is contemplating whether her relationship has run its course. At this point she is not sure. Should I get out while things are good? It seems they’ve plateaued or at the very least it wasn’t the love of her life that she was looking for.  But at night, it is so easy to just stay in something that is comfortable.

When the morning comes, she begins to see things a little clearer–though she still acknowledges leaving will be a difficult decision. What if she regrets it? Sure she is young. There is plenty of time to find someone. Who says she couldn’t come back if she changes her mind anyway?

In the end, Nico decides that the time is now to leave. It brings her a sort of relief whereas before she was terrified. So, she decides to leave in the fairest of the seasons.

While the lyrics in Nico’s “The Fairest of Seasons” are great, the melody and delivery by Nico are what make this a classic. We can hear Nico struggle with her decision in her voice. She sings the song with a melancholy because as she said, there is nothing really wrong, the relationship has just run its course, and parting from a loved one is hard.

The Fairest Of Seasons Lyrics

Now that it’s time
Now that the hour hand has landed at the end
Now that it’s real
Now that the dreams have given all they had to lend
I want to know do I stay or do I go
And maybe try another time
And do I really have a hand in my forgetting?

Now that I’ve tried
Now that I’ve finally found that this is not the way,
Now that I turn
Now that I feel it’s time to spend the night away
I want to know do I stay or do I go
And maybe finally split the rhyme
And do I really understand the undernetting?

Yes and the morning has me
Looking in your eyes
And seeing mine warning me
To read the signs carefully.

Now that it’s light
Now that the candle’s falling smaller in my mind
Now that it’s here
Now that I’m almost not so very far behind
I want to know do I stay or do I go
And maybe follow another sign
And do I really have a song that I can ride on?

Now that I can
Now that it’s easy, ever easy all around.
Now that I’m here
Now that I’m falling to the sunlights and a song
I want to know do I stay or do I go
And do I have to do just one
And can I choose again if I should lose the reason?

Yes, and the morning
Has me looking in your eyes
And seeing mine warning me
To read the signs more carefully.

Now that I smile,
Now that I’m laughing even deeper inside.
Now that I see,
Now that I finally found the one thing I denied
It’s now I know do I stay or do I go
And it is finally I decide
That I’ll be leaving
In the fairest of the seasons.

written by Jackson Browne

Just walk away Renee/
You won’t see me follow you back home.

Something in the narrator of “Walk Away Renee” has changed. Or maybe it is something in the world around him that has changed. Yesterday he loved Renee and today he wants her gone. It has nothing to do with Renee, but he knows it’s over. He tells her to walk away, and this time he won’t be following her home.

The narrator is deeply hurt by the decision, as it brings on tears and rain. Was it an illicit love that he finally came to his senses about? We are left to our imagination to fill in the details. Perhaps his tears were just standard tears brought about due to the end of a good relationship.

Before the full strings and the band come in, listen to the single violin in the first verse. In some versions it is so faint it almost sounds like a different instrument. An interesting choice by The Left Banke that gives the song a unique sound.

“Walk Away Renee’s” chorus really drives this song. It is very memorable, and the harmonies’ The Left Banke provide are distinctive. The flute is a great choice for the solo instrument and the strings throughout complete the sound to make a finely produced record. I see potential that someday this receives a great cover version.

Walk Away Renee Lyrics

And when I see the sign that points one way,
The lot we used to pass by every day.

Just walk away Renee!
You won’t see me follow you back home.
The empty sidewalks on my block are not the same.
You’re not to blame.

From deep inside the tears that I’m forced to cry,
From deep inside the pain that I chose to hide.

Just walk away Renee!
You won’t see me follow you back home.
Now as the rain beats down upon my weary eyes,
For me it cries.

Just walk away Renee!
You won’t see me follow you back home.
Now as the rain beats down upon my weary eyes,
For me it cries.

Your name and mine inside a heart upon a wall,
Still finds a way to haunt me, though they’re so small.

Just walk away Renee!
You won’t see me follow you back home.
The empty sidewalks on my block are not the same,
You’re not to blame.

written by Tony Sansone / Bob Calilli / Mike Brown