Someday Soon

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Someday Soon (Ian Tyson)

Selected links:

artist

song

lyric

Genius, Letras, Ouvir Música – Ian Tyson original version (as sung by Ian & Sylvia)
LyricsMode – Judy Collins version*

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Ian & Sylvia — from the 1964 album Northern Journey, Vanguard VSD-9154 (Stereo), Vanguard VRS-9154 (Mono); listed on the back of the album, and on the label, as “Some Day Soon”

The Kingston Trio — from their 1964 LP The Kingston Trio (aka Nick Bob John), Decca DL 4613

The Kingston Trio’s version is unusual in that rather than switching the genders of the main characters of the original lyric for the first section, which has sometimes been done to accommodate male vocalists — see Johnny Cash’s, “There’s a young girl that I know, her age is twenty-one…,” for example — instead it changes the narrative voice from third person to first person for the opening section:

I am a young man, so you’ll know, my age is twenty-one
I come from out in southern Colorado
Just home from the service and I’m looking for my fun

and modifies the remaining sections accordingly.

The Kingston Trio were also the first I’m aware of to modify the wonderful phrase “blow, you old blue norther,” sung by Ian & Sylvia in the original and in later performances by the pair or by Ian Tyson alone, to what is sung in the great majority of recordings that I’ve heard by other artists: “blow, you old blue northern.” See the article “What is a Blue Norther?,” at The Weather Channel (weather.com).

In their 1966 recording, Ester & Abi Ofarim substituted another version of the line: “blow, you old blue mornin‘,” a modification which may be the result of transcription error, perhaps in part due to unfamiliarity with the English language, or at least American forms of it.**

Ian & Sylvia — live at the Newport Folk Festival, 24 July 1965

Introduction by Ian Tyson:
This is a song called “Some Day Soon,” which is a song I wrote…really to, uh…to show the lady’s point of view of the rodeo-bound life.

Julie Felix

Issued in October 1965 on the 45 rpm single (UK) Decca F.12246, b/w “I’ve Got Nothing but Time” (Tom Paxton)

From the 1965 LP The Second Album, (UK) Decca LK 4724 — The audio file in the video below sounds like it might be a sped up version of the same recording issued on the single (above). It’s about 20 seconds (~11%) shorter.

Ester & Abi Ofarim — 1966

Judy Collins

From her 1968 album Who Knows Where the Time Goes, Elektra ‎KS-74033; single issued in January 1969 as Elektra EK-45649, b/w “My Father” — singles chart performance: #55 (US) Billboard, #37 (Canada) RPM

From the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Season 3, Episode 20, which aired on 2 March 1969 (date corrected, 1/19/2023) — Photos of Judy Collins from the appearance, available at Getty Images (link changed, 1/19/2023), are dated 21 February 1969.

Skeeter Davis — from the album maryfrances, (US, Canada) RCA Victor LSP-4200, released in August 1969 (according to Wikipedia)

Skeeter Davis — live television studio performance, c. 1969, for an episode of the syndicated country music TV series The Country Place, aka Jim Ed Brown’s Country Place

Lynn Anderson — from her 1970 LP Stay There ‘Til I Get There, (US, Canada) Columbia CS 1025, which was released under the title Country Girl in the UK and in Europe

Johnny Cash — (audio only) from Season 2, Episode 3 (Episode 2.03, Classic TV Archive) of the Johnny Cash Show, which aired on 7 October 1970

Jackie Mittoo — from the 1972 LP Reggae Magic, (Jamaica) Studio One SOL 1124

Bonnie Dobson — from her 1972 album Bonnie Dobson, (UK) Argo ZFB 79

Chris LeDoux — from the 1973 LP Rodeo Songs “Old and New”, Lucky Man Music ‎LM4249-2

artist biographies:

Kathy Barnes — from the 1976 album Someday Soon, (US) Republic Records IRDA-LPN-R-6019-598

Crystal Gayle — from her 1978 album When I Dream, (US) United Artists Records CGWID2011; recorded, according to the video provider, on 6 October 1977 at Jack’s Tracks, 1308 16th Ave. South, Nashville, TN

Ian & Sylvia with guest Judy Collins — live, 1986 — includes voice-over commentary by Judy Collins

Judy Collins, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash — from a 1990 episode of “Nash’s cable TV interview show,” according to the provider

Patty Loveless, Kathy Mattea, with John Denver — from the 1991 John Denver television special Montana Christmas Skies

Suzy Bogguss — from the 1991 album, Aces, released on CD and cassette on various labels; also issued in August 1991 on the single Capitol Nashville NR-44772, b/w “Fear of Flying”

Suzy Bogguss — live performance on country music television show Nashville Now; airdate 12 June 1991

Ian Tyson — live performance, date unknown

Blue Star Band — 2 February 2013, at the Schnitzel Haus, in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, NYC

Ian Tyson — 16 July 2015, at City Winery, NYC

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* Modifications to lines in the original Ian & Sylvia version found in the 1968 Judy Collins version include the following:

original: There’s a young man that I know, just turned twenty-one
Collins: There’s a young man that I know — his age is twenty-one

original: Just out of the service, and looking for his fun
Collins: Just out of the service, and he’s looking for his fun

original: My parents cannot stand him ’cause he works the rodeos
They say, “he’s not your kind, he’ll leave you crying”
Collins: My parents can not stand him ’cause he rides the rodeo
My father says that he will leave me crying

original: If he asks, I’ll follow him down the toughest row to hoe
Collins: I would follow him right down the toughest road I know

original: When he visits me, my pa ain’t got one good word to say
Got a hunch he was as wild back in the early days
Collins: And when he comes to call, my pa ain’t got a good word to say
Guess it’s ’cause he’s just as wild in the younger days (“he’s” = “he was”)
Guess it’s ’cause he was just as wild in the younger days (Smothers Brothers appearance, 1969)

original: So blow, you old blue norther, blow him back to me
He’s likely driving back from California
Collins: So blow, you old blue northern, blow my love to me
He’s driving in tonight from California

original: He loves his damned old rodeos as much as he loves me
Collins: He loves his damned old rodeo as much as he loves me

** If you happen to catch an American referring to a morning, of any color, as something that blows, he’s more likely to be reacting to the fact that 7 AM comes just four hours after his natural bedtime of 3 AM, than to be making a comment upon the present atmospheric conditions.