"Hier encore", whose original French title translates to "Just yesterday" or "Not so long ago", is a song composed by Georges Garvarentz and written by

Charles Aznavour Charles Aznavour ( ; ; ; born Shahnur Vaghinak Aznavourian; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a Armenians in France, French singer and songwriter of Armenian descent. Aznavour was known for his distinctive vibrato tenor voice: clear and ringi ...

and released in September 1964.

History

It was subsequently released in English as "Yesterday, When I Was Young", in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

as "Ieri Si", in Danish as "Hvor tiden går", in Japanese 帰り来ぬ青春 ("Kaeri Konu Seishun"), in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

as "Ayer aún", "Eilen kun mä tiennyt en" in Finnish, "Když jsem já byl tenkrát kluk" in Czech and "Μόλις χθες" in Greek. It is considered one of Aznavour's greatest hits. The English-language lyrics, written by Herbert Kretzmer, tell of someone reflecting on his life, recalling how he had wasted his younger years on hedonistic pursuits, and now that he is older, he is unable to do everything that he had planned; the lyrical implication is that the person may be close to impending death.

Roy Clark version

In the United States, the best-known version was recorded by country musician

Roy Clark Roy Linwood Clark (April 15, 1933 – November 15, 2018) was an American singer, musician, and television presenter. He is best known for having hosted '' Hee Haw'', a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969 to 1997. Clark wa ...

. His version, under the English title "Yesterday When I Was Young," became his biggest hit up to that time on the ''Billboard''

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart, peaking at No. 9 in August 1969, and it became his only top 40 pop hit, peaking at No. 19. Clark performed the song at

Mickey Mantle Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Mick" and "the Commerce Comet", was an American professional baseball player who played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York ...

's funeral in 1995, at Mantle's personal request. In Canada, the song reached number seven on the singles chart, as well as reaching number two on the country chart, and number one AC.

Chart performance

Other notable cover versions

had a European hit single with his version in 1970. Later he performed this song with Patrick Bruel in a live performance. This version can be heard on Aznavour's 40 chansons d'or album.

Amanda Lear Amanda Lear (; born 18 June or 18 November 1939 or 1941 or 1946 or 1950) is a French singer, songwriter, painter, television presenter, actress and former model. She began her professional career as a fashion model in the mid-1960s and went on ...

recorded her personal version for her 2001 album ''

Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

.'' The song has been performed and recorded by many international stars, such as

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the James Bond music, theme songs to three James Bond films - the only artist to officially perform more than o ...

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), better known by her stage name Dusty Springfield, was a British singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano voice, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop mus ...

Mel Torme Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...

, Jack Jones,

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years and covered film, television and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of the C ...

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

, Bebe Buell,

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side New York accent, accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced son ...

, Bobby Bare,

Al Martino Jasper Cini (October 7, 1927 – October 13, 2009), known professionally as Al Martino, was an American traditional pop and standards singer. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid-1970s, being described as "one o ...

, The Peanuts,

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...

Julio Iglesias Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world and one of the top List of best-selling music artists, reco ...

, Tony Kenny,

Eddy Mitchell Claude Moine (; born 3 July 1942), known professionally as Eddy Mitchell, is a French singer and actor. He began his career in the late 1950s, with the group Les Chaussettes Noires (The Black Socks). He took the name ''Eddy'' from the American ...

Dean Reed Dean Cyril Reed (September 22, 1938 – June 13, 1986) was an American actor, singer-songwriter, director, and social activist who lived a great part of his adult life in South America and then in East Germany. Nicknamed the Red Elvis, Reed was ...

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer. Starting his 69-year career with singles of standard (music), standard music, Mathis is one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century and became highly popular as ...

Marc Almond Peter Mark Almond (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He is the lead vocalist of the synth-pop/ new wave duo Soft Cell. He has a distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. He has had a diverse career as a ...

, Patricia Kaas,

Matt Monro Matt Monro (born Terence Edward Parsons; 1 December 1930 – 7 February 1985) was an English singer. Known as "The Man with the Golden Voice", he performed internationally during his 30-year career and sold a reported 23 million records. AllMus ...

, Lena Martell,

Nora Aunor Nora Cabaltera Villamayor (May 21, 1953 – April 16, 2025), known professionally as Nora Aunor (), was a Filipino actress, producer and singer. Known for her leading roles with patriotic, feminist and Political sociology, socio-political th ...

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

, Elina Duni,

Milva Maria Ilva Biolcati, (; 17 July 1939 – 23 April 2021), known as Milva (), was an Italian singer, stage and film actress, and television personality. She was also known as ''La Rossa'' (Italian for "The Redhead"), due to the characteristic co ...

, etc., and an uptempo version by Blossom Dearie. According to

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

, more than 90 versions of the song were recorded before 1972. In 2008, Aznavour and

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

performed "Yesterday When I Was Young" for Aznavour's ''Duos'' album.Charles Aznavour & Elton John - Yesterday When I Was Young, UltraTop
/ref> In 2018, Ghassan Yammine released a version on MTV in his "Musical" show. In 2020,

released a version on his album '' First Rose of Spring.''

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

rapper GlockBoyz Teejae sampled the song in his track "Wack Jumper". In 2023,

Bad Bunny Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (; born March 10, 1994), better known by his stage name Bad Bunny, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. Known as the " King of Latin Trap", Bad Bunny is credited with helping Spanish-language rap music achieve m ...

sampled the song in "

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

" off of his album '' Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana''.

Charts

Charles Aznavour version

Tony Kenny version

References

{{authority control Charles Aznavour songs Roy Clark songs 1964 songs 1969 singles 1969 songs Songs written by Charles Aznavour Songs with music by Georges Garvarentz Songs with lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer Song recordings produced by Joe Allison Dot Records singles