He was born in Glasgow, Kentucky, where his father was a barber who loved music and inspired Billy to teach himself to play the mandolin at age 3, while suffering a case of the measles. He went on to learn a number of other instruments.
In 1941, Vaughn joined the United States National Guard for what had been planned as a one-year assignment, but when World War II broke out, he was sent abroad till the war ended in 1945. He decided to make music a career when he was discharged from the army at the end of the war, and attended Western Kentucky State College, now known as Western Kentucky University, majoring in music composition. He had apparently learned barbering from his father, because he did some while studying at Western Kentucky to support himself financially, when he was not able to get jobs playing the piano at local night clubs and lounges. While he was a student there, three other students, Jimmy Sacca, Donald McGuire and Seymour Spiegelman, who had formed a vocal trio, The Hilltoppers, recruited Vaughn to play the piano with them. He soon added his voice to theirs, converting the trio to a quartet. As a member of the group, he also wrote their first hit song, Trying, which charted in 1952.
In 1954 he left the group to join Dot Records in Gallatin, Tennessee as music director. He subsequently formed his own orchestra, which had a big hit in that same year with Melody of Love. He went on to have many more hits over the next decade and a half, and based purely on chart successes, was the most successful orchestra leader of all time.
Time Was
Billy Vaughn Lyrics
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When we had fun on the school swings,
When we exchanged graduation rings
One lovely yesterday.
Time was
When we wrote love letters in the sand,
Or lingered over coffee and
Dreamin' our time away.
Picnics and hay rides
And midwinter sleigh rides,
And never apart.
Hikes in the country;
There's more than one tree
On which I've a place in your heart!
Darlin',
Every tomorrow will be complete
If all our moments are half as sweet
As all our time was then!
Picnics and hay rides
And midwinter sleigh rides,
And never, never apart.
Those hikes in the country;
And there's more than one tree
On which I've a place in your heart!
Darlin',
Oh, every tomorrow will be complete
If all our moments are half as sweet
As all our time was then!
The lyrics of Billy Vaughn's song, "Time Was," explore the memories of a past era, more specifically of the youth of the singer and his lover. The song's structure is neatly divided into two verses with two choruses in between. The first verse paints a picture of the past, where the couple once used to have fun on school swings, exchanged graduation rings, wrote love letters in the sand, and spent hours dreaming their time away over coffee. The following chorus mentions the joy of picnics, hay rides, midwinter sleigh rides that they enjoyed together, along with the promise of never separating from each other.
The second verse takes us closer into the memory lane, emphasizing hikes in the country and how many trees hold a place in the heart of the singer, reflecting on moments that will remain cherished in memory. The following chorus again reinforces the idea put forth in the previous one, that every tomorrow can be complete if they can manage to relive half of the sweet moments of the past. The mood conveyed by Billy Vaughn(and his orchestra) is bittersweet, nostalgic, and full of longing, entirely suited for the emotional lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
Time was
Once upon a time
When we had fun on the school swings,
When we enjoyed playing on swings in school
When we exchanged graduation rings
When we gave each other graduation rings
One lovely yesterday.
A beautiful day in the past
When we wrote love letters in the sand,
When we romantically wrote love letters on sand
Or lingered over coffee and
Or simply enjoyed each other's company over coffee
Dreamin' our time away.
Thinking about our future together
Picnics and hay rides
Going on picnics and hay rides together
And midwinter sleigh rides,
Enjoying winter together on sleigh rides
And never apart.
Never being separated from each other
Hikes in the country;
Going on hikes in the countryside
There's more than one tree
There are many special places
On which I've a place in your heart!
In which I have a special place in your heart
Darlin',
My love
Every tomorrow will be complete
Our future will be fulfilled
If all our moments are half as sweet
If our future moments are as lovely as our past
As all our time was then!
When all of our moments together were wonderful
Oh, every tomorrow will be complete
Our future will be fulfilled
If all our moments are half as sweet
If our future moments are as lovely as our past
As all our time was then!
When all of our moments together were wonderful
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ANDREW POWELL, DAVID ALAN TURNER, MARTIN ROBERT TURNER, STEVE UPTON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind