Words and music by Sandy Denny
Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny, who was born in the London suburb of Merton Park on 6 January 1947, was another supremely gifted human being who proved unable to curb her appetite for wilful self-destruction. Her 1978 death, several weeks after falling down a flight of stairs in the Cornwall holiday home belonging to her parents, was the culmination of years of protracted drug and alcohol abuse and came as a profound if not entirely unexpected shock to her friends and former bandmates in The Strawbs, Fairport Convention and Fotheringay. As Dave Swarbrick, one of those former bandmates, recalled: '…Looking back I think she was suffering from some kind of post-natal problem. I very much regret that it wasn't picked up by me. She was drinking and taking coke and smoking dope. She wasn't happy in her marriage; it wasn't going anywhere but down. I think suspicion ate her. I feel as if she left mid-sentence and I mourn her leaving almost daily.'
While Denny's is not a story of talent completely wasted –– she made dozens of fine recordings, many of which are justifiably considered to be impeccable examples of traditional British folk and folk-rock at their best –– it is a story of talent misdirected and, to a certain degree, misunderstood by her various record companies and, more tragically, by herself. Her career always seemed to lack a clear sense of direction, costing her the opportunity to become the household name that everyone who worked with her believed and agreed she deserved to become.
Who Knows Where The Times Goes? is perhaps her most famous original song, a haunting blend of her majestically expressive voice, a subtle modal melody and her restrained plain-spoken lyrics. It's the apparently seamless blending of these elements which give the song its power, evoking a mood of aching wistfulness that lingers in the mind long after its final note has faded.
For me Denny's lyrics can stand comparison with the work of great English poets like Thomas Hardy and AE Housman. There's a similar emphasis on contrasting the behaviour of the natural world with the narrator's state of mind, the passing of the seasons directly equated with the difficult to accept but nevertheless inevitable passing of time. The imagery is as sparse as the music, demanding the listener's attention and effortlessly retaining it from beginning to end. Very few singers are capable of achieving this using only their voice and an acoustic guitar. Many try, but few succeed because a special kind of talent is required –– a talent Sandy Denny possessed in obvious abundance.
Special thanks to everyone who takes the time to upload music to YouTube. Your efforts are appreciated by music lovers everywhere.
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Last updated 12 October 2021 §
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