Misplaced Pages

"Until It's Time for You to Go"
Single by Elvis Presley
from the album Elvis Now
B-side	"We Can Make the Morning"
Released	January 4, 1972
Recorded	May 16, 1971
Studio	RCA Studio B, Nashville
Genre	Pop
Label	RCA Victor
Songwriter(s)	Buffy Sainte-Marie
Elvis Presley singles chronology
"Merry Christmas Baby" / "O Come, All Ye Faithful" (1971) "Until It's Time for You to Go" / "We Can Make the Morning" (1972) "He Touched Me" / "Bosom of Abraham" (1972)

"Until It's Time for You to Go" is a song from the 1965 album Many a Mile by American singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie. Sainte-Marie included a French-language reworking of the song, "T'es pas un autre", on her 1967 album Fire & Fleet & Candlelight. French translation was made by Quebecer songwriter Claude Gauthier.

The song has been recorded by many other singers.

Background

The lyrics concern an ordinary man and woman who love each other, but cannot stay together because they come from different worlds. The singer asks their lover: "Don't ask why / Don't ask how / Don't ask forever / Love me now." According to Sainte-Marie, the song "popped into my head while I was falling in love with someone I knew couldn't stay with me."

"The Flower and the Apple Tree"

Featured as a B-side to the Sainte-Marie's single release of "Until It's Time for You to Go" is the rarity "The Flower and the Apple Tree", an original song that was exclusive to the single.

Notable cover versions

• It was a UK Top 20 hit for British group The Four Pennies in 1965.
• In 1970, after having released a cover in 1969, Neil Diamond went to #11 on the US Easy Listening chart and #53 on the US Hot 100. Record World said that "Neil Diamond has done a beautiful job" with the song. Billboard called it "one gem of a performance". Cash Box called it "a splendid reading with the velvet style polished by 'Holly' and 'Caroline.'"
• In 1970, on her album Chapter Two (Roberta Flack album), Roberta Flack included a cover of the song, which appears on side two as the album's sixth track.
• In 1972, Elvis Presley released the song, which peaked at #40 on the US Hot 100, and #9 on the US Easy Listening chart.
• In 1973, New Birth featuring future Supremes member Susaye Greene recorded a version of the song, which peaked at #21 on the US Hot Soul Singles chart.

References

1. "secondhandsongs.com". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
2. Until It's Time for You to Go, Buffy Sainte-Marie website.
3. "Buffy Sainte-Marie With Gershon Kingsley And His Chorus & Orchestra* - Until It's Time For You To Go". Discogs. 1965. Retrieved 2021-01-11.
4. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
5. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 78.
6. "Single Picks of the Week" (PDF). Record World. February 14, 1970. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
7. "Spotlight Singles" (PDF). Billboard. February 14, 1970. p. 80. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
8. "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. February 14, 1970. p. 28. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
9. "Chapter Two (Roberta Flack album)". Retrieved 2024-09-14.
10. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 196.
11. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 427.

• 1965 songs
• 1965 singles
• 1970 singles
• 1972 singles
• Buffy Sainte-Marie songs
• New Birth (band) songs
• Songs written by Buffy Sainte-Marie
• RCA Victor singles
• Vanguard Records singles