Who Knows Where the Time Goes?

(This version has the opening line "Across the purple sky..."[2]) The American folk singer Judy Collins heard a tape of the original demo recording in 1968 and decided to cover the song.

This version had more of a rock influence, although it retained its tranquil and contemplative spirit, with Richard Thompson playing the delicate guitar licks (that are fed through the right audio channel on the track).

The song is a reflection in three verses on observed events ("Across the evening sky all the birds are leaving").

The last verse includes the lines "I am not alone while my love is near me, I know it will be so until it's time to go.”[4] Versions have been recorded by, among others, Eva Cassidy, Judy Collins, Nana Mouskouri, Susanna Hoffs and Matthew Sweet, Deanna Kirk, Eddi Reader, Julianne Regan (with Fairport Convention), Kate Rusby, Nina Simone (on her 1970 live album Black Gold), Barbara Dickson, The Lasses,[7] Heather Masse (on the radio program A Prairie Home Companion),[8] Dez Mona,[9] and Kate Wolf (on her 1983 live album Give Yourself to Love).

[10] In 2007, the Unhalfbricking version was voted "Favourite Folk Track of All Time" by listeners of BBC Radio 2.