The origin of the song Piet Swerts arranged for concert band in Russian Gipsy Song probably lies with Russian gypsies, who know it under the title Dorogoj Dlinnojn and who ardently consider it their mental property. The melody of this Russian folk song is better known under the title Those Were the Days My Friend, the song that singer Mary Hopkins made famous in 1968.

Within a year after she had issued this song, well over five million records of it had been sold. There are also versions in ...