Until It's Time for You to Go

This article is about the song by Buffy Sainte-Marie. For the album by Rusty Bryant, see Until It's Time for You to Go (album).

"Until It's Time for You to Go"
Single by Buffy Sainte-Marie
from the album Many a Mile
B-side	"The Flower and the Apple Tree"
Released	1965
Label	Vanguard
Songwriter(s)	Buffy Sainte-Marie
Producer(s)	Maynard Solomon

"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.^[1]

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."^[2]

"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.^[3]

Notable cover versions

• It was a UK Top 20 hit for British group The Four Pennies in 1965.^[4]
• 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.^[5] Record World said that "Neil Diamond has done a beautiful job" with the song.^[6] Billboard called it "one gem of a performance".^[7] Cash Box called it "a splendid reading with the velvet style polished by 'Holly' and 'Caroline.'"^[8]
• 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. ^[9]
• In 1972, Elvis Presley released the song, which peaked at #40 on the US Hot 100, and #9 on the US Easy Listening chart.^[10]
• 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.^[11]

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.