"Those Were the Days" is a song written by Gene Raskin, who added a new English verse to Boris Fomin's (1900–1948) Russian romantic ballad "Dorogoi dlinnoyu" ("Dorogoi dlinnoiu", meaning "By the Long Road"). It is about youth reminiscences and idealistic aspirations. The song was first released on an EP with four other songs by Gene Raskin called "Una Voce" in 1946. Raskin originally wrote the song for his daughter, but he later sang it himself when he was old enough to do so. He published two books of poetry, one in 1939 and another in 1945. In 1950, he co-founded the journal New World Writing which published important American and British poets such as Robert Lowell, Elizabeth Bishop, John Berryman, and Louis Zukofsky. He also translated many poems from the Russian language into English and included them in his journals. One of these translations became "Those Were the Days". The song has become a classic example of nostalgic music and has been covered by many artists including Joan Baez, Rita Coolidge, Judy Collins, Eric Clapton, James Taylor, and Johnny Cash. It is also used as theme song by US television series "The Office".