“A Sign of the Times” (Petula Clark)

We’re kicking off a week of classic songs by female artists with Petula Clark’s 1966 hit, “A Sign of the Times.” Released in March of that year on Pye Records (in the UK) and Warner Bros. Records (in the U.S.), this single peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on Billboard’s Easy Listening chart. Interestingly, it only spent one week on the UK charts, at a lowly #49.

Like many of Ms. Clark’s ’60s hits, “A Sign of the Times” was written and produced by Tony Hatch, with a little help from his partner Jackie Trent. While you might think a song with this title, written in the chaotic mid-60s, would be a protest song, “A Sign of the Times” wasn’t. Instead, the song’s lyrics are about a young lady whose chosen beau has finally started paying attention to her:

It’s a sign of the times
That your love for me is getting so much stronger
It’s a sign of the times
And I know that I won’t have to wait much longer

Petula Clark remembers this about the song:

“I loved it. It had a slightly different feel. ‘A Sign of the Times,’ I suppose you might expect some big political statement or something, but it was just a straight ahead love song. I think Tony [Hatch] rather liked finding titles that made you think, like ‘Don’t Sleep In The Subway.’ People would think, is it about drugs? Is it about this? And these were just straightforward songs.”

“A Sign of the Times” has that big, brassy, British sound typical of many of Ms. Clark’s big hits. It was recorded at Pye Studios in Marble Arch in London. Drummer Bobby Graham pulls out all the stops on this one, even throwing in a little bit of the Hal Blaine “Be My Baby” beat.

And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, a Petula Clark performing “A Sign of the Times” in a very colorful bit on the August 14, 1966, episode of The Ed Sullivan Show. Groovy, baby! (And dig those now-classic cars…)