Someday Soon (Ian Tyson song)

In 1968, Judy Collins recorded "Someday Soon" for her album Who Knows Where the Time Goes.

Although Collins had frequently crossed paths with Ian and Sylvia - (Judy Collins quote:) "We used to hang out together. I had heard all of their songs"[9]- it was Collins' swain Stephen Stills who suggested she record "Someday Soon". According to the song's composer Ian Tyson(Ian Tyson quote:)"Stephen Stills was living with Judy Collins and he told her: 'You've got to record this song.' She didn't want to record it but he pushed her to and that recording was magical."[6] Collins herself recalls responding positively to Stills' recommendation: (Judy Collins quote:) "One evening as Stephen and I were driving back [to Los Angeles] from Malibu we started talking about the [in progress sessions for] Who Knows Where the Time Goes. 'I think we need one more song,' Stephen said: 'What about 'Someday Soon'? The song was perfect for me, a Colorado girl at heart" - referencing the song's locale - "I remembered all the lyrics and we hit the freeway singing in harmony...The next day we recorded 'Someday Soon'"[10] in a session which featured Stills on acoustic guitar, Buddy Emmons on pedal steel guitar and James Burton on Telecaster.[11]

The album Who Knows Where the Time Goes was issued in the autumn of 1969, at which time "Both Sides Now" given a belated single release from Collins' 1967 album Wildflowers was affording Collins her debut Top 40 hit. As "Both Sides Now" was dropping out of the Top 40 from its #8 Billboard Hot 100 peak, "Someday Soon" was released as follow-up single in January 1969 - five years to the month after the release of the Ian & Sylvia single "You Were On My Mind"/ "Some Day Soon". Despite reaching the Top Ten in a number of locales where "Both Sides Now" had afforded Collins especial success - notably San Francisco and several mid-size California cities -,[12][13] "Someday Soon" would rise no higher on the Hot 100 than #55,[8] also reaching #37 on the Canadian Top Singles chart published by RPM. In 1972 "Someday Soon" was rereleased - with "Suzanne" as B-side - parallel with the release of the compilation Colors of the Day: The Best of Judy Collins album, but the single was not a success. Despite not being a major hit in terms of chart data, "Someday Soon" is considered a signature song of Collins'.[14][15][9][16]

Robb Baker (The Chicago Tribune) reviewing Who Knows Where the Time Goes cited "Someday Soon" along with Collins' original "My Father" as the album's highlights, describing "Someday Soon" as "[Collins'] countriest selection ever...about a girl who vies for a man's affections with...a 'damned old rodeo'."[17] Matthew Greenwald of Allmusic described Collins's rendition favorably, calling it "one of the great story-songs of the 1960s" and praising Collins's vocals.[18]

In-concert renditions of "Someday Soon" appear on the 2000 album release Judy Collins Live at Wolf Trap[19] and the 2003 multi-artist album release Wildflower Festival.[20] Collins' 2015 duets album Strangers Again featured her rendition of "Someday Soon" with Jimmy Buffett.[21]

In 1982, country music singer Moe Bandy remade the song for his Columbia Records album release Rodeo Romeo. It was the second and final single from that album. This version entered the country music charts in the U.S. and Canada, respectively reaching #21 and #36.

Suzy Bogguss charted a recording of "Someday Soon" in 1991, from her Liberty Records album release Aces.

According to its composer Ian Tyson, Bogguss' recording of "Someday Soon" was due to steel guitarist Tommy Spurlock, Tyson's sometimes sideman, playing on the sessions for the Aces album:(Ian Tyson quote:) "He said; "Why don't y'all do 'Someday Soon', that old song of Tyson's?' They all gave him blank looks. Then they got the Judy Collins version of the song and cut it almost the same way with minor tweaking".[28]

Bogguss herself would state that "recording ['Someday Soon'] is sort of like living out a dream for me. I've been singing it forever:"[29] "[It] was one of the first songs I played when I was starting out [performing] in 1978. [It's] a song that it felt cool to play with just the guitar, and I've always wanted to record it":[30] "I actually had to fight to record that song [since Aces co-producer] Jimmy [Bowen] said: 'Too many people have covered that song. Moe Bandy did it 10 years ago and Judy Collins had a huge hit, and you’re going to draw comparisons.' I said, let me cut it because the young people [at her live shows] were really responding to it."[31] Bogguss has conceded that while she aims to select songs that "I could give my [own] twist to", "Someday Soon" was a number "I did pretty much like Judy Collins [had]."[32]

Released as the lead single from Aces, "Someday Soon" spent twenty weeks on the country singles charts and peaking at #12.[27] The song also reached #16 on the RPM Country Tracks charts.

Bryan Buss of Allmusic described Bogguss's rendition as the "second strongest cut" on Aces, saying that her vocal performance "makes Bogguss an artist and not just a vocalist."[33]

Bogguss' 2016 album Aces Redux features a new recording of "Someday Soon" (plus the other tracks from Aces).[34] A 1999 live version of "Someday Soon" is featured on Live at Caffé Milano which had been sold in CD format at Bogguss' live shows since 2001 before being made available digitally in 2020.[35]