These Days

Nico's cover of "These Days" is one of my favorite songs - perfect for musing on the fragile, ephemeral beauty of life (a.k.a. wallowing/whining and feeling justified in doing so.) Though Jackson Browne said that he wrote the song when he was 16, the earliest version, then called "I've Been Out Walking", was recorded On January 7, 1967. German artist Nico then recorded the (now) most popular (and my favorite) version of the song in October of that year, on her album Chelsea Girl:

These Days - Nico (more recently known for it's place on The Royal Tenenbaums sountrack)

Brown then got The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band to record the song on their first album Rare Junk in 1968:

These Days - The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

as well as Tom Rush in 1970:

These Days - Tom Rush

Kenny Loggins' first band Gator Creek also in 1970:

Gator Creek's album 'Same', including "These Days"

and Iain Matthews in 1973:

These Days - Iain Matthews

Many, many people have covered it since, some staying more true to the increasingly popular Nico version, and other's keeping more or less only the lyrics.

These Days - St. Vincent

These Days - Mates of State

These Days - Mates of State (Daytrotter Session)

These Days - Elliott Smith

These Days - The Tallest Man on Earth (on vimeo)