“I Wish We Had Our Time Again” is an original song by John Hartford, the singer, fiddler, banjoist, and songwriter who was one of the most distinctive figures in American roots music. Hartford first recorded it in the late 1980s, on his album “Down on the River.”
The song is a piece of unguarded nostalgia — a wish, addressed to someone from the past, to live a shared time over again. That warm, reflective tone was characteristic of Hartford, a writer who could move easily between whimsy and genuine tenderness, and whose love of the Mississippi River and old-time music shaped much of his work.
Though gentle and personal, the song found a place in the bluegrass and old-time repertoire and has been taken up by other performers, including Hartford’s son Jamie Hartford and the singer-songwriter Todd Snider. It stands among the quieter, more sentimental songs in Hartford’s wide-ranging catalog.
