You could call the new love song, titled ‘Yesterday I Woke Up And It Was Today’ a psychedelic love song, with the title being surreal. And then there is the time machine.
Basically it’s about time going so fast. One day you’re young, and then, quickly, you’re old. ‘Where has time gone’ is often said by people.
So the singer is lamenting the passing of time and love. When it comes to the passing of love, it could be a partner who has passed away, or lost love. The singer, in his own way, is trying to come to grips with not being able to slow time down and can see his reflection in a mirror and now he sees he is old.
So the meaning of ‘Yesterday I woke up and it was today’ is time flashing by. The ‘How can that be?’, is the feeling the singer has in trying to come to grips with waking up yesterday but it was today. The singer then thinks ‘Maybe it’s because life is passing by so quickly’.
The singer, would if he could, go back in time… ‘If I had a time machine, I would like to go back In time and say to my love, stay with me as we grow old’. This is very poignant.
My Grandmother would have many sayings, and one of them was ‘Time and tide wait for no man’, meaning ‘Time moves forward and never stops for anyone’.
The music is not perfect on this song, but I selected this rendition of the song because it has something magical about it. The music and singing really captures the feeling I wanted for the song, which is a bit dreamy.
I picked the photograph of the woman with the VW Kombi in the video as it has that 1960s look and psychedelic music was the big thing in the last half of the 1960s.
Anyway, the lyrics follow below.
Yesterday I woke up
And it was today
How can that be
How can that be
Maybe it’s because
Life is passing
By so quickly
I don’t know how
To slow time down
Love like time
Has gone by
There once was time for us
But now it’s gone
It seems it was only yesterday
I had my love
But it is all now a dream
Yesterday I woke up
And it was today
How can that be
How can that be
Maybe it’s because
Life is passing
By so quickly
I don’t know how
To slow time down
If I had a time machine
I would like to go back
In time
And say to my love
Stay with me
As we grow old
But love like time
Is fleeting
Love can leave
Before you know it
Yesterday I woke up
And it was today
How can that be
How can that be
Maybe it’s because
Life is passing
By so quickly
I don’t know how
To slow time down
It hard to see
The passing of time
In the mirror
A once beautiful reflection
Is now a sad reminder
Of life passing by
If I had a time machine
I would like to go back
In time
And say to my love
Stay with me
As we grow old
But love like time
Is fleeting
Love can leave
Before you know it
Yesterday I woke up
And it was today
How can that be
How can that be
Concept, title and lyrics by Peter Barnes, 6th of October 2026.
Watch other songs created by Peter Barnes on his YouTube Channel here.