I'm looking for a song, from 69 or 70, that starts with the words: "we
had our storms and heard them blowing. 20 years of love, it's mad, I
know.  1000 times you said you're going; a 1000 times I had to go." 
I'm willing to pay $25 USD for the right reference, I'm desperate!!
Thanks.

Hello anne1726,

The song you are seeking is one of my favourites. It is The Song of Old Lovers
(La chanson des vieux amants) written by Jaques Brel. 

First, Brel?s original words in French
?Bien sūr, nous eūmes des orages 
Vingt ans d`amour, c`est l`amour fol 
Mille fois tu pris ton bagage 
Mille fois je pris mon envol?
http://www.paroles.net/chansons/12609.htm

You can hear it if you go to 
http://www.kenwolman.com/bodas.html
where it is used as a sound background to some other poems. 

I have found three translations into English.  None of these is
exactly as you cite, but I hope that you will find at least one of the
others acceptable as an answer. I cannot give them in full because of
copyright restrictions, but you will find them at the URLs below each
version of the first verse.

This translation by Des de Moor is quite faithful to the original and
was reproduced in Jef, the French language journal of the Fondation
Internationale Jacques Brel in Brussels, as part of an in-depth
dossier on the song.
?Of course we?ve fought with angry faces:
For twenty years love?s mad at best.
A thousand times you?ve packed your cases,
A thousand times I?ve flown the nest.?
http://www.commex.org/dirkje/lylovers.htm 

The best known translation by Eric Blau/Mort Shuman is very free,
almost a completely new song.
?In spite of all we're still together
So many years of smiles and tears
How many times we'd part forever
And I would leave for parts unknown?
http://home.tiscali.nl/~phendr/gedichten/vieuxamants.html

Anne-Marie de Grazia has found some rather curious solutions; this
version reads a bit strangely.
?Of course we've had our storms,
a twenty-year love, that's love full strength!
A thousand times you picked up your suitcase,
a thousand times I flapped my wings?
http://www.grazian-archive.com/quiddity/Brel.htm 

Amazon.com has a number of Brel CDs in stock that include this song, for example:
Ballades & Mots D'Amour [Double CD] $32.49
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00003Q56T/ref=m_art_li_34/002-7181679-2662435?v=glance&s=music

It has also been recorded by many other singers. I first heard it in
the 1970s sung in French by Judy Collins on her Wildflowers album.

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Clarification of Answer by tehuti-ga on 21 Jan 2004 06:16 PST

Search strategy used:

From the words cited in the question, I recognised the song as one familiar to me.
Searches on Google:
1. "old lovers" Brel
2. "vieux amants" lyrics Brel
I also used the AltaVista mp3 search, with the search term "vieux
amants" to find a sound file of the song.

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Clarification of Answer by tehuti-ga on 21 Jan 2004 06:18 PST

Aplogies, the composers name in the first sentence of my answer should
of course be Jacques not Jaques.

Thank you SO much!  I kept coming back to Les Vieux...similar, not not it.

Thank YOU so much for that exceedingly generous tip.