Songs Centered Around Time

This past weekend, much of the US forwarded our clocks by an hour to welcome the longer days of the upcoming spring season.

With the beginning of the year feeling like it was just yesterday and spring weather just around the corner, the switch to standard time has us thinking about time in general and its use in popular music. For many songs, whether wistfully or realistically, the artist recalls the passage of time. In others, it’s the telling of time, either celebrating it or neglecting it.

Vinyl Bay 777, Long Island’s music outlet, is taking a look at some of these time-related songs. Here are seven spanning the gambit of time topics.

1.       Rocky Horror Picture Show, “The Time Warp”: Surprisingly, this show tune is pretty apt for talking about turning the clocks forward/back. Written by Richard O’Brien to mock dance songs, the loss of / gaining of an hour can feel like a strange time warp. (video)

2.       Bill Haley, “Rock Around The Clock”: Perhaps sleep isn’t your thing. Back in the 1950s, Bill Hayley’s “Rock Around The Clock” urged people to rock into the wee hours of the morning, neglecting time all together. (video)

3.       Semisonic, “Closing Time”: When Semisonic frontman Dan Wilson wrote “Closing Time,” he wanted it to have multiple meanings. In writing it before the birth of his first child, the “last call at a bar” lyrics took on the meaning of the child leaving the womb. But it’s also about passage of time, stating that when one things ends, something else can begin. (video)

4.       Fiddler on the Roof, “Sunrise, Sunset”: Another show tune, “Sunrise, Sunset” is sung during the wedding of Tevye’s first daughter. The song laments the passing of time with the character wondering how his daughter grew up so fast. (video)

5.       Five For Fighting, “100 Years”: A lot of songs about time are about its passage. Five For Fighting’s “100 Years” looks at time going forward. It’s about how when you’re young, you still you’re your whole life ahead and when you’re nearing the end, you’re just hoping for another moment. (video)

6.       Enya, “Only Time”: Nothing is certain in this world, especially when it comes to affairs of the heart. Such is the premise of Enya’s only hit “Only Time.” Only time can tell what the future holds, you just need to let it happen. (video)

7.       Jim Croce, “Time In A Bottle”: A song about saving time, “Time In A Bottle” finds Croce wishing for more time with his girl. He wants to “bottle” time and save it because there isn’t enough of it. (video)

Time is a big theme in music, with a lot of songs lamenting how little there is and musing about its passing. Of course, there’s more light-hearted fare too, fighting the societal norms of when things can occur to stay up late and dance until you lose sense of time.

What are some of your favorite songs about time? Let us know in the comments below.

---

Find your favorite time-related songs and more at Vinyl Bay 777! As one of Long Island’s top independent records shops, we have thousands of titles to choose from in a variety of genres to suit most music fans. Browse our wide selection of new and used vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, music DVDs, memorabilia and more in store at our Plainview location or online at vinylbay777.com. With more titles being added to our selection all the time, there’s always something to find during your time at Vinyl Bay 777.