Pink Floyd “Time” released as single

Time Pink Floyd

Writer(s): David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, Rick Wright (see lyrics here) Released: February 4, 1974 First Charted: December 10, 1988 Peak: 1 CL, 34 AR, 4 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 64.3 video, 213.83 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon is considered one of the most important albums of all time. The group’s eighth studio album is one of the top 5 best-selling albums ever and has spent more time on the Billboard album chart (18+ years) than any album in history. Dave’s Music Database ranks it #2 all time, only behind the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s. “Time” was released as a single in February 1974, but failed to chart. Like most of the cuts from the album, though, it gained significant airplay on album rock stations and has become a classic rock favorite. It did actually chart in 1988 when a version from the band’s live album Delicate Sound of Thunder reached Billboard’s album rock chart. The song opesn with the sound of clocks and alarms rining, which “leap out and grab your ears and tear them from the side of your head.” AD Alan Parsons, the engineer on the album, contributed the sound effects. He had gone to a watchmaker’s shop to collect audio for the sound effect library for the studio. When he heard Pink Floy was working on a song called “Time” he offered the sounds to the band. SP This “fine country-tinged rocker” RS may well be “the highlight track on the album.” CA It features a “blistering guitar solo” CA from David Gilmour and shared vocals between him and keyboardist Rick Wright. This was the last time Wright sang lead vocals on a Pink Floyd song until 1994’s The Division Bell. SP Thematically, the album explored insanity and death. Bassist Roger Waters offered lyrics like “You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today / And then one day you find ten years have got behind you.” The song illustrates how the threat of mortality is “one of the leading factors of insanity.” RV The message is an ode to Syd Barrett, the band’s founding guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He left the band after the second album because of drug-exasperated mental problems. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Pink Floyd CA ClassicAlbums.co.uk AD Adrian Denning RV The Review “100 Greatest Albums of All Time” by Clarke Speicher (October – November 2001; Vol. 128: numbers 12-23). RS Rolling Stone review by Loyd Grossman. Originally from RS 135 print issue. SP Spin.com (3/24/2023). “Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon: Track By Track” by Al Shipley DT Dave Thompson (2011). 1000 Songs That Rock Your World. Krause Publications: Iola, WI. Page 189. Related Links: First posted 3/30/2023.