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| A-side | "Us and Them" |
| Released | March 1, 1973(album) February 4, 1974(single) |
| Recorded | June 3, 1972 - February 1, 1973 |
| Genres | Progressive rock |
| Studio | Abbey Road Studios |
| Length | 6:53(album) 3:33(single) |
| Label | Harvest |
| Vocalists | David Gilmour • Richard Wright |
| Songwriters | Roger Waters • David Gilmour • Richard Wright • Nick Mason |
| Producers | Pink Floyd |
Overview[]
Info[]
- It is noted for its long introductory passage of clocks chiming and alarms ringing, recorded as a quadraphonic test by Alan Parsons; unlike Money, the sound effects weren't recorded for the album.
Time
- The song is a memento mori describing the phenomenon in which time seems to pass more quickly as one ages, often leading to despair in old age over missed opportunities of the past.
- Each clock was recorded separately in an antiques store. This is followed by an eerie two-minute passage dominated by Nick Mason's rototoms, Roger Waters' bass, and Richard Wright's keyboards. With Gilmour singing lead on the verses and Wright singing lead on the bridges and with various female singers providing backup vocals, the lyrics of the song deal with Roger's realization that life wasn't about preparing yourself for what happens next, but about grabbing control of your own destiny (he attributes his earlier ignorance of this to his mother's obsession with education). Gilmour's guitar solo provides the refrain over the same chord progressions as the verse and chorus. A reprise of "Breathe" brings the song to a close, before it segues into "The Great Gig In The Sky".
- This the 2nd longest song on the album, after "Us And Them", and is renowned for Gilmour's guitar solo after the first verse, which is often considered to be one of his very best and among the best ever.
- The song's opening is used at the end of the trailers for the second series of Life on Mars (TV Series)
- The song's opening was used as the main menu music for the PC version of Destruction Derby 2.
- This song was another successful single on the album, reaching #101 on the Billboard charts.
- The Beastie Boys sampled "Time" for their song "Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun", which appeared on Paul's Boutique.
- The Killers covered this song multiple times during their Hot Fuss tour after having their song On Top segue into it.
- The Prodigy sampled the alarm bell for their tracks "Claustrophobic Sting" and "Wake Up Call"
- After the clocks finish ringing, this song's tempo is exactly 120 beats per minute, meaning each beat is one half-second of real time.
- The song ends on a B minor chord and segues into The Great Gig in the Sky.
| Credits | Chronology |