Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Time in a Bottle

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
B-side
  
"Hard Time Losin' Man"

Format
  
7" 45 RPM

Genre
  
Folk rock

Released
  
November 1973

Recorded
  
1972

Length
  
2:30

"Time in a Bottle" is a hit single by singer-songwriter Jim Croce. Croce wrote the lyrics after his wife Ingrid told him she was pregnant with their son, Adrian, in December 1970. It appeared on his 1972 ABC debut album You Don't Mess Around with Jim. ABC originally did not intend to release the song as a single; but when Croce was killed in a plane crash in September 1973, the song's lyrics, dealing with mortality and the wish to have more time, had additional resonance. The song subsequently received a large amount of airplay as an album track and demand for a single release built. When it was eventually issued as a 7", it became his second and final No. 1 hit. After the single had finished its two-week run at the top in early January 1974, the album You Don't Mess Around with Jim became No. 1 for five weeks. In 1977, "Time in a Bottle" was used as the title for a compilation album of Croce's love songs.

Contents

Production and arrangement

The arrangement features a harpsichord that producer Tommy West discovered had been left in the mixing studio:

"The night before we were going to mix, I was watching a horror movie on TV, and something must have lodged in my brain because when I walked into the studio the next day, I saw this harpsichord sitting in a corner and got an idea. A jingle company had used it on a session and in walked a couple of guys from SIR [Studio Instruments Rental] to haul it away. I asked them to take a lunch break and told Bruce to put a couple of mics on it. He was whining that it was out of tune, but I asked him to let me try something. I added two tracks of harpsichord, told the movers they could remove it, walked into Jerry's office and asked if I could borrow the electric bass that was sitting on his couch, played that on just the second verse and the outro, and that was that! Radio compression worked in our favor on that record. It made the harpsichord blend with the two guitars in an unusual way. But we thought this record would only be an album cut."

  • The song started receiving widespread airplay in September 1973, after it was featured over the end credits of the ABC TV movie, She Lives!, starring Desi Arnaz Jr. and Season Hubley.
  • Maureen McCormick performed the song on a 1977 episode of the variety show The Brady Bunch Hour.
  • This song was performed on a 1977 episode of The Muppet Show.
  • The song has been played on episodes of the British TV series Heartbeat when a sad event (such as a death of one of the main characters) occurs.
  • The song was sung by Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong) and Alan Garner (Zach Galifinakis) in an elevator in The Hangover Part II.
  • The song was featured in X-Men: Days of Future Past in a slow-motion sequence showcasing the character Quicksilver.
  • "Time in a Bottle" was used in The Last Man on Earth episode "Dead Man Walking", during the funeral of a minor character named Gordon (portrayed by Will Ferrell).
  • The song was used for the funeral scene for Robert DeNiro's deceased wife in Dirty Grandpa (2016).
  • In 2016, Apple released an iPhone 6s commercial called "Timer" featuring "Time in a Bottle". The commercial also features Sesame Street's Cookie Monster interacting with Siri.

    • Covers

    "Time in a Bottle" has been covered many times since its original release:

  • Danger Danger on Cockroach
  • Roger Williams on The Best of the Beautiful
  • Nana Mouskouri on Only Love
  • Garth Brooks recorded the song before he was signed to a major label. It has appeared on bootleg releases.
  • Glen Campbell on Love Songs
  • Jerry Reed on Jerry Reed Sings Jim Croce
  • Floyd Cramer on Just Me and My Piano
  • The Ventures on The Ventures Play the Jim Croce Songbook
  • Roger Whittaker on Evergreens
  • Eddie Kendricks on For You
  • Howard Keel on I Loved You So
  • Lena Horne on Lena & Michel
  • Michael English on Jim Croce: A Nashville Tribute
  • Chris de Burgh on Footsteps 2
  • Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds on Playlist
  • Rachael MacFarlane on Hayley Sings
  • Sandra van Nieuwland on And More
  • Ricardo Arjona on Animal Nocturno
  • Barbara Belloni featuring Four Fried Fish on Photographs & Memories (tribute to Jim Croce), published in 2012 by Velut Luna

    • Track listing

    7" Single (ABC-11405)

    1. "Time in a Bottle" – 2:24
    2. "Hard Time Losin' Man" – 2:23

    References

    Time in a Bottle Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA