31 Best Songs About Time

Time is arbitrary. 

Yes, since humans found a way to measure it, it’s the only constant that has remained unchanged for centuries. 

Thus, we always try to understand, tame, and neutralize the effects of time on us.

As you know, art, and especially music, has always represented humankind’s biggest fears, and time is undeniably one of them.

These are the gems that come from the collision of reality and hope; the best songs ever written about time.

1. Time – Pink Floyd

Time is a composition by Pink Floyd credited to the four band members with lyrics by Roger Waters. It was released as a single and it was the fourth track of the band’s eighth studio album The Dark Side of the Moon from 1973. 

• The band moved the recording studio to an antique shop to record each of the clocks from the song’s initial sequence separately.
• The tick-tock sound in the background was recorded by Roger Waters picking two muted strings of his bass guitar.
• Contrary to common belief, the intention in Roger Waters’ lyrics to the song wasn’t to prepare yourself for what happens next but an attempt to grab control of your destiny.

2. Times like these – Foo Fighters

“Times Like These” was the second single of the fourth album of the Foo Fighters, One By One released in 2003. The song enjoyed huge popularity upon its release and the song’s video offers two versions including the utterly famous bridge video by Marc Klasfeld.

• The song’s lyrics talk about the initial failed attempt to record the Foo Fighters album Times Like These and the uncertainty about the band’s future.
• The line “I’m a new day rising” is inspired by the album New Day Rising, released by Hüsker Dü in 1985.
• The acoustic solo version of the song became almost as popular as the original electric version in rock and alternative radio.

3. Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) – Green Day

Certified 5x platinum in the US, 2x platinum in Australia, and platinum in the UK, this single has sold over 5 million copies worldwide. Before its official release in Nimrod (1997), the song had already appeared as a European B-side to the single “Brain Stew/Jaded”.

• Although the sound of the song is not characteristic of the band, it became the band’s most successful single to date.
• The song wasn’t included in the band’s most popular album, Dookie (1994) for sounding too different from the rest of the album.
• The lyrics of the song were written in 1993 and were a way for Billy Joe Armstrong to tell his girlfriend of the time he was angry about her moving to Ecuador.

4. Time Is On My Side – The Rolling Stones

Although the Rolling Stones’ version is the most popular, the song was written by Jordan “Jerry” Ragovoy under the pseudonym Norman Meade. Other popular versions of the tune were recorded by Kai Winding and Irma Thomas.

• The song became the first Rolling Stones hit to make it to the top 10 in the US charts.
• The monologue in the middle, spoken word section, and lead guitar melody come from Irma Thomas’s version of the song.
• Although only one version became widely known, the band recorded two versions of the song in 1964.

5. Clocks – Coldplay

“Clocks” is the third single from Coldplay’s A Rush of Blood to the Head album. The album went on to win the 2004’s Grammy Award in the “Record of the Year” category. According to specialized media, “Clocks” is the perfect summary of Coldplay’s sound.

• According to Chris Martin, the main piano riff for the song was inspired by another English band: Muse.
• The song was originally discarded for the album A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002) but the band revived due to the record company’s request for more hit songs.
• The song appeared in Rolling Stone Magazine’s “500 greatest songs of all time” ranking as well as NME’s “150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years”.

6. If I Could Turn Back Time – Cher

“If I Could Turn Back Time” is a very important song for Cher and she performed it live on at least seven tours. It was the lead single for Cher’s 19^th studio album Heart of Stone (1989) and it was written by Diane Warren, especially for the singer.

• The song’s video was shot on board a real battleship, the USS Missouri, and the crowd in the video is the ship’s real crew.
• The outfit chosen for the music video was seen as daring and revealing which forced MTV to air it only after 9 PM.
• Because of the outfit, the modern music, and the performance, controversy arose across the USA because the video was deemed disrespectful to the US Navy by isolated groups.

7. Yesterday – The Beatles

“Yesterday” was released in The Beatles’ hit record Help! (1965) and it featured only McCartney and a string quartet. In the USA, the song was released as a single reaching number one in all the country’s charts.

• Oozing over 2,200 cover versions to date, “Yesterday” is one of the most covered songs in the history of music.
• According to Paul McCartney, the melody for the song came to him in a dream while at his girlfriend’s family house.
• During the first month after writing it, McCartney thought the piece was so good he asked everyone he knew in the music business if it sounded familiar due to fear of having plagiarized it.

8. Time is Running Out – Muse

“Time is Running Out” is the third track of Muse’s third studio album, Absolution (2003). It represented the band’s breakthrough radio hit making them known to massive audiences in the USA.

• “Time is Running Out” was Muse’s first top-ten hit single in the UK and on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
• According to bass player  Chris Wolstenholme, the initial version of the song was funkier and groovier, heavily influenced by Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”
• The song’s video was influenced by Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb from 1964.

9. Time After Time – Cindy Lauper

10. Time in Disguise – Kings of Leon

11. It’s Time – Imagine Dragons

12. One Moment In Time – Whitney Houston

13. Too Much Time On My Hands – Styx

14. Right Here Right Now – Fatboy Slim

15. Sign Of The Times – Harry Styles

16. (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life – Jennifer Warnes

17. Closing Time – Semisonic

18. Out Of Time – Blur

19. Time Warp – Richard O’Brien

20. Who Knows Where The Time Goes? – Fairport Convention

21. Good Times Roll – The Cars

22. Back In Time – Huey Lewis And The News

23. Time Waits for No One – The Rolling Stones

24. Time (Clock Of The Heart) – Culture Club

25. Remember The Time – Michael Jackson

26. Time to Get Away- LCD Soundsystem

27. How Soon is Now? – The Smiths

28. Time Has Come Today – The Chambers Brothers

29. Time To Pretend – MGMT

30. Time Stand Still – Rush

31. Sign O’ The Times – Prince