Time (The Alan Parsons Project song)

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"Time"
Time - Alan Parsons Project.jpg
Single by The Alan Parsons Project
from the album The Turn of a Friendly Card
B-side "The Gold Bug"
ReleasedApril 1981 (US)
31 July 1981 (UK) [1]
Genre Soft rock
Length5:04
4:11 (single version)
Label Arista
Songwriters Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson
Producers Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson
The Alan Parsons Project singles chronology
"Games People Play"
(1980)		"Time"
(1981)		"Snake Eyes"
(1981)
Music video
"Time" on YouTube

"Time" is a song released in 1981 as a single by the Alan Parsons Project. It was from their 1980 album The Turn of a Friendly Card . In the U.S., the song peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100. [2] On the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart, "Time" peaked at number 10. [3] "Time" spent two weeks at number 14 on Cashbox ; [4] the publication ranked it as the 94th biggest hit of 1981. [5] Outside the US, the song peaked at number 30 in Canada. [6]

Contents

Background

"Time" was the first Alan Parsons Project single to feature Eric Woolfson as lead vocalist and also featured Alan Parsons's own voice. [7] Woolfson, who had previously sang guide vocals on the band's demos, had insisted on singing the final vocal on "Time". Parsons recalled that he had previously resisted the idea of Woolfson singing on any material for The Alan Parsons Project and that he had "misjudged his vocal talents." [8] He later said that Woolfson "did a great job" on the recording and expressed his belief that it was "actually a very difficult song to sing, because it goes through an enormous vocal range", citing the contrast between the notes found on the verses and the refrain as an example. [7] [9]

Commenting on the track, Woolfson said that "Time" represented "another form of risk taking" for the group and that the song "could have been sung by an ancient sea captain about to set off on a voyage of discovery, into uncharted territory, or equally, by a modern day astronaut setting off for some destination in space." [10] Lenny Zakatek, who recorded with The Alan Parsons Project for The Turn of a Friendly Card, expressed his belief that Woolfson should have received a Novello award for the song "Time". [7]

Critical reception

Frank Conte of The Boston Globe dismissed the song as "cliche-ridden" and indicative of the band having "run out of ideas." [11] Record World called it a "rich, textured ballad" that was "primed for instant pop-A/C adds." [12] Mike DeGagne of AllMusic said that "Time" was "above and beyond any of this band's other slower material." [13]

Personnel

Chart history

References

  1. ↑ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 28.
  2. ↑ "Music: Top 100 Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  3. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 190.
  4. 1 2 "Cashbox Top 100 Singles" (PDF). Cashbox . p. 4. Archived from the original on 22 February 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2025.
  5. ↑ "Top 100 Year End Charts: 1981". Cashbox . Archived from the original on 18 September 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  6. ↑ "RPM Top 100 Singles - September 18, 1981" (PDF).
  7. 1 2 3 The Turn of a Friendly Card (Liner Notes). United Kingdom: Esoteric Recordings. 2023. p. 8. ECLEC42798.
  8. ↑ The Turn of a Friendly Card (Liner Notes). United States: Arista. 2008. 8287681562.
  9. ↑ Prato, Greg (5 April 2019). "Alan Parsons". Songfacts . Archived from the original on 8 October 2025. Retrieved 1 November 2025.
  10. ↑ The Complete Audio Guide To The Alan Parsons Project (Liner Notes). United States: Arista. 1982. SP-68.
  11. ↑ Conte, Frank (25 November 1980). "Alan Parsons Project Turn of a Friendly Card Arista". The Boston Globe . p. 13. Retrieved 1 November 2025.
  12. ↑ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World . 11 April 1981. p. 1. Retrieved 1 November 2025.
  13. ↑ DeGagne, Mike. "The Turn of a Friendly Card Review". AllMusic . Retrieved 1 November 2025.
  14. ↑ "RPM Top 100 Singles - September 18, 1981" (PDF).
  15. ↑ "RPM Top AC Singles - August 29, 1981" (PDF).
  16. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN   0-89820-089-X
  17. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 184.
  18. ↑ "Number One Awards – Billboard's 1981 Year-End Charts : Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 51. 26 December 1981. p. YE-9. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  19. ↑ Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 26, 1981
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