Time in a Bottle
"Time in a Bottle" | ||||
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Single by Jim Croce | ||||
from the album You Don't Mess Around with Jim | ||||
B-side | "Hard Time Losin' Man" | |||
Released | November 1973 | |||
Recorded | January–March 1972 | |||
Genre |
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Length | 2:29 | |||
Label | ABC | |||
Songwriter(s) | Jim Croce | |||
Producer(s) | Terry Cashman, Tommy West | |||
Jim Croce singles chronology | ||||
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"Time in a Bottle" is a song by singer-songwriter Jim Croce. He wrote the lyrics after his wife Ingrid told him she was pregnant in December 1970.[2] It appeared on Croce's 1972 ABC debut album You Don't Mess Around with Jim and was featured in the 1973 ABC made-for-television movie She Lives! After he was killed in a plane crash in September 1973, the song was aired frequently on radio, and demand for a single release built. The single of "Time in a Bottle" became Croce's second, and final track to reach number one in the United States.[3]
Production and arrangement
The arrangement features a harpsichord that producer Tommy West discovered had been left in the mixing studio.[4]
Reception
Cash Box magazine called the song "a sweet, tender ballad filled with Croce’s magical vocal touch".[5] Record World called it "an instant classic and an extremely moving record."[6]
"Time in a Bottle" was the third posthumous Billboard number-one hit after "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding and "Me and Bobby McGee" by Janis Joplin.[7]
After the single finished its two-week run at the top of the charts in early January 1974, the album You Don't Mess Around with Jim became No. 1 for five weeks.[8]
In 1977, Time in a Bottle was chosen as the title of a compilation album of Croce's love songs.
Track listing
7" single (ABC-11405)[9]
- "Time in a Bottle" – 2:24
- "Hard Time Losin' Man" – 2:23
Charts
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
All-time charts
|
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United States (RIAA)[17] | Gold | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
In popular culture
- The song was performed on a 1977 episode of The Muppet Show.[18]
- The song was used in television commercials for Mateus wine in 1983.[19][20][21]
- The song was sung by Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong) and Alan Garner (Zach Galifianakis) in an elevator in The Hangover Part II.[22]
- The song was featured in X-Men: Days of Future Past in a slow-motion sequence showcasing the character Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver.[23]
- In 2016, Apple released an iPhone 6s commercial called "Timer" which played some of "Time in a Bottle"; the commercial also features Sesame Street's Cookie Monster interacting with Siri.[24]
- The song was covered by Yungblud and was featured in Hobbs & Shaw in the opening sequence.
- A version of the song by Rob Lane and Julia Church was featured in Season 2 of the television series A Discovery of Witches.
References
- ^ Breihan, Tom (May 1, 2019). "The Number Ones: Jim Croce's "Time in a Bottle"". Stereogum. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
- ^ Hyatt, Wesley. The Billboard Book of Number One Adult Contemporary Hits, Billboard Books, 1999, p. 132.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 7th edition, Billboard Books, 2000, p. 159.
- ^ Eskow, Gary (November 2009). "Classic Tracks: Jim Croce's "Time in a Bottle"". Mix (magazine). Retrieved April 26, 2015.
- ^ "CashBox Record Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. November 17, 1973. p. 20. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
- ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. November 17, 1973. p. 1. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
- ^ Zellner, Xander (June 27, 2018). "Artists Who Hit No. 1 On The Hot 100 Posthumously: XXXTentacion & More". Billboard. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top Pop Albums 1955–1985, Record Research Inc., 1985, p. 88, 505.
- ^ "Jim Croce – Time in a Bottle". discogs. 1973. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
- ^ "Time in a Bottle (song by Jim Croce) ••• Music VF, US & UK hits charts". musicvf.com. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
- ^ "Australian Top 100 Singles – Week ending 27 October 1974". rateyourmusic.com. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
- ^ "Top Singles – Volume 20, No. 23, January 19 1974". collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
- ^ "Adult Contemporary – Volume 20, No. 23, January 19 1974". collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
- ^ "Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1974". www.cashboxmagazine.com. Archived from the original on December 13, 2010.
- ^ "The RPM Year-End Charts: 1974". collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on June 3, 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
- ^ "Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart". Billboard. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
- ^ "American single certifications – Jim Croce – Time in a Bottle". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
- ^ Jackson, Don (January 9, 2013). "Jim Croce hits Number 1 with 'Time in a Bottle'". WMJI. Archived from the original on September 15, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
- ^ "Marketing & Media Decisions". Decisions Publications. April 30, 1983. Retrieved April 30, 2018 – via Google Books.
Mateus highlights "Time in a Bottle" campaign on spot tv. Thirty- second spots created by Shaller Rubin & Winer link Mateus with romance and intimacy to the tune of Jim Croce's love ballad, "Time ...
- ^ "Art Direction". Advertising Trade Publications. April 30, 1984. Retrieved April 30, 2018 – via Google Books.
Last year's Mateus ad centered around Jim Croce's "Time in a Bottle," and the current spot continues on a similar note with its "Spend the good times with Mateus" ...
- ^ "Beverage World". Keller Publishing Corporation. April 30, 1985. Retrieved April 30, 2018 – via Google Books.
The major advertislng support for Mateus during the past growth year was the 'Time in a Bottle" television spot, with its message. "Spend the Good Times with Mateus."
- ^ Board, Josh (May 26, 2011). "MOVIE REVIEW: The Hangover Part II". SanDiego.com. Archived from the original on January 12, 2012. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ O'Connell, Sean (May 23, 2014). "How Did They Film Quicksilver's Amazing X-Men: Days Of Future Past Scene?". Cinema Blend. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
- ^ "Apple enlists help of Cookie Monster to highlight 'Hey Siri' in new iPhone 6s ad". Apple Insider. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
External links
- Lyrics of this song
- Jim Croce - Time in a Bottle on YouTube
- v
- t
- e
- Facets
- Jim & Ingrid Croce
- You Don't Mess Around with Jim
- Life and Times
- I Got a Name
- Jim Croce Live: The Final Tour
- Have You Heard: Jim Croce Live
- Photographs & Memories: His Greatest Hits
- The Faces I've Been
- Time in a Bottle: Jim Croce's Greatest Love Songs
- Down the Highway
- Home Recordings: Americana
- Jerry Reed Sings Jim Croce
- Jim Croce: A Nashville Tribute
- "You Don't Mess Around with Jim"
- "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)"
- "One Less Set of Footsteps"
- "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown"
- "I Got a Name"
- "Time in a Bottle"
- "It Doesn't Have to Be That Way"
- "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song"
- "Workin' at the Car Wash Blues"
- "Chain Gang Medley"
- "Age"