‘Time’: everything great about Pink Floyd in one song
Despite their history for histrionics, the best Pink Floyd songs have all been based on some form of collaboration. Whether Syd Barrett guided them or Roger Waters became the rock and roll equivalent of a dictator in the studio, what really made the band work was seeing every band member work off each other rather than one singular person telling everyone how a song should sound or what instrument is needed for a particular section. And while ‘Echoes’ was where they hit on something powerful, their greatest masterstroke was saved for one album later.
Then again, do you need one more random person on the internet to tell you why Dark Side of the Moon is good? The record has become more of a staple in pop culture for the cover alone, but even with the iconic imagery, there are a lot of people who don’t seem to want to look past the record outside of songs like ‘Money’.
Even with every band member contributing to the tracks, the album flows as one continuous piece because of the main objective. No one was overtaking anyone else at this stage, and the lyricism of Waters juxtaposed with Gilmour’s guitar playing is still some of the most transcendent moments of 1970s rock. Compared to where they would go on Wish You Were Here and Animals, it’s easy to forget a song like ‘Time’ in the shuffle.
Looking at all the moving parts going on in the tune, this is the perfect showcase for everything that made Pink Floyd different from their counterparts. Before hearing any notes, though, the chiming of clocks already helps set the tone and reminds everyone of Floyd’s interest in not only straight-ahead songs but also the spaces in between the tracks, especially hearing those ringing alarms coming out of the plane crash in ‘On the Run’.
If there was one MVP of the tune, though, it would have to be David Gilmour. His solo is one of his most emotionally gripping, and hearing him sing with such bluesy gusto is half the reason why the songs work so well on this record. However, the true beauty in the song comes when he and Richard Wright sing together, going from the dramatic swells in the verses to taking some time to calm down for a second.
Roger Waters may have been the visionary behind the group at this time, but even if he didn’t add as much to the musical front, this is by far the best lyric he ever wrote. ‘Echoes’ was his first time dealing with empathy for his fellow man, but hearing him talk about life slowly slipping away and realising that everyone only has so much time left on this Earth before going back into the ground is genuinely haunting.
And while The Wall provided some genuine insight into the life of a rockstar, Waters will most likely never write a line more human than “hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way.” It’s far from the most clever turn of phrase in the rock canon, but there’s real truth behind the idea of everyone secretly hurting inside every single day and having to do everything they can to ensure they don’t let it show.
Despite Nick Mason only serving the song with a gentle backbeat that feels weak in comparison to everyone else, his drumming is actually the most necessary part of the track. A song that’s all about time needs to maintain a steady groove, and Mason is the slow pulse that never slows down, just like Waters talks about in the verses. And when he plays a fill, it’s like he’s tone-painting someone’s heart rate going up as they realise that the sun is sinking in front of them.
And right when everyone wants some sort of resolution, the reprise of the song ‘Breathe’ towards the end reinforces the questions of the album and the subsequent questions about life that everyone has thinking about these topics. No one is here to tell us what it’s like when our time runs out, and Pink Floyd ending off their magnum opus with a musical question mark is a stroke of genius that only comes from a band that is willing to work off each other to offer their fans a hard dose of reality.
