Time (7:07)

Time is a song from British progressive rock band Pink Floyd’s 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon, and the only song on the album credited to all four members of the band. It is noted for its long introductory passage of clocks chiming and alarms ringing, recorded as a quadrophonic test by Alan Parsons, not specifically for the album.

Each clock at the beginning of the song was recorded separately in an antiques store. This is followed by an eerie two-minute passage dominated by Nick Mason’s rototoms and backgrounded by a tocking sound created by Roger Waters picking two muted strings on his bass. With David Gilmour singing lead on the verses and with Richard Wright singing lead on the bridges and with female singers providing backup vocals, the lyrics of the song deal with Roger Waters’s realization that life was not about preparing yourself for what happens next, but about grabbing control of your own destiny.
A guitar solo from Gilmour provides the refrain over the same chord progressions as the verse and chorus, and it is often praised among the fans as one of his best. A reprise of the album’s earlier “Breathe” brings the song to a closing, before it segues into “The Great Gig in the Sky”.