“Time in a Bottle”, a little ditty by the late, great Jim Croce, first popped up on his debut album, You Don’t Mess Around with Jim in 1972. But, in a twist of fate more ironic than finding a vegetarian at a butcher’s convention, it wasn’t released as a single until 1973, after poor Jim had shuffled off this mortal coil. The song then proceeded to climb to the top of the charts faster than a squirrel up a tree, reaching number one in the USA.
Background
Now, let’s dive into the backstory, shall we? Jim’s better half, Ingrid, spilled the beans on this one. Picture this: it’s 1969, and the Croces have just released an album that flopped. They scarper off to a tiny farming town called Lindell, Pennsylvania – population: barely enough for a decent game of cricket.
When interviewer Gary James asked Jim’s wife Ingrid about the origins of “Time in a Bottle,” she had this to say:
“After Jim and I did the album, and things did not work out with the album, we moved to a little farm town called Lyndell, PA. About 36 or 38 people lived there I think. Jim started to drive a truck, and work teaching students. I did pottery and grew our own garden.
This is kind of the original Croce’s restaurant back then, ’cause people used to come over and eat. I just decided one day it was just so silly that Jim was working 3 jobs and not really getting a chance to do his music. I decided that I would put my recipe in to Pillsbury Bake Contest. I didn’t win, but when I told Jim that night that I was not a winner, but that we were gonna have a baby, all of a sudden his whole attitude changed about things.
He came from a very traditional Italian, Catholic background. His family was really heavy into getting good 9 to 5 jobs, pension, and the whole thing. When he found out we were gonna have a child, he realized he was gonna have to do something about it. He sat down that night and wrote “Time In A Bottle”.
I really believe it’s more about the immortality of life. A. J. might have been the trigger for that song as well as our relationship. I think Jim was a very eclectic songwriter. When he wrote something it usually wasn’t one circumstance that spurred it on. It was a lot of different people and a lot of different circumstances that brought that song together which is why I think his music is so universal.
He didn’t just have an experience happen to him and say “I’m gonna write a song about it.” He looked at other people, and talked with a lot of other people. He was in a sense a journalist of what was going on at the time.
Refer to this interview http://www.classicbands.com/IngridCroceInterview.html
Time In a Bottle
Now, Jim, being a good Catholic lad, suddenly realizes he needs to pull his socks up. That night, faster than you can say “nappy change”, he pens “Time in a Bottle”. It’s not just about impending fatherhood, mind you. It’s about the whole blooming’ timelessness of life, don’t you know?
The song itself is a right tearjerker, reflecting on the passage of time and human connections. It’s all about savoring moments like they’re the last Jaffa Cake in the packet. The lyrics paint a picture so vivid; you’d think Turner himself had a hand in it.
As for yours truly, FR!DAY ! AM ! N ROCK, I’m starting to feel like life’s shorter than a Scouser’s temper. There’s just not enough time to do all the things I love, like perfecting my tea-dunking technique or mastering the art of queuing.
It’s no wonder people are always on about finding the fountain of youth. Fat chance of that, I say. You’d have better luck finding a dentist open on a Bank Holiday.
Lyrics
If I could save time in a bottle The first thing that I’d like to do Is to save every day till eternity passes away Just to spend them with you If I could make days last forever If words could make wishes come true I’d save every day like a treasure and then Again, I would spend them with you But there never seems to be enough time To do the things you want to do, once you find them I’ve looked around enough to know That you’re the one I want to go through time with If I had a box just for wishes And dreams that had never come true The box would be empty, except for the memory of how They were answered by you
“Time in a Bottle” uses a metaphor so simple, even a parliamentarian could understand it. If we could save time in a bottle, we might have enough to do something worthwhile one day. But who can save time? It’s like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands.
Here’s a bit of trivia for you pub quiz enthusiasts: “Time in a Bottle” was Jim’s second number one hit, following “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown”. However, in a twist worthy of an M. Night Shyamalan film, it only reached the top spot after Jim had kicked the bucket.
Trivia
So there you have it, folks. “Time in a Bottle” – a song that’s stood the test of time better than most British railway timetables. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to see if I can bottle some time myself. Cheerio!
In a final act of bitter irony, Jim sent Ingrid a letter before his untimely demise, saying he’d decided to quit music to spend more time with the family. The letter arrived a week after he’d gone to join the great gig in the sky. Talk about terrible timing, eh?