Time in a Bottle
"Time in a Bottle" is a hit single by singer-songwriter Jim Croce. Croce wrote the lyrics after his wife Ingrid told him she was pregnant, in December 1970. It appeared on his 1972 ABC debut album You Don't Mess Around with Jim and was featured in the 1973 ABC made-for-television movie "She Lives!". ABC originally did not intend to release the song as a single; but when Croce was killed in a plane crash in September 1973, its lyrics, dealing with mortality and the wish to have more time, had additional resonance. The song subsequently received a large amount of airplay as an album track and demand for a single release built. When it was eventually issued as a 7", it became his second and final No. 1 hit. After the single had finished its two-week run at the top in early January 1974, the album You Don't Mess Around with Jim became No. 1 for five weeks. In 1977, "Time in a Bottle" was used as the title for a of Croce's love songs.
Production and arrangement
The arrangement features a harpsichord that producer Tommy West discovered had been left in the mixing studio:
"The night before we were going to mix, I was watching a horror movie on TV, and something must have lodged in my brain because when I walked into the studio the next day, I saw this harpsichord sitting in a corner and got an idea. A jingle company had used it on a session and in walked a couple of guys from SIR to haul it away. I asked them to take a lunch break and told Bruce to put a couple of mics on it. He was whining that it was out of tune, but I asked him to let me try something. I added two tracks of harpsichord, told the movers they could remove it, walked into Jerry's office and asked if I could borrow the electric bass that was sitting on his couch, played that on just the second verse and the outro, and that was that! Radio compression worked in our favor on that record. It made the harpsichord blend with the two guitars in an unusual way. But we thought this record would only be an album cut."
Track listing
7" Single- "Time in a Bottle" – 2:24
- "Hard Time Losin' Man" – 2:23
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
| Chart | Peak position |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Easy Listening | 1 |
| U.S. Cash Box Top 100 | 1 |
| Australian Top 100 Singles | 60 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary | 1 |
Year-end charts
All-time charts
Certifications
In popular culture
- The song started receiving widespread airplay in September 1973, after it was featured over the end credits of the ABC TV movie, She Lives!, starring Desi Arnaz Jr. and Season Hubley.
- Maureen McCormick performed the song on a 1977 episode of the variety show The Brady Bunch Hour.
- This song was performed on a 1977 episode of The Muppet Show.
- The song was used in television commercials for Mateus wine in 1983.
- The song appeared in the MacGyver episode "Flame's End."
- The song's melody was mimicked in a Chinese remake used in the movie Fleet of Time featuring Faye Wong
- The song has been played on episodes of the British TV series Heartbeat when a sad event occurs.
- The song was sung by Leslie Chow and Alan Garner in an elevator in The Hangover Part II.
- The song was featured in in a slow-motion sequence showcasing the character Quicksilver.
- "Time in a Bottle" was used in The Last Man on Earth episode "Dead Man Walking", during the funeral of a minor character named Gordon.
- The song was used for the funeral scene for Robert De Niro's deceased wife in Dirty Grandpa.
- In 2016, Apple released an iPhone 6s commercial called "Timer" featuring "Time in a Bottle". The commercial also features Sesame Streets Cookie Monster interacting with Siri.
- A cover of the song was made by the singer Yungblud for the 2019 film Hobbs and Shaw.
- In 2019, the song was featured in of American Horror Story.
- Croce's group from college, the Villanova Spires, sings the song every year as homage to him.