So if you ever are looking for something to keep you occupied?

Because, say, you have some time to waste?

Google “Songs with the word ‘time’ in the title” and check back in with Blythe and me in three weeks.

Because wow.

The poets, songwriters and creatives of the world spend a lot of time on time.

Time lost; time spent; good times; bad times; lack of time; wasting time; closing time; turning back time….

And that’s not even getting in to anyone talking about specific time: 3am; A Moment Like This; Tonight; etc… Or those Rocking Around the Clock or counting down to something à la Final Countdown or Tic Tic Boom or Tic Toc, or 1999 and so on.

So T in our Musical A to Z is for Time. And while Blythe and I have accepted we’ll never do this one justice, after some super fun Youtubing, here’s where our time gravitated towards:

1. Hazy Shade of Winter (1966) – Covered by The Bangles (1987)

Seasons change with the scenery;
Weaving time in a tapestry;
Won’t you stop and remember me?

I have always loved this Simon & Garfunkel song – and the entire Bookends album, which I copied onto tape from LP from my father in my teens.

But this cover has always drawn me – so well done. And so my choice for #1 on my list of time. Discovered in the “springtime of my life” and what with my “being so hard to please” it seems right.

2. A Question of Time – Depeche Mode (1986)

If I can, I always find an excuse for posting Depeche Mode, so here it is. This one is from their Black Celebration album, although I first discovered it at 15 on 101 when I discovered and bought (half of) the album at a flea market. It was the tape that won me over to Depeche Mode for my teen years.

It’s just a question of time;
And it’s running out for you.
It won’t be long until you do;
Exactly what they want you to.

This song’s rush, rush, hurry, bad things might otherwise happen feel stays with me to this day. I appreciate that it’s likely about a guy that wants the girl the other guy is chasing, but I always heard it as trying to escape conformity, or whatever it was everyone was pushing, pushing, pushing me to do.

3. Fading Like a Flower (Everytime You Leave) – Roxette (1991)

First off? I think Roxette is a band who needs more love. This is from their 1991 Joyride album.

But mostly? I just think it’s a beautiful song. And I couldn’t do a post about “Time” without posting a song about regret and loss and what ifs – and this one, while dealing with the raw stages of loss, does it in a poetic way that I’ve always loved.

I will try;
I just need a little time.
To get your face right out of my mind.
To see the world through different eyes.

Every time I see you oh I try to hide away;
But when we meet it seems I can’t let go.
Every time you leave the room I feel I’m fading like a flower.

4. No Time – The Guess Who (1969)

So it’s Canadian and goes to theme so I thinks: efficient. Good time management, yes?

In all seriousness, it’s the song, after Hazy Shade of Winter, that popped into my head.

Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings deal with a different stage of the whole “it’s over” equation by eloquently moving on:

(No time left for you)
On my way to better things
(No time left for you)
I’ll find myself some wings
(No time left for you)
Distant roads are calling me
(No time left for you)
Mm-da, mm-da, mm-da, mm-da, mm-da

Indeed. He later belts out at the end of the song about there being “no time for your stupid games” and “no time for hanging around and getting stepped on”.

He speaks of love, but I think it’s generally good advice for life.

So life.

Life.

You have one. How do you choose to spend it?

Bogged down in drama and complication?

Not your thing? Maybe leaving that behind as you enter 2015?

Then how about my last pick for the evening:

5. We’re Here for a Good Time – Trooper (1977)

So I first heard this song of a mixed tape I bought in my early teens called Sun Jammin’ and have enjoyed it ever since.

Also, Canadian. Woohoo!

I also think it’s a good song to end on. Happy and simple. Sure, the sun can’t shine everyday, but when it does? Have a good time and enjoy life.

The end.

What about you? What songs pondering time speak to your soul? Let me know.