Pink Floyd - Time

Someone asked me if I would do a Pink Floyd song the other day. My first thought was, "Pink Floyd? On Piano?" Well, after pondering it for a few days, I've come to the conclusion that the perfect Pink Floyd song on piano would either be "Wish You Were Here," or "Time." And after further consideration I think "Time" would have to be the winner. First of all I have to be honest. I only knew the lyrics of "Time" as "Bla bla bla, dee dee da da doo da da. Dee dee dee, dee dee da da doo dee." But then I looked into it and found that the lyrics are actually making quite an eternal statement.

The gist of the song is about the proper use of the limited time that we are allotted. The Bible says that "it is appointed man once to die and then the judgment." I think about that a lot. I believe we are given a certain amount of time on the planet to do the best we can, and the time we waste can never be gotten back. I kick myself when I think about all the time I've wasted. In my mind I imagine myself standing before God and having to account for all of the wasted time. So I try to keep myself on track and stay busy.

I especially like the ending of the song when Waters brings us to the place where he has run out of time, but then comes up with something else to say, and goes back into the part from an earlier song on the album, but included at this point, about how he's "home again," makes me think of someone going to heaven after a long "day" on earth. And hearing the church bells tolling and calling the faithful to the "magic spells" of faith, is a nice ending for me.

It's interesting to note that Alan Parsons produced that song, and he also has a song called "Time" from his days with the Alan Parson's Project. It was a great song too. I have never listened to the songs back to back, but I wonder if they dovetail together?

Anyway, I think I'll have to try to work up a solo piano version of "Time." I think it certainly says something of value that we all should take to heart.

God bless,

Willy