Break all the songs comprising The Dark Side of the Moon down and, surprisingly, the story told by this Roger Waters-penned album is not lost. Pink Floyd released one of the all-time greats here. A benchmark in quality songwriting and progressive rock charms. They would improve it with future releases, though few albums after this would come close to the quality heard on the likes of Money and Us and Them. Time is a different beast of a song, the only one where Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Richard Wright are credited as songwriters. It’s a regret Waters may hold, but the bassist and founding member should not hold it against the trio of talented musicians he worked with at the time. Pink Floyd will be forever defined by The Dark Side of the Moon, an all-time great album. It’s thanks to pieces like Time that this reputation has solidified. It’s an instrumental freshness which lasts even today, and that’s all down to Gilmour.
His guitar playing is outstanding here, as it was for Money. That instrumental brilliance as a texture for the song, rather than the lead reason for the track, is the difference. You can hear it receive a little too much time on releases without Waters, but Time is a perfect balance between the band’s defining instrumental style and Waters’ brilliant writing. Those alarms and bells chiming to signify some unspecified time are as iconic a noise as the cash register preceding Money. A brilliant instrumental scope is what opens Time, a balance between studio noodling and impressive improvisation. What they bring together is a well-layered prelude to one of the band’s very best songs. It’s a rallying cry against the waste of the day, a crippling blow to the creativity of people across the globe. All great music acts as a form of escapism, be it intentional or through the subconscious. Those spaced-out feelings on Time are just as important as the rallying cry against wasting your time.
Some will take this to an extreme that the song does not note. Yes, it’s poor form to waste the days away, but to what end must we make the most of our finite time? Truly beautiful instrumental work is in place from Gilmour’s guitar to soothe the soul, but listeners are left to their own devices in finding a balance between work and play. One cannot exist without the other, or at least that’s what we’re led to believe. Time passes you by when you aren’t paying attention to it. That’s it. That’s the message. One of the sincerest attempts from any artist to shake their listener awake to the ridiculous drift of time. Hence the title, though most will hopefully have made that connection. We cannot let the fatigue of all those wasted hours define us. There is something larger out there, and Time finds it.
Inspiring doesn’t cover it for Time. Isolated from the rest of The Dark Side of the Moon, it sounds like the beating heart of the album. You can pair it with any other song on the record, and it makes for a suitable transition. Stick Breathe (In the Air) or Money on straight afterwards, and Time acts as a counter to the so-called responsibilities found in either song. That’s the beauty of Pink Floyd on this record. You can isolate each song and take on a whole new meaning by spending a few listens with it and it alone. Time becomes a rallying cry to control your days before they slip from your grasp. We can only hope to remember each day for a unique choice we made, and that hope is strong enough to live up to the values of one of Pink Floyd’s best songs.
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