"Time in a Bottle" is a song by singer-songwriter

Jim Croce James Joseph Croce (; January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973) was an American folk and rock singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, he released five studio albums and numerous singles. During this period, Croce took a series of odd jobs to pa ...

. He wrote the lyrics after his wife Ingrid told him she was pregnant in December 1970. It appeared on Croce's 1972

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

debut album ''

You Don't Mess Around with Jim ''You Don't Mess Around with Jim'' is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Jim Croce, released in April 1972. History and release The album was recorded over a three to four-week period for approximately $18,000, with most fundi ...

'' and was featured in the 1973

made-for-television movie ''

She Lives! ''She Lives!'' is a 1973 made-for-television movie about a young couple, Andy and Pam (played by Desi Arnaz Jr. and Season Hubley). ''She Lives!'' is the title of a novel by Paul G. Neimark, published in 1972, on which the television drama is bas ...

'' After he was killed in a plane crash in September 1973, the song was aired frequently on radio, and demand for a single release built. The single of "Time in a Bottle" became Croce's second and final track to reach number 1 in the United States.

Production and arrangement

The arrangement features a

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

that producer Tommy West discovered had been left in the mixing studio.

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' magazine called the song "a sweet, tender ballad filled with Croce’s magical vocal touch". "Time in a Bottle" was the third posthumous ''Billboard'' number-one hit after " Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" by

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

and "

Me and Bobby McGee "Me and Bobby McGee" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson and originally performed by Roger Miller. Fred Foster shares the writing credit, as Kristofferson wrote the song based on a suggestion from Foster. A posth ...

" by

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and musician. One of the most successful and widely known Rock music, rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage ...

. After the single finished its two-week run at the top of the charts 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 chosen as the title of a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

of Croce's love songs.

Track listing

7" Single (ABC-11405) # "Time in a Bottle" – 2:24 # "Hard Time Losin' Man" – 2:23

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

In popular culture

*The song was performed on a 1977 episode of ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a ser ...

''. * The song was used in television commercials for Mateus wine in 1983. *The song was sung by Leslie Chow (

Ken Jeong Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong (, ; born July 13, 1969) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, producer, writer and licensed physician. He rose to prominence for playing Leslie Chow in ''The Hangover'' film series (2009–2013) and Ben Chang in the ...

) and Alan Garner (

Zach Galifinakis Zachary Knight Galifianakis (born October 1, 1969) is an American actor and comedian. He appeared in ''Comedy Central Presents'' special and presented his show ''Late World with Zach'' on VH1. Galifianakis has starred in films including ''Th ...

) in an elevator in ''

The Hangover Part II ''The Hangover Part II'' is a 2011 American comedy film produced by Legendary Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the sequel to the 2009 film ''The Hangover'' and the second installment in ''The Hangover'' trilogy. Directed ...

''. *The song was featured in '' X-Men: Days of Future Past'' in a slow-motion sequence showcasing the character

Peter Maximoff Peter Maximoff is a fictional character appearing in 20th Century Fox's ''X-Men'' film series, portrayed by Evan Peters and based on the Marvel Comics character Quicksilver, a mutant with the ability to move at superhuman speed. The charac ...

/ Quicksilver. *In 2016, Apple released an iPhone 6s commercial called "Timer" which played some of "Time in a Bottle"; the commercial also features ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

''s

Cookie Monster Cookie Monster is a blue Muppet character on the long-running PBS/HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street.'' In a song in 2004, and later in an interview in 2017, Cookie Monster revealed his real name as "Sid". He is best known for his ...

interacting with

Siri Siri ( ) is a virtual assistant that is part of Apple Inc.'s iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, tvOS, and audioOS operating systems. It uses voice queries, gesture based control, focus-tracking and a natural-language user interface to answer questio ...

References

External links

Lyrics of this song
* {{Authority control 1973 singles Jim Croce songs Lena Horne songs Glen Campbell songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Songs released posthumously Songs written by Jim Croce Songs about death ABC Records singles 1972 songs