"She Don't Care About Time" is a song by the American

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

band

the Byrds The Byrds () were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) being the so ...

. It was released on a non-album single as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to " Turn! Turn! Turn!" in October1965. The song was written by

Gene Clark Harold Eugene Clark (November 17, 1944 – May 24, 1991) was an American singer-songwriter and founding member of the folk rock band the Byrds. He was the Byrds' principal songwriter between 1964 and early 1966, writing most of the band's best ...

, the Byrds' main songwriter between 1964 and early 1966. "She Don't Care About Time" was recorded during sessions for '' Turn! Turn! Turn!'', the group's second album. The song is on many of the band's hits compilations.

Composition

As was true with the Byrds' first album, the majority of group-penned compositions on "Turn! Turn! Turn!" were written by Gene Clark. The composition's lyrics have been well cited for their complexity by many who have been affiliated with the group. In particular

Johnny Rogan John Rogan (14 February 1953 – 21 January 2021) was a British author of Irish descent best known for his books about music and popular culture. He wrote influential biographies of the Byrds, Neil Young, the Smiths, Van Morrison and Ray Davies. ...

stated in his biography ''Timeless Flight'' that the elaboration of the lyrics were in anticipation of Clark's later work and were a "fascinating apotheosis in which naturalistic detail and abstraction coalesced". Musically, the recording featured a guitar solo patterned after by

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

's " Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring". The Byrds' recording of " Mr. Tambourine Man" opens with a similar and distinctive, Bach-inspired guitar riff played by Jim McGuinn. The previously unreleased first recording of the song appears on '' The Byrds box set''. It is played at a much faster tempo with Clark performing a

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

solo and McGuinn's guitar playing being more dissonant. Other early versions have been known to feature the group's producer

Terry Melcher Terrence Paul Melcher (; February 8, 1942 – November 19, 2004) was an American record producer, singer, and songwriter who was instrumental in shaping the mid-to-late 1960s California Sound and folk rock movements. His best-known contribution ...

, playing the piano. Although the track was released as single it was ultimately left off the album, along with the

Dylanesque ''Dylanesque'' is the twelfth studio album by English singer Bryan Ferry, released on 5 March 2007 by Virgin Records. The album consists of cover versions of ten Bob Dylan songs and one traditional song that Dylan himself covered on his first ...

"The Day Walk (Never Before)" (also written by Clark). "The Day Walk (Never Before)" was left to languish in the Columbia tape vaults for more than 20 years. This was one of two songs that

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

cited as inspiration for " If I Needed Someone". Upon the release of the Beatles' ''

Rubber Soul ''Rubber Soul'' is the sixth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles. It was released on 3 December 1965 in the United Kingdom on EMI's Parlophone label, accompanied by the non-album double A-side single "We Can Work It Ou ...

'' album, he sent a letter to the group's

publicist A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for work or a project such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists wh ...

Derek Taylor Derek Wyn Taylor (7 May 1932 – 8 September 1997) was a British journalist, writer, publicist and record producer. He is best known for his role as press officer to the Beatles, with whom he worked in 1964 and then from 1968 to 1970, and was ...

, stating: "Tell Jim cGuinnand David rosbythat 'If I Needed Someone' is the riff from 'The Bells Of Rhymney' and the drumming from 'She Don't Care About Time', or my impression of it."

Reception

Since its release, "She Don't Care About Time" has been highly praised by fellow Byrd members. When asked about the recording, McGuinn stated: "I love that song ('She Don't Care About Time'), I really do. I don't know why that never got on. That was for the Turn Turn Turn album, right? I think we had enough stuff already – except that I'm not too happy with the last four cuts of that album."

David Crosby David Van Cortlandt Crosby (August 14, 1941 – January 18, 2023) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He first found fame as a member of the Byrds, with whom he helped pioneer the genres of folk rock and psychedelic music, psych ...

and

Chris Hillman Christopher Hillman (born December 4, 1944) is an American musician. He was the original bassist of the Byrds. With frequent collaborator Gram Parsons, Hillman was a key figure in the development of country rock, defining the genre through his w ...

were also big advocates of song, praising its importance in many interviews since Clark's death. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is 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 ...

'' described it as a "rollicking, hard-driving contagious, teen-angled romancer."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

critic Matthew Greenwald considers it to be "one of the early Byrds' finest records" and that the Bach-inspired guitar lines (from "Joy of Man's Desiring") "took the song to even greater heights". In 2012, Will Levith of ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' rated the song as Clark's third best composition, praising McGuinn's Bach-inspired guitar riff and Clark's "introspective lyrics and driving melody".

Appearances

In addition to its appearance on The Byrds' second album as a bonus track, "She Don't Care About Time" also appears on several compilations, including '' The Original Singles: 1965–1967, Volume 1'', '' The Essential Byrds'', '' History of The Byrds'', and the expanded and reissued edition of '' Never Before. The song is also available on the '' There Is a Season'' boxset, which comprises 99 tracks and includes material from each of the band's twelve studio albums, presented in roughly chronological order. The song was also revisited by Chris Hillman on his Tom Petty produced 2017 album ''Biding My Time''. Hillman told Rolling Stone magazine that it "is one of my favorite Gene Clark compositions".

References

Sources

* {{Authority control 1966 singles The Byrds songs Songs written by Gene Clark Song recordings produced by Terry Melcher Columbia Records singles