Time In A Bottle – Jim Croce | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning

Chart Performance: Pop (#1) and Adult Contemporary (#1 for 2 weeks); 1973

Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne

Jim Croce and his producers never intended to release Time In A Bottle as a single. After all, the album that included Time had already given Jim two hit singles, as had the follow-up LP.

Then, the producers of She Lives – a television movie about a young woman dying of cancer – decided to use Time In A Bottle for the theme song. Approval was granted, and the Croce musical team went about completing Jim’s third album. Its initial single, I Got A Name, was already on its way to radio, when She Lives aired on September 12, 1973.

The resulting demand for Time forced its release, yet, Jim had already perished in a plane crash. Featuring a harpsichord line from producer Tommy West inspired by The Jesters’ classic doo-wop recording of The Wind, the sparse arrangement behind Jim’s vocal gave Time an appropriately melancholy feeling.

This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.

Produced by:

  • Terry Cashman
  • Tommy West

Lyrics Written by:

  • Jim Croce

Check Out all the Song Meanings of the 70s
Top 100 Songs Of The 1970s

Ed Osborne

Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).