If I had a box just for wishes/
And dreams that had never come true/
The box would be empty…

Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle”  deals with mortality in a way that few other successful songs do. Tragically, the song would not be a hit until after Jim Croce’s death in a plane crash in the early 70s. The one bright side can be seen in the lyric above. It speaks about how all of his dreams had basically come true. It is a fantastic concept for a song.

Unfortunately, Croce did not get to enjoy them for long. He says, “There never seems to be enough time to do the things you want to do once you find them.” Very prescient. Croce is one of the more underrated singer/songwriters of his generation. He wrote great love songs, but also wrote those fun “bar songs” (for lack of a better term) like Leroy Brown and You Don’t Mess Around With Jim.

The sound on “Time in a Bottle” is haunting. The combination of the finger-picking, the minor chords and Croce’s voice…and the subject matter make the song overwhelming at times. Notice how he weaves between the serious verses and the lighter choruses (“There never seems to be enough time..”). This is Croce’s fourth song on the top 500 list which means he should be a shoe-in for Rock n Roll Hall of Fame consideration. It doesn’t seem particularly controversial, and I am surprised it hasn’t happened.

Time in a Bottle Lyrics

If I could save time in a bottle,
The first thing that I’d like to do-
Is to save every day
‘Til eternity passes away.
Just to spend them with you.

If I could make days last forever,
If words could make wishes come true.
I’d save every day like a treasure and then
Again, I would spend them with you.

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them.
I’ve looked around enough to know,
That you’re the one I want to go
Through time with.

If I had a box just for wishes,
And dreams that had never come true;
The box would be empty
Except for the memory
Of how they were answered by you.

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them.
I’ve looked around enough to know
That you’re the one I want to go
Through time with.

written by Jim Croce