Few songs written in the history of music have the timeless lyrics of Pink Floyds Time. The song is a masterpiece of slowly galloping drums, wailing guitars, with a message that will no doubt follow you to the grave. The song is a reminder that everyday you get older and everyday you draw closer to death. The lyrics are an account of a life that was once full of energy and passion but has dwindled into a desperate attempt to grasp at the remaining days, to get back what was lost- TIME.

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
Fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way.
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way.

How many of us are waiting around in a state of confusion? Maybe like the song, you never left your home town and are biding your time waiting on something exciting to happen. The days wash over you like giant waves crashing against the rocks, slowly eroding you and weakening your capacity to go out and get action. In this weakened state we look to others to show us the way, any way.

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain.
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today.
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you.
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.

At one point your life was exciting and filled with adventure. You had no concept of time or responsibility. Slowly as you get older the world demands you enter into the trap of time. Showing up on time. Being on time. Caring about what time it is, at all times. Once you become aware of time it begins to flow faster, as if you’re floating down a river and suddenly the water begins to move a little faster, the current becomes stronger. You wake up one day and realize your best years are behind you now. At 30, these lyrics are all too true for me personally. It only seems like yesterday I had a ton of friends and we all felt invincible. Now the weight of the world weighs heavy, and nobody told you where to go or what to do.

So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it’s sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again.
The sun is the same in a relative way but you’re older,
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.

With the concept of Time deeply entrenched in your brain you begin trying to slow time down. You attempt to cheat time and death. Everyday you look at the sun which is always the same. You look at yourself in the mirror and there is no doubt about it – you are getting older.

Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the time.
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over,
Thought I’d something more to say.

What have become of your dreams? Have you fulfilled your dreams and purpose in this world? Or have you fallen to the wayside? Knowing you haven’t done what you set out to do creates a subtle desperation which intensifies each day. You may feel like you’re hanging on in desperation as you struggle to come to terms with the time you’ve wasted.

Conclusion

The song continues on to describe the end of a mans journey through the world. Tired of the day to day drudgery, the man returns home where he finds a safe haven from the rigors of life:

Home
Home again
I like to be here
When I can

When I come home
Cold and tired
It’s good to warm my bones
Beside the fire

Far away
Across the field
Tolling on the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spell