My Top Ten Time Songs

There are hundreds of songs about time... but these are all called Time, and nothing else.

We'll deal with some of the others... when I have the time.


10. Marion - Time

Hey, remember Marion?

No, me neither.

(Liar.)

9. Dennis Wilson - Time

From the classic solo album Pacific Ocean Blue that proved Dennis to be more than just Brian's brother.

8. Ben Folds - Time

And in time I will fade away
In time I won't care what you say
In time, but time takes time you know

7. Pink Floyd - Time

Other people would have placed this much higher, I have no doubt. Maybe even at Number One.

Me, sorry, I never had that much time for the Floyd...

6. Codeine Velvet Club - Time

A toast to life and its bitter ironies.

5. INXS - Time

Well, it's only time.
It's only that makes you... 
It's only time that breaks you.

As with a lot INXS lyrics, you can look back now and hear a lot of foresight.

4. Supergrass - Time

Not listened to this in years... it brings back memories of good times.

3. Tom Waits - Time

Wonderfully smokey, late night storytelling.

2. Freddie Mercury - Time

Could have been Number One, just for being Freddie. But time waits for nobody... not even him. From the musical of the same name, written by Dave Clark.

1. David Bowie - Time

Time, he flexes like a whore
Falls wanking to the floor

Indeed. Apparently they released that as a single in America without any edits because nobody knew what wanking was.




Which do you have most Time for?

My Top Ten Hollywood Songs

Back to my American tour... with ten songs about Tinseltown.

Special mention, of course, to Frankie. Relax!


10. Suede - This Hollywood Life

Brett Anderson's songwriting has always combined glitter and grubbiness, so an ode to the capital city of both seemed inevitable.

9. Kasey Chambers - Hollywood

Kasey laments the fact that real life ain't like the movies. A cliche, perhaps... but that voice!

8. Ryan Adams - Goodnight, Hollywood Boulevard

Yeah, right.

7. The Blue Nile - Tinseltown In The Rain

 Glaswegian genius, from their debut album... 28 years ago. (Ouch.)

6. Father John Misty - Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings

One of the more interesting new records I've discovered this year comes from ex-Fleet Fox J. Tillman aka Father John Misty. This is a standout track from his debut album (as FJM), Fear Fun.

5. The Wedding Present - Spider-Man On Hollywood

Comic book fan David Gedge obviously didn't think Hollywood's version of Spider-Man measured up to the one he read as a kid. And of course, he turns that into a metaphor for disappointing relationships.

4. Eminem - Say Goodbye To Hollywood

Another woe-is-my-awful-life ode from Slim Shady, but when he writes lines like this...

Bury my face in comic books, cause I don't want to look
At nothin', this world's too much

...well, obviously, I can relate.

Not to be confused with...

3. Billy Joel - Say Goodbye To Hollywood

Look, if you don't like Billy Joel... you don't like music. The Phil Spector-esque production on this BJ classic proved irresistible to Phil's ex, lead Ronette Ronnie Spector who went on to record her own version... with a little help from the legendary E Street Band.  

2. Codeine Velvet Club - Hollywood

Sometimes side projects prove more exciting than an artist's day job. Codeine Velvet Club was the brainchild of lead Fratelli Jon Lawler and Glasgow club singer Lou Hickey. The male/female harmonies and big 60s production numbers they created on the band's 2009 debut album promised great things... though sadly, it doesn't seem they're destined to work together again.

1. Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - Hollywood Nights

One of beardy-Bob's bristling best.

In those Hollywood nights
In those Hollywood hills
She was looking so right
In her diamonds and frills
All those big city nights
In those high rolling hills
Above all the lights
She had all of the skills

Which Hollywood hit is your heartthrob?