#57 – Only Time Will Tell
Day #57 – Only Time Will Tell
Time is a funny thing, isn’t it? Somedays I feel like I am as young as I was thirty years ago, and some days I am feeling all the changes that thirty years brings to life and my physical body. I would think many people have a similar feeling.
In some ways, our lives have changed a lot in thirty years, and in some ways, many of the questions pondered in this song remain just as accurate today as they did then. Realizing that brings a special kind of awareness to life. How special life is, how fragile life is; awareness about how many things have changed and yet how many things remain the same. And wondering if that is how life is supposed to be?
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Original post from 10/28/2023
Day #57 – Only Time Will Tell
Only Time Will Tell was released un 1996 on JB’s album Banana Wind.
I remember catching him live on the Today show or GMA (whichever, whatever) just before the album’s release, and this was the song he was playing. As usual, he looked like he was having fun. And he had no shoes! I did not expect to see Jimmy on TV that morning and it certainly made my day!
This song has a compilation of writers that include Jimmy, of course, along with Coral Reefers past and present, Roger Guth and Russ Kunkel, both drummers, and Peter Mayer and Jim Mayer, both guitarists. I imagine them sitting around in a group, each contributing a little here and there, and then a song is born.
The older that I get, the more brilliant that I think these song lyrics are. I would like to share some of those words, although I hope you listen too.
“Scales and clocks just can’t be trusted … And I’m feeling for the sound of time.”
I suppose it’s age, but time does seem to move faster, and time really feels like it’s flying lately. I swear it was just April 1st, and now it’s pushing November, and we have a thick layer of snow on the ground.
“Is this music made to last or crumble like a shell, Is there heaven here on earth or is this really hell.”
I can’t answer the heaven or hell question, although it’s a good one, but I believe the music has and will continue to stand the test of time.
“Are we destined to be ruled by a bunch of old white men, Who compare the world to football and are programmed to defend.”
With war stirring across our globe, one wonders if anything can be done to avoid it with our current world leaders and policies in place.
“I woke up this morning, Feeling absolutely grand, For nearly half a century I’ve been playing in a band, I’d like to think I’ll make it to two thousand and one, Will the party be at my house, God I wonder who will come.”
If you love what you do, it’s never really work. I’m glad you found your path Jimmy, so we all could enjoy your music … and I would certainly have come to your party JB, any day, any year!
“Only time will tell if I’m right or I am wrong, Only time will tell if there is a message in this song, Will it ever make sense, Will it ever ring a bell, Only time will tell.”
The chorus flows nicely, and it works now as it did then. Remember this song was written in 1996, so it’s pushing thirty years. Pre Y2K, with all the concerns that caused, now post pandemic, with all the changes that brought, the words still ring true.
Please enjoy Only Time Will Tell. I will leave the link in the comments below.
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My original post was written in late October with snow on the ground and a winter cold biting at us, but that snow has melted and now it is late November, and it is actually feeling more like fall than winter. Yet more snow is just around the corner and my favorite constellation of Orion is making a show in the night sky. That consistency in the night sky is one of the things that I really appreciate about how time flows and yet remains unchanged in many ways. I think this song brings to mind both constant and change in life.
As to the changes that time brings, and the things that feel like they remain consistent, well I guess that is part of the great mystery of life.
Stacy
Please enjoy Only Time Will Tell. I have included the link below. Enjoy!
The link is from Jimmy’s official YouTube channel, which I have no personal affiliation with.
