Israsena 1

Peter Israsena
Mark Barnes
Composition II
13. September 2015
Tolling of the Iron Bell
There are a lot of aspects that encompass every facet of life imaginable, but few more
ubiquitous than time. It is nearly impossible to imagine a universe without something as fundamental.
Pink Floyd's "Time" is about the perspective shift from being young and carefree to being almost
obsessed with regret and the inevitability of death; to finally being at peace with aging. These themes
transcend any social, political, or economical barrier conceivable. No matter who you are, eventually
your time will come.
Perhaps the most apparent aspect of Pink Floyd's Time is the drastic shift in tone throughout
the work. Every stanza has a distinctive and deliberate tone used to symbolize the passage of time.
The first stanza has a very drab and lifeless tone. This is obvious from phrases like, dull day and
waste the hours in an off-hand way. It does not convey so much a sense of boredom, but more
listlessness and the carefree nature of youth. The second stanza has a much more agitated tone. Tired
of lying in the sunshine, and there is time to kill today show this change in tone to one of irritation
and longing. The change in diction to a more aggressive word choice, such as kill and gun, help
convey this rising sense of tension. The middle stanza serves as the crescendo for the song. The tone
peaks with a heated and an overwhelmingly desperate feeling. The first line, You run and you run to
catch up with the sun displays this sense of impending doom perfectly and sets up the stanza for the
climax. The word choice turns overtly violent and morbid in the last line, Shorter of breath and one
day closer to death. The fourth stanza conveys a sense of acceptance and logic towards time.
Hanging, can be seen as violent word as well, but the way it is used in this line, Hanging on in quiet

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desperation is the English way, is much more somber and accepting than aggressive. The final stanza
is the most divergent from the rest of the song. It has a very positive and comforting tone. Phrases
like, it's good to warm my bones beside the fire and Home, Home again, create the sense of ease
and closure in this stanza. This rise in tone from dull to violent, then back down to apathetic and
eventually warm really adds to the underlying themes of the song. It helps shows how time can be
cyclical and change with your perspective.
Time has a strong narrative component as well; complimenting the roller-coaster shift in tone
is a story about how ones perception of time changes throughout their life. The plot opens with the
unnamed protagonist being perfectly fine with not doing a whole lot in particular. Letting the days pass
by without much care in the world. Most people can relate to being young, impressionable, and eager
to please; as exemplified in the last line, Waiting for someone or something to show you the way.
The second stanza shows the yearning for something more in life. This contrast between being content
with just letting life pass by and becoming actively concerned with how much time you wasted builds
tension. The protagonist begins to realize hes not young anymore and shows regret for not having
accomplished more at this point in his life. Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the
rain, shows this desire to change and get more out of life than before. The middle stanza is the most
intense and becomes the narrative climax of this song. It shows the protagonist desperately trying to
squeeze out whatever time he can get before death. After the realization that death is inevitable, a sense
of calm comes over the character. The protagonist's thoughts turn more towards accepting being just
small part of society as a whole and wishing he had left more of a legacy. The final stanza is most
abstract and open to interpretation. The protagonist has passed on and is completely at peace by this
point. The closing lines, Calls the faithful to their knees / To hear the softly spoken magic spell,
suggests the protagonist is reincarnated to continue the cycle again. Or perhaps the the magic spell of
immortality lies in the legacy a man leaves for future generations.

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The most pronounced themes in Time are all centered around the fear of aging, regret over
past life decisions, and the acquiescence/inevitability of death. This sense of regret and fear of aging
dominates the middle of the song with lines like, And then one day you find ten years have got behind
you and every year is getting shorter, Never seem to find the time. One very powerful
metaphor,No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun, shows that the protagonist
acknowledges he has entered adulthood but can't quite place when. The road to being a responsible
adult is blurred for most people and very rarely is a line drawn in the sand when it begins. As someone
in their mid twenties returning to college when most of my friends graduated years ago this line really
hits home to me. The sun is a motif used thought the song to signify the inevitability of time passing
and death. The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older , is a great comparison; showing
that even though the sun is technically billions of years old, relatively speaking the protagonist is older
in that he is much closer to the end his life than the sun is. The relationship between the sun and the
protagonist has two contrasting events as well. Initially, in the second stanza, the protagonist is, lying
in the sunshine, but proceeds to .. run and run to catch up with the sun. This juxtaposition shows
the change between idol complacency and actively trying to make positive changes in his life. Every
year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time, is a very logical metaphor. Every year is still the
same amount of time, but it feels shorter because it encompasses a smaller portion of ones life the older
you get. When you are ten years old a whole year is 10% of your entire life. While someone who is 50
years old; another year is a mere 2%. The major turning point in this song happens at the end of the
second to last stanza. The time is gone, song is over, thought I'd something more to say, is where we
see the protagonist make his final transition to the acceptance of death and all that will bring. This line
also shows the harsh reality that ones life is almost never some great epic narrative, but just another cog
in society as a whole. There is a certain comfort in knowing that you are part of something greater
than just your individual life. And who says just because you have not done anything especially great

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means you can not live a great life.
The resolution not only shows a begrudging acceptance of death, but also a light at the end of
the tunnel. It implies a return to form by restarting the circle of life over again in all of its grand beauty
and terror. For better or worse, life goes on and this song truly embodies what it means to be human.
The fear of aging and having regrets apply to everyone, but it is our perspective that defines us. Lost
opportunities and mistakes are what make us who we are today. They influence what decisions we
make tomorrow. Once you can embrace the past you never have to fear the future.

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Works Cited
Pink Floyd. Time. The Dark Side of the Moon. Harvest, 1973. MP3.