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My Gen X Playlist: Time in a Bottle – Jim Croce

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Daily writing prompt
How do significant life events or the passage of time influence your perspective on life?
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I was reading the blog Song of the Day For Today yesterday and he hit on a topic that’s been on my mind the past few years. Time. Once I hit the big five-oh, I began to realize the time ahead was shorter than the time behind. When you really do a deep dive on this, it’s enough to make you say, “Whoa.” And it’s funny, because it just occurred to me that that’s what cowboys say to their horses when they pull the reins and come to a stop. Unfortunately father time isn’t wearing a bridle and there is no way to slow him down. Time marches on.

So I tell myself that 50’s is the new 30’s and that does make me feel better. I just had dinner with my 83 year old mom and she doesn’t look a day over 65 and this gives me hope and a little perspective. There’s still a lot of life to live. I’m usually the one to blame when I slow roll my life experiences these days. I should just get out of my own way from living it. You’ve only got one life to live is so sappy and cliché, but you have to agree it’s sappy and cliché in a good way. I’ll gladly sidle up to the bar for another a pint of sappy any day.

Time in a Bottle is yet another song we heard on my mom’s radio station in LA traffic when we were kids. I didn’t know that this song became a hit years after Jim Croce tragically died in a plane crash.

Jim Croce didn’t live to see the success of “Time in a Bottle.” The singer died in a plane crash in September of 1973. The song had been recorded years earlier and appeared on Croce’s first album, “You Don’t Mess Around with Jim”. It’s a timeless message about how precious life is, and how we all need to appreciate what we have while we have it. The song’s meaning lies in the message that the most important thing we have is time.

– American Songwriter

After his death, Ingrid received a letter Jim wrote shortly before his passing. In the letter Jim promised Ingrid to become a “public hermit” and spend more time at home. He ended the letter by saying: “Remember, it’s the first 60 years that count, and I’ve got 30 to go. I love you.”

– songstoriesmatter

Croce dying young, at the age of thirty. His song about the preciousness of life becomes a hit after his tragic death. His letter to his wife received after his death promised more time together when he returned. These puzzle pieces of Croce’s life seem to be telling us something. Maybe we just need to listen.

–

For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to save every day till 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 the time with

19 thoughts on “My Gen X Playlist: Time in a Bottle – Jim Croce”

  1. Love the connection between “whoa” and trying to slow down time like slowing down a horse. I have also been thinking about the passing of time lately. We just finalized our will and made our funeral arrangements. After burying both sets of parents, my husband and I wanted to make things easier on our own kids. Death is a sobering reality.
    I have always loved the song too! Interesting and tragic story behind the song, though. Really encourages you to appreciate every day.

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  2. Wow. Powerful post, and I did not know about those pieces of correspondence; they do make one say, “whoa,” and step back in and think in the context of all the life Croce should have had before him. A beautiful song choice… there’s a thread of melancholy in the song that is very compelling and relevant to your discussion.

    How wonderful that you get to have dinner with your mom. My parents also looked great for their ages until their mercifully swift demises. And I agree, 50 is the new 30. Just wait till 60! 😉

    Thanks for sharing… and thank you for the shout-out. Like the pieces of Croce’s puzzle, the timing of my post, the writing prompt, and your post seems to be telling us something, too!

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  5. Great song. I just heard Jim Croce on Pandora while I was cleaning the cat litter boxes. Hey something’s got to gotta keep me amused. 😄 It was “I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song.”

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  7. Gosh, we’ve certainly lost a lot of great musicians to plane crashes! Unrelated: did you watch “The Greatest Night in Pop” yet on Netflix? It’s the documentary about the night they made “we are the world.” Fascinating GenX music history lesson.

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  8. My friend, I am right there with you. I turned 50 in April and I’m having a lot of the same thoughts running through my head.

    This past summer, I decided to finally start traveling a little bit and try to see some major league, ball parks, and other cities. I didn’t really have a buddy to go with me, so I took my youngest son to Pittsburgh and to Chicago. Like you said, it was just one of the things where I said “I have to make it happen“

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