Time in a Bottle - wikipedia Time in a Bottle `` Time in a Bottle '' Single by Jim Croce from the album You Do n't Mess Around with Jim B - side `` Hard Time Losin ' Man '' Released November 1973 Format 7 '' 45 RPM Recorded 1972 Genre Folk rock Length 2 : 30 Label ABC Songwriter ( s ) Jim Croce Producer ( s ) Terry Cashman, Tommy West Jim Croce singles chronology `` I Got a Name '' ( 1973 ) `` Time in a Bottle '' ( 1973 ) `` It Does n't Have to Be That Way '' ( 1973 ) `` I Got a Name '' ( 1973 ) `` Time in a Bottle '' ( 1973 ) `` It Does n't Have to Be That Way '' ( 1973 ) `` Time in a Bottle '' is a hit single by singer - songwriter Jim Croce. Croce wrote the lyrics after his wife Ingrid told him she was pregnant, in December 1970. It appeared on his 1972 ABC debut album You Do n't Mess Around with Jim. ABC originally did not intend to release the song as a single ; but when Croce was killed in a plane crash in September 1973, the song 's lyrics, dealing with mortality and the wish to have more time, had additional resonance. The song subsequently received a large amount of airplay as an album track and demand for a single release built. When it was eventually issued as a 7 ``, it became his second and final No. 1 hit. After the single had finished its two - week run at the top in early January 1974, the album You Do n't Mess Around with Jim became No. 1 for five weeks. In 1977, `` Time in a Bottle '' was used as the title for a compilation album of Croce 's love songs. Contents 1 Production and arrangement 2 In popular culture 3 Track listing 4 Chart performance 4.1 Weekly charts 4.2 Year - end charts 4.3 Certifications 5 References 6 External links Production and arrangement The arrangement features a harpsichord that producer Tommy West discovered had been left in the mixing studio : `` The night before we were going to mix, I was watching a horror movie on TV, and something must have lodged in my brain because when I walked into the studio the next day, I saw this harpsichord sitting in a corner and got an idea. A jingle company had used it on a session and in walked a couple of guys from SIR ( Studio Instruments Rental ) to haul it away. I asked them to take a lunch break and told Bruce to put a couple of mics on it. He was whining that it was out of tune, but I asked him to let me try something. I added two tracks of harpsichord, told the movers they could remove it, walked into Jerry 's office and asked if I could borrow the electric bass that was sitting on his couch, played that on just the second verse and the outro, and that was that ! Radio compression worked in our favor on that record. It made the harpsichord blend with the two guitars in an unusual way. But we thought this record would only be an album cut. '' In popular culture The song started receiving widespread airplay in September 1973, after it was featured over the end credits of the ABC TV movie, She Lives !, starring Desi Arnaz Jr. and Season Hubley. Maureen McCormick performed the song on a 1977 episode of the variety show The Brady Bunch Hour. This song was performed on a 1977 episode of The Muppet Show. The song has been played on episodes of the British TV series Heartbeat when a sad event ( such as a death of one of the main characters ) occurs. The song was sung by Leslie Chow ( Ken Jeong ) and Alan Garner ( Zach Galifinakis ) in an elevator in The Hangover Part II. The song was featured in X-Men : Days of Future Past in a slow - motion sequence showcasing the character Quicksilver. `` Time in a Bottle '' was used in The Last Man on Earth episode `` Dead Man Walking '', during the funeral of a minor character named Gordon ( portrayed by Will Ferrell ). The song was used for the funeral scene for Robert De Niro 's deceased wife in Dirty Grandpa ( 2016 ). In 2016, Apple released an iPhone 6s commercial called `` Timer '' featuring `` Time in a Bottle ''. The commercial also features Sesame Street 's Cookie Monster interacting with Siri. Track listing 7 '' Single ( ABC - 11405 ) `` Time in a Bottle '' -- 2 : 24 `` Hard Time Losin ' Man '' -- 2 : 23 Chart performance Weekly charts Chart ( 1973 -- 74 ) Peak position U.S. Billboard Hot 100 U.S. Billboard Easy Listening U.S. Cash Box Top 100 Australian Top 100 Singles 60 Canadian RPM Top Singles Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Year - end charts Chart ( 1974 ) Rank U.S. Billboard Hot 100 24 U.S. Cash Box Top 100 36 Canadian RPM Top Singles 39 Certifications Country Certification United States Gold ( RIAA ) References Jump up ^ Hyatt, Wesley. The Billboard Book of Number One Adult Contemporary Hits, Billboard Books, 1999, p. 132. Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 7th edition, Billboard Books, 2000, p. 159. Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top Pop Albums 1955 - 1985, Record Research Inc., 1985, p. 88, 505. Jump up ^ Eskow, Gary. `` Classic Tracks : Jim Croce 's `` Time in a Bottle '' ``. Mixonline. Retrieved April 26, 2015. Jump up ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070683/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv Jump up ^ `` YouTube : Maureen McCormick - Time in a Bottle ''. Retrieved June 6, 2014. Jump up ^ Nichelson, Ted ( 2009 ). Love to Love You Bradys : The Bizarre Story of the Brady Bunch Variety Hour. ECW Press. p. 287. ISBN 9781550228885. Jump up ^ Jackson, Don ( 2013 - 01 - 09 ). `` Jim Croce hits Number 1 with ' Time in a Bottle ' Don ' ActioITV 's ckson on Majic 105.7 ''. WMJI. Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 17. Jump up ^ Board, Josh ( 2011 - 05 - 26 ). `` MOVIE REVIEW : The Hangover Part II ''. SanDiego.com. Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 17. Jump up ^ O'Connell, Sean ( 2014 - 05 - 23 ). `` How Did They Film Quicksilver 's Amazing X-Men : Days Of Future Past Scene ? ''. Cinema Blend. Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 17. Jump up ^ `` Apple enlists help of Cookie Monster to highlight ' Hey Siri ' in new iPhone 6s ad ''. Apple Insider. Retrieved 16 March 2016. Jump up ^ Jim Croce - Time In A Bottle / Hard Time Losin ' Man Jump up ^ Time in a Bottle Jump up ^ Australian Top 100 Singles - Week ending 27 October 1974 Jump up ^ Top Singles - Volume 20, No. 23, January 19 1974 Jump up ^ Adult Contemporary - Volume 20, No. 23, January 19 1974 Jump up ^ The CASH BOX Year - End Charts : 1974 Jump up ^ The RPM Year - End Charts : 1974 Jump up ^ Gold and Platinum Archived 2015 - 09 - 24 at the Wayback Machine. External links Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics Preceded by `` The Most Beautiful Girl '' by Charlie Rich US Billboard Hot 100 number - one single December 29, 1973 Succeeded by `` The Joker '' by Steve Miller Band Preceded by `` Leave Me Alone ( Ruby Red Dress ) '' by Helen Reddy US Billboard Easy Listening number - one single December 29, 1973 Succeeded by `` The Way We Were '' by Barbra Streisand Preceded by `` The Most Beautiful Girl '' by Charlie Rich Canadian RPM 100 number - one single January 12, 1974 Succeeded by `` Seasons in the Sun '' by Terry Jacks Preceded by `` Leave Me Alone ( Ruby Red Dress ) '' by Helen Reddy US Cash Box number one single January 12, 1974 Succeeded by `` The Joker '' by Steve Miller Band Preceded by `` Leave Me Alone ( Ruby Red Dress ) '' by Helen Reddy Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary number - one single January 19, 1974 Succeeded by `` Seasons in the Sun '' by Terry Jacks Jim Croce Studio albums Facets Jim & Ingrid Croce You Do n't Mess Around with Jim Life and Times I Got a Name Live albums Jim Croce Live : The Final Tour Have You Heard : Jim Croce Live Compilation albums Photographs & Memories : His Greatest Hits The Faces I 've Been Time in a Bottle : Jim Croce 's Greatest Love Songs Down the Highway Home Recordings : Americana Tribute albums Jerry Reed Sings Jim Croce Jim Croce : A Nashville Tribute Songs `` You Do n't Mess Around with Jim '' `` Operator ( That 's Not the Way It Feels ) '' `` One Less Set of Footsteps '' `` Bad, Bad Leroy Brown '' `` I Got a Name '' `` Time in a Bottle '' `` It Does n't Have to Be That Way '' `` I 'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song '' `` Workin ' at the Car Wash Blues '' `` Chain Gang Medley '' `` Mississippi Lady '' `` Age '' Related articles Discography Ingrid Croce A.J. Croce Maury Muehleisen Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Time_in_a_Bottle&oldid=833043551 '' Categories : 1973 singles Jim Croce songs Lena Horne songs Glen Campbell songs Billboard Adult Contemporary number - one singles Billboard Hot 100 number - one singles RPM Adult Contemporary number - one singles RPM Top Singles number - one singles Songs released posthumously Songs written by Jim Croce Songs about death ABC Records singles Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Articles with hAudio microformats All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from August 2014 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Español Français 한국어 Edit links This page was last edited on 29 March 2018, at 10 : 57. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. 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Question: who sings if i could save time in a bottle
Answer: singer-songwriter Jim Croce