Time

Pink Floyd, 1973. Solo by David Gilmour.

Gilmour's solo after the second verse is huge, round and brief. It is the Dark Side of the Moon guitar moment.

Gilmour's solo after the second verse is brief, but it defines the sound of Dark Side of the Moon. He played a black Stratocaster through a Fuzz Face and Binson Echorec into Hiwatt heads and Fender Twins, so loud that others had to leave the room, which turned the fuzz into long, violin-like sustain. The solo favours carefully chosen, emotive bends and melodic phrases over speed, climbing to searing peaks before the band drops back into the final verse. It shows Gilmour's gift for making every note sound deliberate. Listen for how he holds and bends single notes until they seem to hang in the air; the size of the sound comes from sustain, not from playing many notes.

Time by Pink Floyd is ranked #29 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by David Gilmour and the song was released in 1973. It appears on 18 lists, placing as high as #8 (Ranker).

The story of Time

Roger Waters built the lyric around a personal realization he had in his late twenties: that life was no longer something he was preparing for but something already slipping past. That idea of wasted days and unnoticed years became one of the central themes of The Dark Side of the Moon, an album about the pressures that wear people down. Time sits fourth on the record and ends with a brief reprise of Breathe, tying it back to the album's opening.

Although Waters wrote the words, the music is credited to all four members, making Time the only track on the album with a full-band writing credit and the last Pink Floyd song ever to carry one. David Gilmour sings the verses while Richard Wright takes the gentler bridge sections, one of his last lead vocals for about two decades. The verses move through F-sharp minor, A and E, with Gilmour's guitar and Wright's keyboards placed on opposite sides of the stereo image.

The famous opening cacophony of chimes and alarms came from engineer Alan Parsons, who had recorded individual antique clocks at a shop as a test for quadraphonic sound, with no plan to use them on the album. The band liked the tape and built the intro around it. Nick Mason's long introduction is played on roto-toms, which had to be retuned and captured drum by drum, while Waters produced the ticking pulse by muting his bass strings.

The Dark Side of the Moon was recorded at EMI's London studios between mid-1972 and early 1973 and released on Harvest in 1973; Pink Floyd had already performed the whole suite at London's Rainbow Theatre in February 1972. An edited Time was issued as a US single in February 1974. The album went on to sell tens of millions of copies and spent a record-breaking stretch on the Billboard 200.

The solo

David Gilmour's solo on Time is one of the defining moments of his playing. Tone researcher Gilmourish reports that he used his black Fender Stratocaster with its stock late-1960s pickups, a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face and a Binson Echorec, feeding Hiwatt DR103 heads and Fender Twin amps into WEM cabinets. Alan Parsons recalled Gilmour playing so loud that others had to leave the room, which turned the harsh fuzz into long, violin-like sustain. Guitar.com adds that a very long cable between the control booth and his rig took some edge off the highs. The solo favors carefully chosen, emotive bends and melodic phrases over speed, climbing to searing peaks before the band drops back into the final verse.

Legacy

Rolling Stone's original album review singled out Time for Gilmour's powerful solo, and it has since become one of the most studied lead breaks in rock. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame counts it among the 500 songs that shaped rock and roll, Billboard ranked it ninth among Pink Floyd songs and Louder placed it fifth. Its clock-laden intro turns up everywhere from game shows to Marvel's Eternals and the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony.

Top 10 facts about Time

Alan Parsons recorded the clocks one by one in an antiques shop as a quadraphonic test before the band decided to use them.
Wikipedia
Time is the only song on The Dark Side of the Moon credited to all four members, and the last Pink Floyd song to do so.
Wikipedia
The band tried boo-bams for the intro before settling on roto-toms.
Wikipedia
Roger Waters created the ticking sound in the intro by playing muted bass strings.
Wikipedia
Richard Wright's bridge vocal was his last lead vocal on a Pink Floyd record for roughly 20 years.
Songfacts
Pink Floyd performed the complete album at London's Rainbow Theatre in February 1972, over a year before its release.
Songfacts
For the solo, Gilmour used a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face and played at such volume that Alan Parsons said people had to leave the studio.
Gilmourish
A long cable run from the control booth to Gilmour's amps is said to have softened the high end of his Dark Side guitar tone.
Guitar.com
Rolling Stone's Loyd Grossman described the track as a country-tinged rocker with a powerful Gilmour solo.
Wikipedia
The clock sounds were used during the Thames sequence of the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony.
Wikipedia

Live versions

Rainbow Theatre, London (1972) Part of the full Dark Side suite played live over a year before the album came out.
Delicate Sound of Thunder (1988) Post-Waters lineup's live album version, notably without the Breathe reprise.
Pulse (1995) Division Bell tour recording of the whole album, with Ian Emes' animated clock film.
In the Flesh: Live (Roger Waters) (2000) Waters' solo version, with Doyle Bramhall II and Jon Carin handling guitars and vocals.
Remember That Night (David Gilmour) (2007) Gilmour's solo concert film, with Richard Wright on keyboards.

Notable covers

Phish (1998) Performed the entire Dark Side of the Moon album at a Utah concert.
Easy Star All-Stars (2003) Reggae reinterpretation on the album Dub Side of the Moon.
Dream Theater (2006) Full-album cover played live at London's Hammersmith Apollo, issued as an official bootleg.
The Flaming Lips with Stardeath and White Dwarfs (2009) Psychedelic indie remake of the whole album, with Henry Rollins and Peaches.
Gov't Mule (2014) Dark Side of the Mule, recorded at a Halloween concert.

In our lists

Deep Cuts — #4
The 25 Greatest Classic Rock Guitar Solos — #12
The 25 Greatest Prog Guitar Solos — #2
The 1970s — #11
Best of David Gilmour — #2
Played on a Stratocaster — #11
Fans' Picks — #19

Sources

What guitar was used on the Time solo?

A fender stratocaster through a Hiwatt amp, with fuzz, according to widely reported accounts.

Where does Time rank among the greatest guitar solos?

#29 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 18 of them.

Who played the guitar solo on Time by Pink Floyd?

David Gilmour, who also sings the verses.

What guitar did David Gilmour use on Time?

His black Fender Stratocaster, run through a Fuzz Face and Binson Echorec into Hiwatt amps, according to tone researchers.

Who wrote Time by Pink Floyd?

All four members share the music credit, with lyrics by Roger Waters.

How were the clocks at the start of Time recorded?

Engineer Alan Parsons recorded each antique clock separately in a shop as a quadraphonic test, and the band then used the tape.

What is Time by Pink Floyd about?

It is about realizing that life is passing you by while you wait for it to begin, an idea Waters had in his late twenties.