rock n’ roll

Artist:          Chambers Brothers

Song:           Time Has Come Today

Album:        The Time Has Come (1967)

Producer:    David Robinson

Label:          Columbia

Year:           1966

Notes:
It’s in the title. It’s in the chorus. It’s in the ticking clock and chants of “Time!” Now is the time to act. Later might not get here otherwise.

Columbia Records boss Clive Davis forbid the band to record the song. Willie Chambers told the story in a Songfacts interview: “After we signed with Columbia Records, there was a big party with all the food and booze and all this stuff. All the important people were there and we got to meet all of the head hogs and Clive was there. He was there for a couple of hours and he says, ‘Well, I must be going, I have other appointments.’ He immediately leans back in the door, ‘Oh, by the way, that song ‘Time Has Come Today’ that you guys do, we won’t be doing that. We won’t do that kind of shit on this label.’”

[alternate recordings at the bottom]

Lyrics:

Time has come today
Young hearts can go their way
Can’t put it off another day
I don’t care what others say
They say we don’t listen anyway
Time has come today
(Hey)

Oh
The rules have changed today (Hey)
I have no place to stay (Hey)
I’m thinking about the subway (Hey)
My love has flown away (Hey)
My tears have come and gone (Hey)
Oh my Lord, I have to roam (Hey)
I have no home (Hey)
I have no home (Hey)

Now the time has come (Time)
There’s no place to run (Time)
I might get burned up by the sun (Time)
But I had my fun (Time)
I’ve been loved and put aside (Time)
I’ve been crushed by the tumbling tide (Time)
And my soul has been psychedelicized (Time)

Now the time has come (Time)
There are things to realize (Time)
Time has come today (Time)
Time has come today (Time)

Time [x11]

Oh
Now the time has come (Time)
There’s no place to run (Time)
I might get burned up by the sun (Time)
But I had my fun (Time)
I’ve been loved and put aside (Time)
I’ve been crushed by tumbling tide (Time)
And my soul has been psychedelicized (Time)

Now the time has come (Time)
There are things to realize (Time)
Time has come today (Time)
Time has come today (Time)

Time [x4]
Yeah

Original version

Album version

 

The version that introduced me to the song

Artist:          Aerosmith

Song:           Nobody’s Fault

Album:        Rocks

Producer:    Jack Douglas

Label:          Columbia

Year:           1976

Notes:
This one might seem like a stretch to some, but it’s one of my favorite Aerosmith songs and I heard it the way I heard it for decades before learning what actually inspired it. Written by guitarist Brad Whitford and vocalist Steven Tyler, ostensibly about earthquakes and flying, ‘Nobody’s Fault’ can be easily heard as offering a view of a world gone mad due to man’s neglect. That’s my interpretation and I’m sticking to it!

Excerpt from ‘Unreality’  —
“To do that we’ll need to head up the bridge and make sure nobody’s gonna be messing with the throttle.”

Lyrics:
Lord I must be dreamin’
What else could this be
Everybody’s screamin’
Running’ for the sea

Holy lands are sinkin’
Birds take to the sky
The prophets are all stinking drunk
I know the reason why

Eyes are full of desire
Mind is so ill at ease
Everything is on fire
Shit piled up to the knees

Out of rhyme or reason
Everyone’s to blame
Children of the season
Don’t be lame

Sorry, you’re so sorry
Don’t be sorry
Man has known
And now he’s blown it
Upside down and hell’s the only sound
We did an awful job
And now they say it’s nobody’s fault

Old St. Andres
Seven years ago
Shove it up their richters
Red lines stop and go
Noblemen of courage
Listen with their ears
Spoke but how discouragin’
When no one really hears

One of these day’s you’ll be sorry
Too many houses on the stilt
Three million years or just a story
Four on the floor up to the hilt

Out of rhyme or reason
Everyone’s to blame
Children of the season
Don’t be lame

Sorry, we’re so sorry
Don’t be sorry
Man has known
And now he’s blown it
Upside down and hell’s the only sound
We did an awful job
And now we’re just a little too late

Eyes are full of desire
Mind is so ill at ease
Everything is on fire
Shit piled up in debris

California showtime
Five o’clock’s the news
Everybody’s concubine
Was prone to take a snooze

Sorry, we’re so sorry
Don’t be sorry
Man has known
And now he’s blown it
Upside down and hell’s the only sound
We did an awful job
And now we’re just a little too late

—

‘Protest 100’s mission is two-fold: dispelling the myth that heavy metal is a brainless, socially unaware music genre, and raising awareness of the issues facing our country in the Nov. 3, 2020 election. The path won’t be exclusively metal—some punk and rap and other stuff will be in here too, including the classics—and is not a ranking. All songs are songs I’ve heard while putting this list together, ordered in a manner designed to entertain and educate.