‘If’ I could save ‘Time in a Bottle’

Exclusive to MeierMovies, February 9, 2024

I’ve always been struck by the time-travelesque, existential lyrics of Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle” and Bread’s “If.” They are oddly similar and have a weird, overlapping history. Croce wrote “Time in a Bottle” for his pregnant wife in 1970, but it wasn’t released until 1972, while David Gates of Bread wrote “If” in 1971, the same year it was released. So neither song could have influenced the other. But both Croce and Gates were seemingly channeling the same sentiment.

Love knows no temporal boundaries.

“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.”

“If a man could be two places at one time, I’d be with you, tomorrow and today, beside you all the way.”