Abstract
Songs featuring clock‐related images in titles and lyrics are common. Ironically, the precision of time—in seconds, minutes, and hours—is often blurred to illustrate emotional distress, romantic bliss, or other dimensions of stress or exhilaration. This brief essay and extensive discography provide an overview of popular recordings that explore flexible formats of time as metaphors depicting life situations. More than 300 songs from the past century are listed.