CULTURE CLUB - TIME (CLOCK OF THE HEART)

Publicació: 19 de novembre de 1982 (Regne Unit) / 29 de març de 1983 (EUA)

Llistes: Regne Unit: #3   EUA: #2

"Time (Clock of the Heart)" és una cançó de la banda britànica Culture Club, llançada com a senzill independent a la major part del món, i com a segon senzill del seu àlbum debut "Kissing to be Clever" a Amèrica del Nord, continuació del seu senzill debut "Do you really want to hurt me?".

El guitarrista Roy Hay va explicar a la revista Musician com va sorgir aquesta peça: "Mikey Craig (baixista) estàvem provant de fer junts una mica de música, i en escoltar-ho George es va emocionar i li va posar lletra. Al principi, era horrible, molt insípid. Llavors en Mikey va tenir la idea d'utilitzar un ritme esglaonat. Vaig dir: "Sí, fem-ho amb el Moog". Així que ho vam fer, vam aconseguir el gran so d’acompanyament i tot es va unir".

A la lletra, el protagonista li canta a la seva parella dient-li que no es recolzi massa en ell perquè té por de què es facin mal. Pensa que podrien haver tingut una bona relació, però el temps s'està acabant i no han avançat. Li preocupa que estiguin perdent el temps junts i que el temps no els doni l'oportunitat de millorar les coses.

Aquesta cançó dóna una gran resposta a la proposta, "només dóna-li temps". Tal com explica Boy George a la lletra, el temps no sempre fa que una relació funcioni. Estar junts pot fer-vos sentir com si tingueu un amor real, quan realment tot el que heu fet és passar unes hores com a parella. El temps és valuós, i és massa valuós per perdre's en alguna cosa que no funciona.

El videoclip, dirigit per Chris Gabrin, ens porta dins d'un llibre amb un rellotge a la portada per mostrar la banda actuant en un estudi. També se'ls veu asseguts a la sala d'estar, compartint cafè (amb tasses personalitzades) i un pastís en forma de rellotge mentre es veuen a la televisió.

Gabrin va explicar sobre la realització del vídeo: "Vaig trobar un antic estudi de gravació desocupat, a les afores de Londres, tenia cinc homes que passaven moltes hores treballant en la creació d'un estudi de gravació per a nosaltres. Va durar gairebé una setmana per preparar-lo per poder filmar. Teníem uns quants instruments i micròfons instal·lats. Vaig guiar la càmera cap amunt i cap avall, capturant les cares del grup des de tots els angles imaginables. Volia transmetre a la gent una sensació càlida d'aquest nou grup anomenat Culture Club". La vocalista de suport Helen Terry fa un cameo al clip com la mestressa de casa amb rínxols que els serveix pastís, un escenari que va molestar Boy George. Va dir: "Odio el fet que Helen Terry estigui vestida cruelment semblant una Molly Mop, estic una mica molest per com es presenta Helen en aquest vídeo. Va ser una decisió equivocada presa pel director".

En una revisió retrospectiva de la cançó, Allmusic va escriure: "De tots els èxits inicials de Culture Club, “Time (Clock of the Heart)” probablement és la que ha envellit millor. Boy George deixa caure la críptica automitologia el temps suficient per oferir una lletra tendra i sincera sobre l'amor perdut”.

Als Estats Units, la cançó va coincidir en assolir el número 2 del seu predecessor al Billboard Hot 100, "Do you really want to hurt me?". "Flashdance (What a feeling)" d'Irene Cara va ser la cançó que li va impedir arribar al cim de la llista.

CULTURE CLUB - TIME (CLOCK OF THE HEART)

Released: November 19, 1982 (UK) / March 29, 1983 (US)

Charted: UK: #3  US: #2

"Time (Clock of the Heart)” is a song by british band Culture Club, released as a stand-alone single in most of the world, and as the second single from their debut album “ Kissing to be Clever” in North America, follow-up to their debut single "Do you really want to hurt me?”. Also did well on Adult Contemporary formats and MTV, not a traditional combination, but one that proved very successful for the band.

Guitarist Roy Hay explained in Musician magazine how this one came about: "That song came from me and Mikey Craig (bass player) getting some music together, and George getting excited and putting lyrics to it. At first, it was horrible, really bland. Then Mikey had this idea to use a staggered beat. I said, 'Yeah, let's do it with the Moog.' So we did that, got the great snare sound and it came together."

On the lyrics, the protagonist is singing to his partner, telling her not to lean on him too much because he is afraid of getting hurt. He thinks that they could have had a great relationship, but time is running out and they haven't made any progress. He is worried that they are just wasting their time together and that time won't give them the opportunity to make things better

This song provides a great answer to the proposition, "just give it time." As Boy George explains in the lyric, time doesn't always make a relationship work. Staying together might make you feel like you have a real love, when really all you've done is log some hours as a couple. Time is precious, and it's too valuable to waste on something that isn't working.

The music video, directed by Chris Gabrin, takes us inside a book with a clock on the cover to show the band performing in a studio. They're also seen sitting in a living room, sharing coffee (out of personalized mugs) and a clock-shaped cake while watching themselves on TV.

Gabrin told about the making of the video: "I found an old vacated recording studio, just outside London, I had five men spending many hours working on creating a recording studio for us. It went on for almost a week to just get it ready for filming. We had a few instruments and microphones set up. I guided the camera up and down, capturing the group's faces from every conceivable and inconceivable angle I wanted people to get a warm feeling of this super new group called Culture Club." Backing vocalist Helen Terry makes a rather frumpy cameo appearance in the clip as the curler-wearing housekeeper who serves them cake, a scenario that bothered lead singer Boy George. He said: "I hate the fact that Helen Terry is cruelly dressed looking like a Molly Mop, I'm slightly upset of how Helen Terry is presented in this video. It was a wrong decision made by the director."

Cash Box said the song has "a gentle funk anchor on an otherwise airy romantic ballad". In a retrospective review of the song, Allmusic wrote: "Of all of Culture Club's early hits, Time (Clock of the Heart) has probably aged the best. Boy George drops the cryptic self-mythology long enough to deliver a tender, heartfelt lyric on lost love”.

In the United States, the song matched the #2 peak of its predecessor on the Billboard Hot 100, kept from the #1 spot by "Flashdance (What a feeling)" by Irene Cara.