Only Time Will Tell (song)
"Only Time Will Tell" is the second single released by the rock band Asia from their successful first album, Asia (1982).
"Only Time Will Tell" | ||||
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Single by Asia | ||||
from the album Asia | ||||
B-side |
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Released | July 1982 [1] | |||
Recorded | 1981 | |||
Genre | Progressive rock | |||
Length |
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Label | Geffen | |||
Songwriter(s) | Geoff Downes John Wetton | |||
Producer(s) | Mike Stone | |||
Asia singles chronology | ||||
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The song was the band's third top 10 success on the US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, also reaching number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It peaked at #54 in the UK.
Background
Singer John Wetton said, "It’s fairly self explanatory. It’s my lyrics again; a very personal one about the end of a relationship, and it’s my verse, Geoff’s chorus (“Heat of the Moment” is the other way around). I had been stockpiling songs during the leadup to Asia, and a lot of my lyrics were about personal experience–Joni Mitchell is one of my all-time heroes, and she is undisputed queen of the confessional."[2]
Reception
Cash Box said that "it’s a multi-layered progressive rock production with a simple, easily flowing melody at its core, thus providing a little something for both the rock and pop fan."[3] Billboard praised the "thundering drums, widescreen keyboard" and the "affectingly direct vocal."[4]
Track listing
- US 7" Single
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Only Time Will Tell" | 4:05 |
2. | "Time Again" | 4:45 |
- UK 7" single
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Only Time Will Tell" | |
2. | "Ride Easy" |
Chart performance
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
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In popular culture
The song was used in the television series Cold Case third-season episode "The River", the series Family Guy eighth-season episode, "The Splendid Source", some of the foreign versions of the 1982 Japanese anime Future War 198X, and in the 2015 video game Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
References
- "Asia singles".
- "Interview with John Wetton of the rock band Asia". Kickin' it Old School. May 1, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
- "Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. July 24, 1982. p. 10. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
- "Top Single Picks". Billboard. July 24, 1982. p. 63. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
- "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6518." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
- "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
- "Asia Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
- "Asia Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
- "Offiziellecharts.de – Asia – Only Time Will Tell" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- "Top 100 singles of 82" Archived 2013-07-23 at the Wayback Machine, RPM, Volume 37, No. 19, 25 December 1982. Retrieved 6 March 2016
- Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-142-X.