Right in Time

"Right in Time" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams. It was released in 1998 as the first single from her fifth album, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (1998).

"Right in Time"
promotional CD single artwork
Single by Lucinda Williams
from the album Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
Released1998
GenreCountry rock, alternative country
Length4:35
LabelMercury
Songwriter(s)Lucinda Williams
Producer(s)Steve Earle, Ray Kennedy, Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Williams singles chronology
"Something About What Happens When We Talk"
(1993)		 "Right in Time"
(1998)		 "Can't Let Go"
(1998)

The song was featured on the season one soundtrack album to the Showtime series The L Word.[1] Sarah McLachlan selected the track for inclusion on her Artist's Choice compilation album in 2004.[2]

Content

A review of the song from AllMusic stated: "Few artists could conjure a sense of yearning for an absent lover the way Lucinda Williams does in 'Right in Time', making physical the painful nature of unsatisfied and overwhelming longing, [the song] moves to a feeling of immediacy as the chorus enters, shifting the tone from longing, twangy guitars propelling the chorus--'The way you move, it's right in time/It's right in time with me.' The song then segues into the more intimate setting of Lucinda's private world, where time slows down to a stagger, 'I take off my watch and my earrings/My bracelets and everything/Lie on my back and moan at the ceiling...Think about you and that long ride/I bite my nails, I get weak inside/Reach over and turn off the light/Oh my baby' drawn out in such a low, aching moan that the return of the guitars and closing chorus is a palpable release.[3]

Reception

LA Weekly ranked "Right in Time" at No. 8 on their list of Williams' best 11 songs,[4] while music website Return of Rock ranked it No. 3 on their list.[5] Pitchfork wrote that the song includes some of her "most irreducible, eloquent poetry—'Not a day goes by I don’t think about you/You left your mark on me, it’s permanent, a tattoo'—before becoming a moaned narrative of a woman alone in bed, pleasuring herself. It is unbelievably sensual, a daydream."[6] NME observed that the song is "rich in meaning, pulsing with the thrill of love remembered, and hurting with the chill of absence."[7]

In a five-star-out-of-five review of Car Wheels on a Gravel Road for Rolling Stone, Robert Christgau observed "from the album's very first lines-in which the flat 'Not a day goes by I don't think about you' sets up the ambush of 'You left your mark on me, it's permanent [pause, we need a rhyme fast] a tattoo [gotcha!]', which is instantly trumped by 'Pierce the skin, the blood runs through' and then swoons into a forlorn, unutterably simple 'Oh my baby'-Williams's every picked-over word and effect has something to say.[8]

Track listing
CD single - US[9]
  • Album Version - 4:35
CD single - UK[10]
  • Album Version - 4:35
CD single - Europe[11]
  • Album Version - 4:35

References
  1. Huey, Steve. "The L Word – Original TV Soundtrack". AllMusic. Archived from the original on June 4, 2022. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  2. Tilland, William. "Artist's Choice: Sarah McLachlan". AllMusic. Archived from the original on June 22, 2019. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  3. Kunoff, Kim Reick. "Right in Time – Song Review". AllMusic. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  4. Smyers, Darryl. "Lucinda Williams' Best 11 Songs". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  5. "Lucinda Williams Songs Ranked". Return of Rock. Archived from the original on August 3, 2022. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  6. Pelly, Jenn (October 28, 2018). "Lucinda Williams – Car Wheels on a Gravel Road". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on October 29, 2021. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
  7. Martin, Gavin (July 25, 1998). "Lucinda Williams – Car Wheels on a Gravel Road". NME. London. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
  8. Christgau, Robert (July 23, 1998). "Lucinda Williams – Car Wheels on a Gravel Road". robertchristgau.com. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  9. Discogs. "Lucinda Williams – Right in Time - US single". Discogs. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  10. Discogs. "Lucinda Williams – Right in Time - UK single". Discogs. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  11. Discogs. "Lucinda Williams – Right in Time - Europe single". Discogs. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
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