Time is Funny

This is a song inspired by my early twenties through my early thirties, when I packed up my guitar and left everything familiar behind to chase something I couldn’t quite define at the time. It’s built on memories of small-town nights, drinking at bars, smoking, shooting pool, and feeling like life was bigger than the place I was in. Looking back, those moments carry a mix of nostalgia and clarity, even if I didn’t fully understand them while I was living them.

As I moved through jobs and everyday routines, I kept feeling a pull toward something beyond the path that seemed expected. I watched others settle into that rhythm, but I always felt more drawn to movement and change than staying in one place. Over time, that inner push became impossible to ignore, and I followed it without knowing exactly where it would lead.

There’s also reflection on the people I left behind, not with anger, but with a sense of distance that naturally grew as our lives went in different directions. I had hoped some of those connections might stay stronger over time, but life has a way of carrying everyone elsewhere. In the end, this song became a way of working through old memories and perspectives, and it feels surprisingly liberating to listen back to it now.

Song Lyrics

[verse]
Packed my old guitar, got ready to fly
They said, “good luck, my friend” and said goodbye (goodbye)
I left with memories, good times behind
With friends I believed were one of a kind

[verse]
Friday nights drinking down at the bar
Smoking cigarettes, shooting pool in the dark (in the dark)
Talking shit, driving way too fast
Thinking I was tough… thinking I’d last

[Chorus]
Time is funny when I look back on mine
How could I stay, clockin’ nine to five?
Staying in one place just ain’t my style
It’s a big world, and I’m here a short while

[verse]
Working the night shift in a print shop grind
Wondering if there’s something more I should find (what will I find?)
Everyone else seemed content in that life
But I felt the pull… like I had to try

[verse]
There was a time when 9 to 5 felt right
But something kept pulling, my spring was getting tight
I knew it was there, somewhere in sight (outa sight!)
Gonna chase it down now, and it’ll be alright!

[Chorus]
Time is funny when I look back on mine
How could I stay, clockin’ nine to five?
Staying in one place just ain’t my style
It’s a big world, and I’m here a short while

[Bridge]
When I left, they all stayed behind
Never really tried… never changed their minds
I don’t know why, I just know I had to go
There’s a different road calling me down below

[verse]
Driving alone on a highway one day (what a day!)
Thinking about why I was heading this way
I looked to the sky, something shifted inside (inside)
Like a voice said, “now’s your time, time to fly” (let’s fly!!!)

[verse]
They said, “you won’t make it… you’ll be back”
Never to my face. Years later I heard that
They faded away like smoke from a stack
I saved them a place… but they never came back (not ever!)

[Chorus]
Time is funny when I look back on mine
How could I stay, clockin’ nine to five?
Staying in one place just ain’t my style
It’s a big world, and I’m here a short while