"Time After Time" received positive reviews from music critics, with many commending it as a solid and memorablelove song. It has since been named as one of the greatest pop songs of all time by many media outlets, includingRolling Stone,Nerve, andMTV.[8] The song was also nominated for theGrammy Award for Song of the Year at the27th Annual Grammy Awards.[9] Commercially, "Time After Time" was another success for Lauper, becoming her first No. 1hit single in the United States, topping theBillboard Hot 100 on June 9, 1984, and remaining at the top for two weeks. It additionally peaked at No. 6 on the AustralianKent Music Report chart and No. 3 on theUK singles chart.
Rob Hyman co-wrote and sings backing vocals on the track.
Although "Time After Time" would eventually become one of Lauper'ssignature songs, it was one of the last songs on her debut studio album to be recorded. While Lauper was still writing material forShe's So Unusual in early 1983, her producer,Rick Chertoff introduced her to American musicianRob Hyman, a founding member ofthe Hooters. Lauper had by then already recorded the majority of the album, including the songs "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "She Bop," but Chertoff insisted that she and Hyman needed to record just "one more song". Therefore, she and Hyman sat at a piano and started working on "Time After Time".[10]
Cyndi Lauper, 1985
The inspiration for the song came from the fact that both songwriters were going through similar challenges in their respective romantic relationships; Hyman was coming out of a relationship, and Lauper was having difficulties with her boyfriend and manager, David Wolff. One of the early lines Rob Hyman wrote was "suitcase of memories", which according to Lauper, "struck her", claiming it was a "wonderful line", and other lines came from Lauper's life experiences. The song's title was borrowed from aTV Guide listing for the science fiction filmTime After Time (1979), which Lauper had intended to use only as a temporary placeholder during the writing process. Although she later tried to change the song's name, she said that she felt at some point that "Time After Time" had become so fundamental to the song that it would fall apart with a different title.[10]
Initially, Epic Records wanted "Time After Time" as the album'slead single. However, Lauper felt that releasing a ballad as her debut solo single would have pigeonholed her stylistically as a balladeer, limiting her future work and thus potentially killing her career. Wolff felt that "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" could become a successful pop anthem and was a better choice; ultimately the label agreed and released it as the lead single.[10] "Time After Time" became the album's second single, released on March 27, 1984.[11]
Written byCyndi Lauper andRob Hyman and produced byRick Chertoff, "Time After Time" is built over simple keyboard-synth chords, bright, janglyguitars,clock tickingpercussion, and elasticbassline.[12] Lyrically, the track is a love song of devotion. Pam Avoledo ofBlogcritics speculates that, "In 'Time After Time,' the speaker believes she is a difficult person, unworthy of love. She runs away and shuts people out. However, her devoted boyfriend who loves her unconditionally is willing to help her through anything. The relationship is given depth. The couple's intimacy and history is apparent. They've been together for a long time. They love and have seen each other through every tough part of their life."[13]
"Time After Time" is written in the key ofC major with atempo of 130 beats per minute[14] incommon time. Lauper's vocals span from G3 to C5 in the song.[15]
"Time After Time" has entered many lists of "Best Love Songs of All Time", "Best Ballads from the 80s" and others. Bill Lamb, also fromAbout.com, placed the song at number 21 on his "Top 100 Best Love Songs of All Time" list.[22] OnNerve's list of "The 50 Greatest Love Songs of All Time", "Time After Time" was placed at number 5, being called "Lauper's most enduring masterpiece hits at the very essence of commitment," with the article pointing out that "she captures real romance in the most simple and straightforward of lines: 'If you're lost, you can look and you will find me, time after time'."[23]
The song also appeared onRolling Stone andMTV's "100 Greatest Pop Songs" at number 66.[8] The song also enteredVH1's "100 Best Songs of the Past 25 Years and "100 Greatest Songs of the 80s" lists, at numbers 22 and 19 respectively.[24][25] The song was also onNME's 100 Best Songs of the 1980s, ranked number 79. The website declared that "'Time After Time' was a change in tack for Lauper, whose musical persona had previously been unstoppably light and frothy. 'Time After Time' wasdemoed quickly in time for inclusion on her debut 'She's So Unusual', and ended up being a key song for both Lauper's career and the decade itself."[26]
"Time After Time" became Lauper's first number-one single on theBillboard charts, reaching the top of theBillboard Hot 100 chart in June 1984.[27] It also reached the top of the U.S.Adult Contemporary[28] list, andThe Record's andRPM Top Singles charts in Canada.[29] In Europe, the single peaked at number 2, on July 9, 1984. In the United Kingdom, "Time After Time" debuted at number 54 on March 24, 1984, while peaking later at number 3, on July 14, 1984.[30] In New Zealand, the song reached number 3,[31] in Austria it reached number 5,[32] in Switzerland it reached number 7,[33] in France it peaked at number 9[34] and in Sweden it reached a peak of number 10.[35] In Mexico's Notitas Musicales or Hit Parade the song was number 2 for four weeks, beginning on June 15, 1984.
A version from Lauper's ninth studio album,The Body Acoustic (2005), featuring Canadian singer-songwriterSarah McLachlan, reached No. 14 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
The video for "Time After Time" was directed byEdd Griles,[36] who had directed the music video for "Girls Just Want to Have Fun".[37] The video follows a young woman leaving her lover behind. Lauper's mother, brother, and boyfriend, Dave Wolff, appear in the video, andLou Albano, who played her father in the "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" video, can be seen as a cook. Portions of the video were filmed at the Tom's Diner, since demolished, inRoxbury, New Jersey, the intersection of Route 46 and Route 10, and at theMorristown train station.[38][36]
Portions of the video were also shot in front of Betty's Department Store at the intersection of South Main Street and East Central Avenue[39] inWharton, New Jersey, which was a staple of the community in the 1970s. Lauper's "home" where she says goodbye to her mother still stands on Hurd Street in Wharton, New Jersey.[40] According to Lauper, "It was important to me that we were natural and human in the video. I wanted to convey somebody who walked her own path and did not always get along with everyone and did not always marry the guy."[36] The video opens with Lauper watching the adventure drama romance filmThe Garden of Allah (1936), and the final scene, where she gets on the train and waves goodbye to David, Lauper is crying.[41]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
Jazz trumpeterMiles Davis, perhaps the earliest artist to interpret the song, recorded an instrumental version of the song for his studio albumYou're Under Arrest (1985).[105] The song became a regular part of Davis's live concerts until the end of his career, such as onLive Around the World (a live compilation recorded 1988 to 1991, released 1996).[106] Lauper later stated that while the song has been recorded by dozens of musicians, "The most honored I ever felt was when Miles Davis covered it", adding: "the way he played it was pure magic."[107]
American R&B singerINOJ recorded herMiami bass version[108] of the song in 1998. It peaked at number six on the U.S.Billboard Hot 100 chart.[109] The music video of this version first aired onBET andThe Box.[110]
Novaspace, a GermanEurodance project, covered the song on their debut studio albumSupernova (2003). It reached number six in Germany, number seven in Austria, and number 15 in Australia.[120]
Americanindie rock bandSarge recorded a cover of the song in 1997, which was included on a 7" single that year.[144] In 2000, it appeared on their compilation albumDistant.[145][146]AllMusic's Mike DaRonco said that their version "outshines the original."[144]
On her 1999 tribute album to Miles Davis,Traveling Miles, jazz singerCassandra Wilson included her Miles-infused, jazz vocal version of Lauper's "Time After Time".[147]
A cover version by British-Swedish-Spanish singerMabel featured in theMcDonald's Christmas commercial in the UK in 2021, and peaked at No. 71 on the UK Singles Chart.[156]
^"מדיה פורסט – המצעד הבינלאומי השבועי – Week 25 – 18/06 – 24/06/2025" [Media Forest – International Weekly Chart – Week 25 – 18/06 – 24/06/2025] (Select the year 2025 and the option "25 18-06-23 24-06-23" from the stretched lists, then click "שירים מובילים - רדיו - בינלאומי" to see the chart.) (in Hebrew).Media Forest. June 25, 2023. RetrievedJune 3, 2025.
^"מדיה פורסט – המצעד הבינלאומי השבועי – Week 8 – 16/02 – 22/02/2025" [Media Forest – International Weekly Chart – Week 8 – 16/02 – 22/02/2025] (Select the year 2025 and the option "08 16-02-25 22-02-25" from the stretched lists, then click "שירים מובילים - רדיו - בינלאומי" to see the chart.) (in Hebrew).Media Forest. February 23, 2025. RetrievedJune 3, 2025.
^"DECEMBER 26. 1998"(PDF).Billboard. New York, NY, USA. December 26, 1998. p. YE-44. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on February 28, 2015. RetrievedSeptember 24, 2016.
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