"Time" by Hans Zimmer: An Analysis

With alllllll the crazy crap going on in the news and noticing my own sense of peace beginning to slip, I decided to give my full focus and attention to reviewing and analyzing one of the most evocative pieces of music I've heard: "Time" by Hans Zimmer from the 'Inception' soundtrack. 

Not that you need a reason (or even encouragement,) but you may wish to play this while you read the analysis. Like Mr. Zimmer, I hope to put my reader in a particular place, emotionally and psychologically as the music plays. I hope you'll listen as you read.

Before I talk about a single note, chord or rhythm in this piece, let's talk about its title. What is time? How is it measured? How do we contextualize its passage in our lives? These questions may seem a bit out of place for a music review, but at least thinking about them helps us really appreciate not only the music in the piece, but it's structure and delivery. There's brilliance here that has gone unnoticed by many. Perhaps I can shed a little light on it for you as we go.

The song opens with strings and piano striking on the first beat. The strings continue using what I presume is chop technique, striking on each eighth-note, accenting on the actual beat. The piano continues playing above this in whole notes, gently conveying the melody. 

I'm not Hans Zimmer and I've never interviewed him or read any interview of him where he broke this song down, so everything that follows is entirely my conjecture. That being said...

How does time begin for humans? Two humans, usually in rhythm and motion, create a baby; a sperm reaches the egg, fertilizes it and a new human's timeline begins. It takes two, just like Zimmer used the strings and the piano in the beginning of the tune. Despite a growing baby's steady and rapid pulse (the eighth notes in the strings), pregnancy feels like it takes a while (the whole notes). These whole notes convey a myriad of emotions through the repeat of a particular chord structure. 

The first chord of the tune is minor, as is the second chord. Are you a parent? Do you remember learning you would become one? The initial fear (chord 1), maybe self doubt or anxiety (chord 2)? A cycle will develop where both will be overcome by a sense of excitement (chord 3) and wonder of the future (chord 4). The second part of the stanza returns to a minor chord (#5), like a relapse of worry, perhaps about your ability to provide, or to be the parent you know your baby needs. Chord 6 sounds like all the things we can't possibly know, placing that beautiful major 7th like a a realization without answers. Chords 7 and 8 bring us back to a place of excitement... of hope. 

The next full stanza adds percussion, attacking the first beat with the piano and strings. Perhaps this is birth; If you've raised kids, you know just how quickly the time of their growth passes. That's all in our minds though, as time passes at the same speed, even if we're perceiving it as faster or slower than normal. Zimmer balances this by building upon the whole note melodies with percussion, adding depth and complexity to the tune, just like growth provides us all a more complex understanding of our lives and the world around us. 

The second stanza also makes plain the crescendo and decrescendo over the paired measures, representative of the ebb and flow not only of time, but of life. 

The third stanza spreads the wealth with carrying the melody and accompaniment, all while never losing that ebb and flow feel made apparent by dynamics. We get sweeping melodic additions from the strings. There's much more of an orchestral feel growing here, just like the new things we learn or abilities we master add to the symphony of life we're experiencing. 

In the 4th stanza, Zimmer adds a guitar playing a very repetitive riff. It won't change for the remainder of the piece. It will be there almost to the end... like the demands on our life; the struggles we're sure to face, each new problem we're trying to solve. For me, the song makes clear that this part is our adulthood, perhaps the early onset of our careers, or the birth of our own children. Life, like the hypnotic and unchanging tempo and pace of the song, keeps going. Along the way, we still have self-doubt. We still have fear. We still find ourselves overcoming fears and becoming excited, and facing questions we may never know the answer to... but continue on, sometimes only on the strength of whatever hope we have. 

This stanza seems to pass faster, just like the 30 year old wakes up tomorrow to see a much older person in the mirror. Where did the time go? 

Zimmer transitions us out of the adulthood of our lives and into, perhaps our golden years. We're approaching retirement now. Everything we've heard before in this music remains, and Zimmer brings in the horns with bombast. What do they sound like to you? What are they saying? Is this the music of a person who is assessing their life, acknowledging the failures, their successes, all the myriad of mysteries that still remain and (hopefully) our excitement and gratitude for experiencing it all? Are they taking measure of everything they've endured to get to this point?

One could almost see this being the music for a person who's being recognized for their achievements in life. They've earned esteem from their colleagues and peers. They've somehow parented themselves into strong and loving relationships with their children... It's a heroes welcome that musically acknowledges every aspect of the journey thus far instead of only focusing on the sweet stuff. 

And at the peak of the bombast and fanfare, the music returns to just a piano and strings... some background noise from lingering sounds. An old man or old woman lies in bed grasping the hand of the love of their life. The noise is quiet now and, before long, all that remains is the two-note chord. No more percussion... no more strings... no more time markers beyond what's left in our experience through which we can attempt to measure it's passage. Both notes now come from only a piano, representing love that, over a lifetime, creates a distinct harmony of two. 

Death is a journey all of us will make alone, so can we really quantify the value of having such a hand to hold as our time comes to an end? 

Which it does... the blending of the very last chord into a strange sound that crescendos and then... ends...

Few pieces of instrumental music move me to tears. But as I think about this song in the context I've tried to lay out for you here, I'm in awe of Zimmer's talent, attention to detail, and ability to compose a piece that so very vividly depicted it's title. Brilliance abounds in Zimmer's "Time," and its message is much more poignant, perhaps, than most will ever realize. 

If you've read this far, thank you very much. I really hope you enjoyed the writing and that your own perspective on and appreciation for this piece has expanded. I would love to know what you think of this piece and how it makes you feel. What visions come to your mind as you listen? I hope you will share and maybe further enhance my own love for this music.