"Time After Time" is a song by the American pop singer Cyndi Lauper from her debut album, She's So Unusual (1983). It was released as the album's second single in March 1984, by Epic and Portrait Records. Written by Lauper and Rob Hyman, who also provided backing vocals, the song was produced by Rick Chertoff. It was written in the album's final stages, after "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "She Bop" and "All Through the Night" had been written or recorded. The writing began with the title, which Lauper had seen in TV Guide, referring to the science fiction film Time After Time (1979).

"Time After Time" received positive reviews from music critics, with many commending it as a solid and memorable love song. It has since been named as one of the greatest pop songs of all time by many media outlets, including Rolling Stone, Nerve, and MTV. The song was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Song of the Year at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards. Commercially, "Time After Time" was another success for Lauper, becoming her first No. 1 hit single in the United States, topping the Billboard Hot 100 on June 9, 1984, and remaining at the top for two weeks. It additionally peaked at No. 6 on the Australian Kent Music Report chart and No. 3 on the UK singles chart.

Background and recording

Although "Time After Time" would eventually become one of Lauper's signature songs, it was one of the last songs on her debut studio album to be recorded. While Lauper was still writing material for She's So Unusual in early 1983, her producer, Rick Chertoff introduced her to American musician Rob Hyman, a founding member of the 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".

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 a TV Guide listing for the science fiction film Time 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.

Initially, Epic Records wanted "Time After Time" as the album's lead 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. "Time After Time" became the album's second single, released on March 27, 1984.

Composition and lyrics Written by Cyndi Lauper and Rob Hyman and produced by Rick Chertoff, "Time After Time" is built over simple keyboard-synth chords, bright, jangly guitars, clock ticking percussion, and elastic bassline. Lyrically, the track is a love song of devotion. Pam Avoledo of Blogcritics 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."

"Time After Time" is written in the key of C major with a tempo of 130 beats per minute in common time. Lauper's vocals span from G3 to C5 in the song.

Critical reception The song received critical acclaim: Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine praised the track, calling it "the album's finest moment, if not Lauper's greatest moment period." Susan Glen of PopMatters also called it a standout track, naming it "gorgeous". Bryan Lee Madden of Sputnikmusic simply called it "a masterpiece" and "the best and most significant song she ever wrote or recorded." Brenon Veevers of Renowned for Sound labeled it "sentimental" and "gorgeous". Scott Floman, music critic for Goldmine magazine, described the song as "gorgeously heartfelt" and "one of the decade's finest ballads". Chris Gerard of Metro Weekly summarized the song as a "beautiful and bittersweet ballad." Cashbox said that the song "is a gentle, reflective tune that displays the deep resonance of Lauper's vocal talents."

Accolades "Time After Time" has entered many lists of "Best Love Songs of All Time", "Best Ballads from the 80s" and others. Bill Lamb, also from About.com, placed the song at number 21 on his "Top 100 Best Love Songs of All Time" list. On Nerves 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'."

The song also appeared on Rolling Stone and MTV's "100 Greatest Pop Songs" at number 66. The song also entered VH1's "100 Best Songs of the Past 25 Years and "100 Greatest Songs of the 80s" lists, at numbers 22 and 19 respectively. The song was also on NME'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' was demoed 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."

Awards and nominations Won 1984 – American Video Awards for Best Female Performance 1984 – American Video Awards for Best Pop Video 1984 – BMI Awards for Pop Award 1984 – Billboard Awards for Best Female Performance 1985 – Pro Canada Awards for Most Performed Foreign Song 2008 – BMI Millionaire Award for 5 Million Spins on US Radio 2009 – BMI Awards for Pop Award Nominations 1984 – MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist 1984 – MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video 1984 – MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction 1985 – Grammy Award for Song of the Year

Lists of best songs Year By List Work Ranked 2000 Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Pop Songs "Time After Time" #66 MTV2003 VH1 100 Best Songs of the Past 25 Years "Time After Time" #22 2006 VH1 100 Greatest Songs of the 80s "Time After Time" #19 2021 Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All Time "Time After Time" #494

Chart performance "Time After Time" became Lauper's first number-one single on the Billboard charts, reaching the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in June 1984. It also reached the top of the U.S. Adult Contemporary list, and The Record's and RPM Top Singles charts in Canada. In Europe, the single peaked at number 2, on July 9, 1984. In New Zealand, the song reached number 3, in Austria it reached number 5, in Switzerland it reached number 7, in France it peaked at number 9 and in Sweden it reached a peak of number 10. In Mexico's Notitas Musicales or Hit Parade the song was number 2 for four weeks, beginning on June 15, 1984.

In the United Kingdom, "Time After Time" debuted at number 69 on March 24, 1984 and initially peaked at number 54 two weeks later. The single later re-entered the charts on June 9, 1984 and climbed to a new peak of number 3 six weeks later, becoming Cyndi's second top 10 single in the country. For the re-release, the song was supported by a radio campaign by the record label Starblend who included it on a compilation album titled Broken Dreams.

When the song reached number 3 of the Billboard Hot 100, Cyndi Lauper become only the second female artist of the rock era to reach the Top 3 of the chart with her first two chart entries following Petula Clark.

Before its official release as a single, "Time After Time" charted on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart, debuting in the week of December 17, 1983. After its single release, it peaked at number 10 on the chart in May 1984.

A version from Lauper's ninth studio album, The Body Acoustic (2005), featuring Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan, reached No. 14 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Music video

The video for "Time After Time" was directed by Edd Griles, who had directed the music video for "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". The video follows a young woman leaving her lover behind. Lauper's mother, brother, and boyfriend, Dave Wolff, appear in the video, and Lou 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, in Roxbury, New Jersey, the intersection of Route 46 and Route 10, and at the Morristown train station.

Portions of the video were also shot in front of Betty's Department Store in Wharton, New Jersey, which was a staple of the community in the 1970s. 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." The video opens with Lauper watching the adventure drama romance film The Garden of Allah (1936), and in the final scene, where she gets on the train and waves goodbye to David, Lauper is crying.

The music video began receiving airplay on MTV in late March 1984.

Track listings European 12" single "Time After Time" – 4:01 (Cyndi Lauper, Rob Hyman) "I'll Kiss You" – 4:12 (Cyndi Lauper, Jules Shear) "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (extended version) – 6:08 (Robert Hazard) "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (instrumental) – 7:10 (Robert Hazard)US vinyl, 7-inch single "Time After Time" – 3:52 "I'll Kiss You" – 4:05

Personnel Written by Cyndi Lauper, Rob Hyman Produced by Rick Chertoff Executive producer: Lennie Petze Associate producer: William Wittman Engineered by William Wittman Arranged by Cyndi Lauper, Rick Chertoff, Rob Hyman, Eric Bazilian

Musicians Cyndi Lauper – lead vocals; backing vocals Rob Hyman – keyboards; backing vocals Peter Wood – synthesizers Eric Bazilian – electric guitar Anton Fig – drums

Charts

Weekly charts + 1984 weekly chart performance for "Time After Time" Chart (1984) Peakposition Australia (Kent Music Report) 6 Belgium (VRT Top 30 Flanders) 3 Canada (The Record)1 Canada (CHUM). CHUM. 2 Chile (Clasificación Nacional del Disco) 1 Colombia (UPI) 3 Denmark (Hitlisten) 10 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100) 2 Israel (IBA) 2 Italy (Discografia internazionale) 4 Italy (Musica e dischi) Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Cyndi Lauper". 3Luxembourg (Radio Luxembourg)3 Mexico Hit Parade (RPM) 2 Paraguay (UPI) 6 South Africa (Springbok Radio) 25 US Adult Contemporary (Radio & Records) 1 US AOR/Hot Tracks (Radio & Records) 12 US Contemporary Hit Radio (Radio & Records) 1 US Cash Box Top 100 1 Venezuela (UPI) 2 Zimbabwe (ZIMA) 1 + 2012 weekly chart performance for "Time After Time" Chart (2012) Peakposition

+ 2025 weekly chart performance for "Time After Time" Chart (2025) Peakposition

Featuring Sarah McLachlan (2005)