| Time Drags By | |
| Cover: | File:Cliff Richard Time Drags By.jpg |
| Caption: | Cover of the single released in the Netherlands |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Cliff Richard and the Shadows |
| Album: | Finders Keepers |
| B-Side: | La La La Song |
| Recorded: | 26 April 1966[1] |
| Studio: | EMI Studios, London |
| Genre: | Pop rock |
| Label: | Columbia |
| Producer: | Norrie Paramor |
| Prev Title: | Visions |
| Prev Year: | 1966 |
| Next Title: | In the Country |
| Next Year: | 1966 |
"Time Drags By" is a song by Cliff Richard and the Shadows, released as a single in October 1966. It peaked at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Time Drags By" was written by all four members of the Shadows for the soundtrack to the firm Finders Keepers. It was recorded on 26 April 1966 at Abbey Road Studios, then known as EMI, and was one of the first times the group had used multitracking to double track their vocals. The recording also features Jimmy Page playing harmonica.[1] The B-side, "La La La Song", was also written by the Shadows and included on the soundtrack and features backing vocals by the Corona Boys and Girls.[2]
It was released as a single in October 1966 and was nominated for the 1967 Ivor Novello Award for Best Film Song of the Year, but lost to "Born Free", written by John Barry and Don Black.[3]
Reviewed in Disc, "Time Drags By" was described as "Cliff doing a Ray Davies and sitting around on the grass contemplating the world at large in barber shop quartet fashion! Starts with a harmonica and actually Cliff sounds as though he's been Lee Hazlewood-ded, as a male Nancy Sinatra.[4] In Record Mirror, it was described as a "well-beated Shadow composition and Cliff gets a relaxed, dreamy atmosphere going".[5]
| Chart (1966–67) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[6] | 98 |
| Malaysia (Radio Malaysia)[7] | 1 |
| New Zealand (Listener)[8] | 13 |
| Rhodesia (Lyons Maid)[9] | 8 |