| Time Passages | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Al Stewart |
| Album: | Time Passages |
| B-Side: | Almost Lucy |
| Released: | September 1978 (US) November 1978 (UK) |
| Genre: | Soft rock |
| Length: | (album version) (single edit) |
| Label: | Arista |
| Producer: | Alan Parsons |
| Prev Title: | On the Border |
| Prev Year: | 1977 |
| Next Title: | Song on the Radio |
| Next Year: | 1979 |
"Time Passages" is a song by British singer-songwriter Al Stewart, released as a single in 1978. It was produced by Alan Parsons and is the title track of Stewart's 1978 album release. The single reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 1978,[1] and also spent ten weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Easy Listening chart, the longest stay at number one on this chart in the 1970s.[2] Billboard magazine also ranked "Time Passages" as the No. 1 Adult Contemporary single of 1979.[3]
The familiar final line to the chorus is, "Buy me a ticket on the last train home tonight". Less lyrically complex than a typical Al Stewart composition – the singer's previous top ten hit "Year of the Cat" exemplifying his usual style – "Time Passages" was one of two songs on the Time Passages album written by Stewart with the intent of the tracks' having hit single potential, the other being "Song on the Radio" which was the follow-up single and reached No. 29 Billboard and No. 27 Cash Box. The song describes the singer planning a trip home in late December (presumably for Christmas) and his nostalgic memories of the past.
| Chart (1978-1979) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[4] | 36 | |
| Canada RPM Top Singles [5] | 10 | |
| Canada RPM Adult Contemporary [6] | 1 | |
| 7 | ||
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | 1 | |
| U.S. Cash Box Top 100 | 9 |
| Chart (1979) | Rank | |
|---|---|---|
| Canada [8] | 198 | |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [9] | 79 |
. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 294.
