"Time Has Come Today" is a

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

by the American

psychedelic soul Psychedelic soul (originally called black rock or conflated with psychedelic funk) is a music genre that emerged in the late 1960s and saw Black soul musicians embrace elements of psychedelic rock, including its production techniques, instrumenta ...

group

the Chambers Brothers The Chambers Brothers are an American psychedelic soul band, best known for their eleven-minute 1967 psychedelic soul hit " Time Has Come Today". The group was part of the wave of new music that integrated American blues and gospel traditions wi ...

, written by

Willie Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and scre ...

& Joe Chambers. The song was recorded and released as a single in 1966 by Columbia Records. It was then featured on the album '' The Time Has Come'' in November 1967, and released again as a single in December 1967. The 1967 single was a Top 10 near-miss in America, spending five weeks at No. 11 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the fall of 1968. In Canada, the song reached No. 9. It is now considered one of the landmark

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

songs of the

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science o ...

era.

Background on the song

The song has been described as

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound effects and recording tec ...

and

acid rock Acid rock is a loosely defined type of rock music that evolved out of the mid-1960s garage punk movement and helped launch the psychedelic subculture. Named after lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), the style is generally defined by heavy, d ...

, and features a fuzz guitar twinned with a clean one. Various other

effects Effect may refer to: * A result or change of something ** List of effects ** Cause and effect, an idiom describing causality Pharmacy and pharmacology * Drug effect, a change resulting from the administration of a drug ** Therapeutic effect, a ...

were employed in its recording and production, including the alternate striking of two cow bells producing a "tick-tock" sound, warped throughout most of the song by

reverb Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abso ...

echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

and changes in

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

. It quotes several bars from "

The Little Drummer Boy "The Little Drummer Boy" (originally known as "Carol of the Drum") is a popular Christmas song written by American composer Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. First recorded in 1951 by the Trapp Family, the song was further popularized by a 19 ...

" at 5:40 in the long version. Writer

Chuck Eddy Chuck Eddy (born November 26, 1960) is an American music journalist. Life and career Chuck Eddy was born in Detroit, Michigan. After starting his journalism career with '' The Village Voice'' and ''Creem'', where he published one of the first na ...

includes the song in a list of examples of "''pre- dub'' dub

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typica ...

Earlier version

The original version of the song, hastily recorded in late 1966, 98.7 WFGR, June 7, 2012
“Time Has Come Today” by the Chambers Brothers – Classic Hit or Miss - Matt Hendricks
/ref> was rejected by Columbia. Instead, the more orthodox single "All Strung Out Over You" b/w "Falling In Love" (Columbia 4-43957) was released on December 19, 1966, and became a regional hit. The success of " All Strung Out Over You" gave them the opportunity to re-record "The Time Has Come Today" in 1967.

Album version

*1967 released on the LP '' The Time Has Come'' - Columbia CK 63984–11:07, includes an extended "freak out" in the middle

Released single versions

*1966 original version – Columbia 43816 - the original recording, 2:37 in length, which is completely different from the widely known 1968 "hit version". *1968 "hit version" #1 – Columbia 44414 – 3:05 edit of the LP version. Fades out at the beginning of the "A" chord instrumental break with no other edits within the track. The label does not refer to the album ''The Time Has Come''. *1968 "hit version" #2 – Columbia 44414 – 4:45 edit. The beginning of the "A" chord instrumental break is "overlapped" with its ending, followed by the third-verse reprise. There are also several other edits within this version. The label now mentions the album ''The Time Has Come'' (NOTE: Some copies with the 4:45 version were mispressed with the 3:05 labels)

Cover versions

Würm The Würm is a river in Bavaria, Germany, right tributary of the Amper. The length of the river is , or including the ''Steinbach'', the main feed of Lake Starnberg. It drains the overflow from Lake Starnberg and flows swiftly through the vill ...

on the B-side of their 1982 "We're Off / I'm Dead / Time Has Come Today" 7"-single. *Seminal punk rock band the

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United S ...

covered the song on their 1983 album

Subterranean Jungle ''Subterranean Jungle'' is the seventh studio album by the American punk rock band the Ramones, released by Sire Records on February 23, 1983. Overall, the album featured a return to a somewhat more hard punk rock style compared to the band's p ...

; and was released as a single. *The song was rendered in a much changed way by

Angry Samoans The Angry Samoans is an American punk rock band from the first wave of American punk, formed in August 1978 in Los Angeles, California, by early 1970s rock writer "Metal" Mike Saunders, his sibling lead guitarist Bonze BlaykBad Trip Records ...

and included on their 1982 album, '' Back from Samoa''. *

The Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also referred to as simply Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, bassist D'arcy Wretzky, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Cham ...

performed it live in 1988. * Mark Edwards, of My Dad Is Dead, on the Homestead Records compilation ''Human Music'' in 1989. *

Joan Jett Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin, September 22, 1958) is an American singer, guitarist, record producer, and actress. Jett is best known for her work as the frontwoman of her band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and for earlier founding and per ...

for her 1990 album '' The Hit List''. * German new-wave band Bluefield on their 1991 album ''Struggling in Darkness''. The song was also included on the sampler ''Zillo's mystic sounds Vol. 3'' in 1992. *

Willy DeVille Willy DeVille (born William Paul Borsey Jr.; August 25, 1950 – August 6, 2009) was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five-year career, first with his band Mink DeVille (1974–1986) and later on his own, DeVille created orig ...

on his 1995 album ''

Loup Garou In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely or ...

''. *''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

'' finalist

Bo Bice Harold Elwin "Bo" Bice Jr. (born November 1, 1975) is an American singer and musician who was the runner-up against Carrie Underwood in the fourth season of ''American Idol''. Prior to auditioning for ''American Idol'', Bice released a solo alb ...

for the anniversary of board game ''

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...

''. *Punk band Die' Hunns, on a 7" single and again on their 2004 album ''Long Legs''. * Lords of Altamont on their 2005 album ''Lords Have Mercy''. *

Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, author, and actor. Earle began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Initially working in the country music g ...

and

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three l ...

for the soundtrack to the 2000 film ''

Steal This Movie! ''Steal This Movie!'' is a 2000 American biographical film directed by Robert Greenwald and written by Bruce Graham, based on the 1976 book '' To America with Love: Letters From the Underground'' by Anita and Abbie Hoffman and 1992 book '' Abbi ...

'' This version also appears on Earle's compilation album '' Side Tracks''. *Garage punk rock band Dead Moon for their 1989 album ''Unknown Passage''. *Greek punk garage rock The Last Drive for their 1989 EP ''Time''. * Me'shell Ndegeocello for the soundtrack of the movie ''

White Man's Burden "The White Man's Burden" (1899), by Rudyard Kipling, is a poem about the Philippine–American War (1899–1902) that exhorts the United States to assume colonial control of the Filipino people and their country.Hitchens, Christopher. ''Bloo ...

'' which was released in 1995. *

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and singer. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins established himself as one of the leading na ...

, exclusively for the 2015 comedy-horror television series ''

Ash vs Evil Dead Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non-gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash is ...

'', which played over the credits of season one's seventh episode "Fire in the Hole". * Coco Robicheaux on his 2010 album ''Revelator''. * Robert Post for the soundtrack of the documentary ''Gunnar Goes Comfortable'' (2003). *

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...

performed it during their show at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...

in Chicago, Illinois, on August 22, 2016. * Too Slim and the Taildraggers on their 2018 album '' High Desert Heat'' on Vizztone.

In other media

Film

The song has appeared in many films. Director

Hal Ashby William Hal Ashby (September 2, 1929 – December 27, 1988) was an American film director and editor associated with the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking. Before his career as a director Ashby edited films for Norman Jewison, notably '' The Ru ...

used the full 11-minute track as the backdrop to the climactic scene when Captain Robert Hyde (

Bruce Dern Bruce MacLeish Dern (born June 4, 1936) is an American actor. He has often played supporting villainous characters of unstable natures. He has received several accolades, including the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor and the Silver Be ...

) "comes home" to an unfaithful wife (

Jane Fonda Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress, activist, and former fashion model. Recognized as a film icon, Fonda is the recipient of various accolades including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, seve ...

) in the 1978 Academy Award winning film '' Coming Home''. Other films it has also been used in include the following: *' (1977) *''Babylon Pink'' (1979) *'' Bad Dreams'' (1988) *''

Casualties of War ''Casualties of War'' is a 1989 American war drama film directed by Brian De Palma and written by David Rabe, based primarily on an article written by Daniel Lang for '' The New Yorker'' in 1969, which was later published as a book. The film st ...

'' (1989) *''

The Doors The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...

'' (1991) *''

Crooklyn ''Crooklyn'' is a 1994 American semi-autobiographical film produced and directed by Spike Lee and co-written with his sister Joie and brother Cinqué. Occurring in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, during the summer ...

'' (1994) *'' Girl, Interrupted'' (1999) *''

Remember the Titans ''Remember the Titans'' is a 2000 American biographical sports film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Boaz Yakin. The screenplay, written by Gregory Allen Howard, is based on the true story of coach Herman Boone, portrayed by Denze ...

'' (2000) *''

The Hebrew Hammer ''The Hebrew Hammer'' is a 2003 American comedy film written and directed by Jonathan Kesselman. It stars Adam Goldberg, Judy Greer, Andy Dick, Mario Van Peebles, and Peter Coyote. The plot concerns a Jewish blaxploitation crime fighter known as ...

'' (2003) *'' Riding the Bullet'' (2004) *'' Edison Force'' (2005) *''

Nearing Grace ''Nearing Grace'' is a 2005 film directed by Rick Rosenthal, based on the novel by Scott Sommer. Plot High school senior Henry Nearing ( Gregory Smith) has to cope with the death of his mother and is also forced to come to terms with evolving fr ...

'' (2005) *'' The Zodiac'' (2006) *''

Neal Cassady Neal Leon Cassady (February 8, 1926 – February 4, 1968) was a major figure of the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the psychedelic and counterculture movements of the 1960s. He was prominently featured as himself in the "scroll" (first d ...

'' (2007) *'' Talk to Me'' (2007) *'' Yves Saint Laurent'' (2014) *'' Kong: Skull Island'' (2017) *'' Roman J. Israel, Esq.'' (2017) *''

On the Basis of Sex ''On the Basis of Sex'' is a 2018 American biographical legal drama film based on the life and early cases of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was the second woman to serve as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Directed by Mimi Lede ...

'' (2018) *''

Da 5 Bloods ''Da 5 Bloods'' is a 2020 American war drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Spike Lee. It stars Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Johnny Trí Nguyễn, Norm Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Mélanie Thierry, Paul Walter Haus ...

'' (2020) *'' Totally Under Control'' (2020) *'' Boss Level'' (2021)

Television

The song has also appeared in the following television episodes: *Theme tune used for the time-travel series '' Seven Days'' produced by

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...

from 1998 to 2001 *'' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' – "Ellie" (2001) *''

Cold Case A cold case is a crime, or a suspected crime, that has not yet been fully resolved and is not the subject of a current criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, new or r ...

'' – "The Runner" (2003) *''

Supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

'' – "Everybody Loves a Clown" (2006) *''

My Name Is Earl ''My Name Is Earl'' is an American television sitcom created by Greg Garcia that aired on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States. It was produced by 20th Century Fox Television and starred Ja ...

'' – "Monkeys in Space" (2006) *A shortened version was used as a theme song for the fourth season of ''

Early Edition ''Early Edition'' is an American fantasy comedy-drama television series that aired on CBS from September 28, 1996, to May 27, 2000. Set in Chicago, Illinois, it follows the adventures of a man who mysteriously receives each ''Chicago Sun-Times'' ...

''. *Theme song for the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educati ...

series ''

American Experience ''American Experience'' is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American hist ...

'' from 2009 to 2010. It has since been succeeded by a calm piano theme (with some string and wind instruments). *Featured in the 13-episode miniseries by

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

titled ''

Kingdom Hospital ''Kingdom Hospital'' (sometimes known as ''Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital'') is a thirteen-episode television series based on Lars von Trier's '' The Kingdom'' ( Danish title: ''Riget''), developed by horror writer Stephen King in 2004 for Amer ...

''. *Featured in the First episode of the History Channel's '' Vietnam in HD''. *'' Scandal (season 3)'' - "Icarus" (2013) *Featured in the opening of the first episode of the third season of ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into s ...

''. *Bootsy Collins recorded a special version for the end credits of the seventh episode of ''

''. *Season 2 finale of '' Outlander'' on July 9, 2016 *Season 2 finale of ''

Legends of Tomorrow ''DC's Legends of Tomorrow'', or simply ''Legends of Tomorrow'', is an American Time travel in fiction, time travel superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Phil Klem ...

'' on April 4, 2017 *Used in the "Dr Braino Show" on SCTV. *Closing song on the seventh episode of the first season of the TV show ''What We Do in the Shadows'' *Closing song on episode two of season two of Home Before Dark on June 18, 2021 In TV commercials: *A

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

TV commercial A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

for

Amazon Web Services Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) is a subsidiary of Amazon that provides on-demand cloud computing platforms and APIs to individuals, companies, and governments, on a metered pay-as-you-go basis. These cloud computing web services provide ...

to mark the start of the

2020 NFL season The 2020 NFL season was the 101st season of the National Football League (NFL). The regular season started with the NFL Kickoff Game on September 10, in which defending Super Bowl LIV champion Kansas City defeated Houston. The playoffs were e ...

Other

Anthony Bourdain Anthony Michael Bourdain (; June 25, 1956 – June 8, 2018) was an American celebrity chef, author, and travel documentarian who starred in programs focusing on the exploration of international culture, cuisine, and the human condition. Bourda ...

said, in 2010, that this song 'saved his life'. The song was also featured in the trailer for the 1995 film '' Kiss of Death'' and the 2017 film ''

Geostorm ''Geostorm'' is a 2017 American science fiction disaster film directed, co-written, and co-produced by Dean Devlin (in his feature directorial debut). The film stars Gerard Butler, Jim Sturgess, Abbie Cornish, Ed Harris, and Andy García. It ...

''.

References

{{Authority control The Chambers Brothers songs Ramones songs Protest songs 1966 singles 1967 singles Columbia Records singles Acid rock songs Psychedelic rock songs