Only Time Will Tell (song) : Background, Reception, Track listing, Charts Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Only Time Will Tell (song)

1982 single by Asia

"Only Time Will Tell"

Single by Asia

from the album Asia

B-side

"Time Again" (International)
"Ride Easy" (UK)

Released

July 1982 (US)
August 1982 (UK)^[1]

Recorded

1981

Genre

Progressive rock

Length

4:48 (album version)
4:05 (7" single edit)

Label

Geffen

Songwriter(s)

Geoff Downes
John Wetton

Producer(s)

Mike Stone

Asia singles chronology

"Here Comes the Feeling"
(1982)

"Only Time Will Tell"
(1982)

"Sole Survivor"
(1982)

"Only Time Will Tell" is the second single released by the rock band Asia from their successful first album, Asia (1982).

The song was the band's third top 10 success on the US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, also reaching number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It peaked at #54 in the UK.

Background

Singer John Wetton said, "It’s fairly self explanatory. It’s my lyrics again; a very personal one about the end of a relationship, and it’s my verse, Geoff’s chorus (“Heat of the Moment” is the other way around). I had been stockpiling songs during the leadup to Asia, and a lot of my lyrics were about personal experience–Joni Mitchell is one of my all-time heroes, and she is undisputed queen of the confessional."^[2]

Reception

Cash Box said that "it’s a multi-layered progressive rock production with a simple, easily flowing melody at its core, thus providing a little something for both the rock and pop fan."^[3] Billboard praised the "thundering drums, widescreen keyboard" and the "affectingly direct vocal."^[4]

Track listing

US 7" Single

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Only Time Will Tell"	4:05
2.	"Time Again"	4:45

UK 7" single

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Only Time Will Tell"
2.	"Ride Easy"

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1982)	Peak position
Canada Top Singles (RPM)^[5]	7
UK Singles (OCC)^[6]	54
US Billboard Hot 100^[7]	17
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)^[8]	8
West Germany (Official German Charts)^[9]	50

Year-end charts

Chart (1982)	Peak position
Canada Top Singles (RPM)^[10]	69
US (Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual)^[11]	109

In popular culture

The song was used in the television series Cold Case third-season episode "The River", the series Family Guy eighth-season episode, "The Splendid Source", some of the foreign versions of the 1982 Japanese anime Future War 198X, and in the 2015 video game Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ "Great Rock Discography". p. 26.
^ "Interview with John Wetton of the rock band Asia". Kickin' it Old School. May 1, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
^ "Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. July 24, 1982. p. 10. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
^ "Top Single Picks". Billboard. July 24, 1982. p. 63. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6518." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
^ "Asia Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
^ "Asia Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Asia – Only Time Will Tell" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6167." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
^ Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-142-X.