No Time by The Guess Who

Album: American Woman (1970)

Charted: 5

License This Song

artistfacts

Songfacts®:

This song about moving on and finding your true calling was written by Guess Who guitarist Randy Bachman and lead singer Burton Cummings.

In our interview with Bachman, he explained that musically, the song was inspired by two tracks on the Buffalo Springfield Again album: "Rock & Roll Woman" and "Hung Upside Down." Neil Young of Buffalo Springfield (a fellow Canadian) played an acetate of the album for Cummings and Bachman when his travels took him to Winnipeg. The they heard it, they loved the country-rock sound and set out to write something like it. "That was our country-rock song," Bachman said. "Me and Burton trying to be like Neil and Stephen Stills."
According to Randy Bachman, the guitar lick on this song is an inversion of what Stephen Stills played on the Buffalo Springfield track "Hung Upside Down." When Bachman heard the theme song to the TV show Law & Order (composed by Mike Post), it sounded familiar. "It's the same riff," Bachman told us. "It's just recycling the riff in a different context."

Note that Bachman doesn't fault Post for lifting the riff: Randy believes that just about any modern music music is based on something that came before.

Comments: 3

Damamae from IdahoThe 'killing floor' is an old blues metaphor. It can mean anything from a slaughterhouse to a bad breakup to the war in Vietnam - any kind a hell on earth. Check out Howlin' Wolf's 'Killin' Floor'...
Joe Granger from Oly, WaAll these years I thought the line was “No time for the killing wars”, not “floors” because it made sense during the Vietnam protests.
Dave Cinelli from Somewhere In The Great State Of NyThe big give away is the line "No time for the 'Killing Floor'", meaning he's being taken advantage of by quite possibly a gold-digger.

see more comments

More Songfacts:

St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)John Parr

"St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" was not written for the movie, but for Rick Hanson, a wheelchair athlete whose 1985 "Man In Motion" tour logged 24,856 miles on his wheelchair in 34 countries while raising $26 million for spinal cord research.

Sloop John BThe Beach Boys

"Sloop John B" is a traditional West Indian folk song, and it was a huge hit for The Beach Boys in 1966. They tweaked the lyric, "This is the worst trip since I've been born" to "...I've ever been on" as a wink to acid culture.

Baby Got BackSir Mix-A-Lot

Sir Mix-A-Lot says he's earned over $100 million from "Baby Got Back." He wrote the song and owns the publishing rights, so he can authorize its use in movies, TV shows and commercials, which he often does.

Hangin' ToughNew Kids On The Block

"Hangin' Tough" came at the peak of New Kids On The Block mania (1988). Their writer/producer Maurice Starr wrote it about the struggles the band faced early on. It was a #1 hit in both America and the UK.

Hey There DelilahPlain White T's

When he met Delilah DiCrescenzo, Plain White T's lead singer Tom Higgenson told her he'd write a song about her, and came up with the first verse of "Hey There Delilah" on the spot.

Nothin' On YouB.o.B

When "Nothin' On You" reached #1 on the Hot 100, B.o.B became the first American act whose name is a palindrome to top the chart. The other two who did so prior to the Atlanta rapper were both Scandinavian groups - ABBA and A-Ha.