As I was walking down the street one day, a man came up to me and asked me what the time was that was on my watch, and I said, "Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care? If so I can't imagine why. We've all got time enough to cry." -- Chicago
I must have played that song hundreds of times during my disc jockey years, but I never gave a thought to the lyrics until I heard it in my car yesterday and realized that the guy singing it is a complete jerk. I ask you what time it is and you give me that response? You can't imagine why I want to know what time it is? How about because I have to be somewhere at a certain time and I want to make sure I'm not late, that's why.
I'll grant you that 1970, when Robert Lamm wrote the song, was a different era, with some young Americans so unattached from the divisive world they lived in that time and place seemed irrelevant. But I was in junior high school at the time, and if my watch stopped, I might not be on time for Little League practice, which was extremely relevant to me!