#SLS — “Time” — Chicago — 25 or 6 to 4

Jim Adams is the always dependable host of Song Lyric Sunday, and his dependability is appreciated! Jim says:
Dawn/Noon/Dusk/Midnight/Nocturnal/Diurnal is the theme for today. Here are the “rules”:

  • Post the lyrics to the song of your choice, whether it fits the theme or not.
  • Please try to include the songwriter(s) – it’s a good idea to give credit where credit is due.
  • Make sure you also credit the singer/band and if you desire you can provide a link to where you found the lyrics.
  • Link to the YouTube video, or pull it into your post so others can listen to the song.
  • Ping back to this post will eventually work, as long as you are being patient, but you can also place your link in the comments if you don’t like to wait.
  • Read at least one other person’s blog, so we can all share new and fantastic music and create amazing new blogging friends in the process.
  • Feel free to suggest future prompts.
  • Have fun and enjoy the music.

chicago-band-billboard-1960s-1500x845

image link

Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois, calling themselves the Chicago Transit Authority in 1968 before shortening the name in 1969. To date, Chicago has sold over 40 million units in the U.S., with 23 gold, 18 platinum, and 8 multi-platinum albums. They have had five consecutive number-one albums on the Billboard 200 and 20 top-ten singles on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1974 the group had seven albums, its entire catalog at the time, on the Billboard 200 simultaneously.

25 or 6 to 4” is a song written by American musician Robert Lamm, one of the founding members of the band Chicago. It was recorded in 1969 for their second album Chicago, with Peter Cetera on lead vocals. The album was released in January 1970 and the song was edited and released as a single in June, climbing to number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 7 on the UK Singles Chart. It was the band’s first song to reach the top five in the US.

According to composer Robert Lamm, the song is about trying to write a song in the middle of the night. The song’s title is the time at which the song is set: 25 or 26 minutes before 4 AM.

“25 or 6 to 4” has become a popular song for marching bands to play. In 2018 Kevin Coffey of the Omaha World-Herald named it as the number one “marching band song of all time”.

Waiting for the break of day
Searching for something to say
Dancing lights againnst the sky
Giving up I close my eyes
Sitting cross-legged on the floor
25 or 6 to 4

Staring blindly into space
Getting up to splash my face
Wanting just to stay awake
Wondering how much I can take
Should have tried to do some more
25 or 6 to 4

Feeling like I ought to sleep
Spinning room is sinking deep
Searching for something to say
Waiting for the break of day
25 or 6 to 4
25 or 6 to 4

Songwriters: Robert Lamm

14 Comments Add yours

  1. Great song and an excellent write-up Li.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Thanks, Jim :) I got a late start on a song search and that one popped into my head.

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Fandango discussed going with this.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      So he did it also? Haven’t gotten to the choices yet. Dang, a duplicate!

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Not a duplicate, Dango went with the Stones. I was thinking about letting people call dibs on a song to prevent duplicates and I will discuss that next week in my SLS post.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. scr4pl80 (Scrap Lady)'s avatar scr4pl80 says:

    Great song. They were playing Chicago songs all day yesterday on AXS TV.

    Like

  5. John Holton's avatar John Holton says:

    Great picture of the band (L-R: Lamm, Cetera, Seraphine, Pankow, Loughnane, Parazaider, Kath). Good song choice, too!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Thanks John. I remember staring at their faces in the album when listening as a teenager.

      Like

  6. J-Dub's avatar J-Dub says:

    Flashback!! Great pick 😎

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Great choice Lisa. I learnt something today about this song that I’ve always loved 💕🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      I saw part of a documentary on the group (on youtube) where the guy was talking about the night he couldn’t sleep (or one of the other band members were) which was cool as heck.

      Liked by 1 person

  8. ghostmmnc's avatar ghostmmnc says:

    Good song! I never was crazy for this group, but I did like a few of their songs, and this is one of them. I like how it came about writing it. :)

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lisa or Li's avatar msjadeli says:

      Glad you enjoyed this one of theirs, Barbara and yes very cool on the inspiration. It can be found anywhere and is usually the best in the most minute of things (no pun intended in this case.)

      Liked by 1 person

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