Following the 11 September 2001 attacks , " Only Time " was used in radio and television coverage of the disaster which led to increased sales and radio airplay of the single and '' A Day Without Rain '' , to the point of both records surpassing their initial peak on the US charts . CNN and ABC News , among other networks , played the song with " Fallen Embers " as backdrops of footage of the victims . Its position on the '' Billboard '' 200 climbed from No. 20 prior to the attacks to its all-time peak of No. 2 , driven by the increased audience exposure of " Only Time " . In the same month , " Only Time " reached No. 1 on the '' Billboard '' Adult Contemporary chart after it already spent 33 weeks on the chart , breaking a seven-year-old record for the longest climb to the top position in the chart 's history . In November 2001 , the single climbed to its peak of No. 10 on the '' Billboard '' Hot 100 chart , making it Enya 's highest charting single in the US . From October 2001 to January 2002 , over 3 million RIAA-certified units of '' A Day Without Rain '' were sold in the US alone , which included a peak of one million copies sold in 19 days
11 September 2001 attacks
September 11 attacks
A Day Without Rain