<P> `` Time in a Bottle '' is a hit single by singer - songwriter Jim Croce . Croce wrote the lyrics after his wife Ingrid told him she was pregnant , in December 1970 . It appeared on his 1972 ABC debut album You Do n't Mess Around with Jim . ABC originally did not intend to release the song as a single ; but when Croce was killed in a plane crash in September 1973 , the song 's lyrics , dealing with mortality and the wish to have more time , had additional resonance . The song subsequently received a large amount of airplay as an album track and demand for a single release built . When it was eventually issued as a 7 `` , it became his second and final No. 1 hit . After the single had finished its two - week run at the top in early January 1974 , the album You Do n't Mess Around with Jim became No. 1 for five weeks . In 1977 , `` Time in a Bottle '' was used as the title for a compilation album of Croce 's love songs . </P>
<P> `` Time in a Bottle '' is a hit single by singer - songwriter Jim Croce . Croce wrote the lyrics after his wife Ingrid told him she was pregnant , in December 1970 . It appeared on his 1972 ABC debut album You Do n't Mess Around with Jim . ABC originally did not intend to release the song as a single ; but when Croce was killed in a plane crash in September 1973 , the song 's lyrics , dealing with mortality and the wish to have more time , had additional resonance . The song subsequently received a large amount of airplay as an album track and demand for a single release built . When it was eventually issued as a 7 `` , it became his second and final No. 1 hit . After the single had finished its two - week run at the top in early January 1974 , the album You Do n't Mess Around with Jim became No. 1 for five weeks . In 1977 , `` Time in a Bottle '' was used as the title for a compilation album of Croce 's love songs . </P>
who sings if i could save time in a bottle
who sings if i could save time in a bottle
singer - songwriter Jim Croce
singer - songwriter Jim Croce