Hourglass, Squeeze

2 min readJun 21, 2021

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For 1987, I picked the song “Hourglass” by Squeeze. I like Squeeze a lot, “Black Coffee in Bed” for instance is a great song. This song, “Hourglass” has a great video inspired by Salvador Dali. It’s a cool video. The song seems to be about hurrying about too much and never having enough time to do anything. The chorus is cool, they rush through the words and represent that by let’s say “germanizing” the words: “Takeittothebridge throwitoverboard / Seeifitcanswim backuptotheshore.” That’s the hook. The song was written by the band guitarists, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook. Difford said this about the song: “This was the first time we wrote together in the same room, which was Glenn’s idea. I’d always thought of writing as a bit like masturbation: something you do on your own, not in the same room as another bloke. However, I went to Glenn’s house and within an hour we’d written ‘Hourglass.’ Lyrically it doesn’t mean much but we had some fun writing it.” So, there it is.

I feel like I’m pounding on a big door
No one can hear me knocking,
I feel like I’m falling flat to the floor
No one can catch me from falling
The hourglass has no more grains of sand,
My watch has stopped no more turning hands
The crew have abandoned ship
The lights are on but now one is in

Takeittothebridge throwitoverboard
Seeifitcanswim backuptotheshore
Noonesinthehouse allthelightsareon
Andtheblindsaredown

Takeittothebridge throwitoverboard
Seeifitcanswim backuptotheshore
Noonesinthehouse everyoneisout
Allthelightsareon andtheblindsaredown

I feel like I’m calling on a telephone
No one can hear the ringing,
I feel like I’m running up a steep hill
No one can stop me from running
The hourglass has no more grains of sand
My watch has stopped no more turning hands
The little hand shakes it’s fist
The face is hanging out on a spring

Takeittothebridge throwitoverboard
Seeifitcanswim backuptotheshore
Noonesinthehouse everyoneisout
Allthelightsareon andtheblindsaredown

The hourglass has no more grains of sand,
Little red grains of sand
My watch has stopped now more turning hands
Little green neon hands

Takeittothebridge throwitoverboard
Seeifitcanswim backuptotheshore
Noonesinthehouse everyoneisout
Allthelightsareonandtheblindsaredown

I feel like I’m calling back to the shore
No one can hear me calling
I feel like I’m falling flat to the floor
No one can catch me from falling

Hourglass, Squeeze

Written by Sara Bizarro