WILLIE Nelson, the venerable American singer-songwriter, may be 84 but he is clearly not done with his career just yet. Last March he released a new album, one of the highlights of which was a poignant song entitled Old Timer.
Its opening lyrics go like this: “You had your run/it’s been a good one/Seems like the world is passing you by/Old Father Time, he just keeps on tickin’/You’ve still got a lot of life and a song to sing.” Nelson was looking mortality in the face in a song described as “wistful, nostalgic … and even a bit heartbreaking.”
At New Year, Old Father Time, or plain Father Time, is frequently pressed into service around the world as an anthropomorphised depiction of the passage of time, the changing of the years and the ephemeral nature of human mortality.
As he's a really handy and easily understandable metaphor, Father Time has become something of an easy cliche for lazy journalists. Ageing sports stars are often said to be defying Father Time, or else to have been caught up by Father Time. England cricketer Stuart Broad is merely the latest – “a man who has been well and truly caught up to by Father Time”, one sports commentator intoned just last week. Another commentator marvelling at the joint efforts this year of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, noted that they had on four occasions swept “the great prizes of tennis”, an achievement it summarised with the pithy: “Roger and Rafa: four. Father Time: love.”
Father Time most famous role though is depicting the passing of one year and the birth of a new one. In this context he is often paired, in slightly creepy fashion, with a newborn baby – as on the famous illustration on the cover of the American publication, the Saturday Evening Post, in its issue of December 31, 1910. In that image Father Time, a stooped and ageing figure in a long robe with a beard, symbolised the year that was about to expire. He supports a scythe on one shoulder and at his feet is an hourglass in which the lower bulb is all but full. The scythe and the hourglass, of course, both represent the unstoppable forward movement of time, and the shadow of death that follows.
Clearly, the image of Father Time – robed, sometimes with wings, a scythe and hourglass – derives from such folkloric sources as the Angel of Death or the Grim Reaper, however, he also has deeper roots in mythology with links back to ancient gods such as the Greek Cronus and Roman Saturn.
The character has been manna for artists over the centuries, particularly in the Renaissance. He was often used allegorically to mock the pettiness of human kind and our obsession with the ephemeral.
Writers have also had fun with Father Time over the years, including the creator of the Wizard of Oz, L Frank Baum who wrote a fairy story called The Capture of Father Time. In the classic Edgar Allen Poe horror story, The Pit and the Pendulum, Father Time is painted on the ceiling of the dungeon in which the protagonist is tortured over a long period. Father Time also makes an appearance in the final novel of C S Lewis' Narnia series, The Last Battle.
The figure is famously on the weather vane at Lord's Cricket Ground in London.
Father Time has also appeared on TV countless times - in shows as diverse as The Smurfs and Boardwalk Empire. Equally diverse are the musicians that have been inspired by the character - from Death Cab for Cutie and Lil Wayne to Metallica, the disturbing representation of time passing for mortal humans has been something of a muse.
He also features in sculpture, including one that can be seen at Yale University and was made around 1790. Unlike some other representations, however, this particular Father Time is notably toned and muscled, but he does seem rather tired and defeated.
According to the Yale website: “The details of his body tell us that he struggles in the same way all mortals do. This, in the context of his rather hopeless demeanour, makes us wonder what role time played in humans’ lives. Does time rule humans or do humans rule time?”
As usual he will be spotted moving through crowds at New Year celebrations tonight from Time Square to Sydney - we presume it's just some folk in fancy dress, but who knows? At this time of year maybe Time really does walk the earth.
While you’re pondering the answer, it’s worth mentioning that at a New Year’s Eve concert tonight in Austin, Texas, there will be special appearances by Father Time Texas and Baby New Year. The host’s name? None other than Willie Nelson. Which is where we came in. Time is supposedly circular after all. Happy New Year.
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