一次又一次 (1984)

"Time After Time" is a song by the American pop singer Cyndi Lauper from her debut album, She's So Unusual (1983). It was released as the album's second single in March 1984, by Epic and Portrait Records. Written by Lauper and Rob Hyman, who also provided backing vocals, the song was produced by Rick Chertoff. It was written in the album's final stages, after "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "She Bop" and "All Through the Night" had been written or recorded. The writing began with the title, which Lauper had seen in TV Guide, referring to the science fiction film Time After Time (1979).

"Time After Time" received positive reviews from music critics, with many commending it as a solid and memorable love song. It has since been named as one of the greatest pop songs of all time by many media outlets, including Rolling Stone, Nerve, and MTV. The song was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Song of the Year at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards. Commercially, "Time After Time" was another success for Lauper, becoming her first No. 1 hit single in the United States, topping the Billboard Hot 100 on June 9, 1984, and remaining at the top for two weeks. It additionally peaked at No. 6 on the Australian Kent Music Report chart and No. 3 on the UK singles chart.

Background and recording

Although "Time After Time" would eventually become one of Lauper's signature songs, it was one of the last songs on her debut studio album to be recorded. While Lauper was still writing material for She's So Unusual in early 1983, her producer, Rick Chertoff introduced her to American musician Rob Hyman, a founding member of the Hooters. Lauper had by then already recorded the majority of the album, including the songs "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "She Bop," but Chertoff insisted that she and Hyman needed to record just "one more song". Therefore, she and Hyman sat at a piano and started working on "Time After Time".

The inspiration for the song came from the fact that both songwriters were going through similar challenges in their respective romantic relationships; Hyman was coming out of a relationship, and Lauper was having difficulties with her boyfriend and manager, David Wolff. One of the early lines Rob Hyman wrote was "suitcase of memories", which according to Lauper, "struck her", claiming it was a "wonderful line", and other lines came from Lauper's life experiences. The song's title was borrowed from a TV Guide listing for the science fiction film Time After Time (1979), which Lauper had intended to use only as a temporary placeholder during the writing process. Although she later tried to change the song's name, she said that she felt at some point that "Time After Time" had become so fundamental to the song that it would fall apart with a different title.

Initially, Epic Records wanted "Time After Time" as the album's lead single. However, Lauper felt that releasing a ballad as her debut solo single would have pigeonholed her stylistically as a balladeer, limiting her future work and thus potentially killing her career. Wolff felt that "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" could become a successful pop anthem and was a better choice; ultimately the label agreed and released it as the lead single. "Time After Time" became the album's second single, released on March 27, 1984.