"Time After Time" is a ballad written by Cyndi Lauper and Rob Hyman, a founding member of the Hooters, and produced by Rick Chertoff. Lauper recorded it in June 1983 at the Record Plant for her debut album She's So Unusual, released in October 1983. Released as the album's second single in March 1984, it reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in June 1984. The title came from a TV Guide listing for the 1979 science fiction film Time After Time and was meant as a placeholder.
The arrangement rests on simple keyboard-synth chords, jangly guitars, clock-ticking percussion and an elastic bassline, in C major at 130 BPM, with a vocal range from G3 to C5. Critics praised it as a standout ballad, and Rolling Stone, MTV, Nerve and VH1 have named it among the greatest pop songs. It was nominated for Grammy Song of the Year and won the American Video Awards for Best Female Performance and Best Pop Video in 1984. Notable covers include an instrumental by Miles Davis (1985), versions by Eva Cassidy, Sarah McLachlan with Lauper (2005), Ronan Keating, Leona Lewis, the Glee Cast and Sam Smith.
