A Quiet Heart Waiting in Empty Time
“Time On My Hands” is a gentle confession of longing and loss, sung with the warm, steady voice of Don Williams, from his 1977 album Visions.
Released as part of the Visions LP on January 17, 1977, Visions was Don Williams’ sixth studio album and reached No. 4 on the U.S. Country Albums chart. Though Time On My Hands itself was not released as one of the album’s major singles, its enduring emotional resonance has made it a fan favorite and a quietly affecting piece in Williams’ catalog. The song was written by Layng Martine Jr., a celebrated Nashville songwriter.
In Time On My Hands, Williams adopts his trademark simplicity—a spare arrangement, soft acoustic guitar, understated percussion, and his own rich, unforced baritone—to lay bare a heart left in limbo. The lyrics open with a vivid sense of commitment turned hollow: “Everyday of my life until forever / Was spoken for when you looked at me.” These lines suggest a bond once believed unbreakable, yet now the speaker is left with a void where love used to dwell.
As the second verse reveals, his days are now defined by stillness and expectation: “I’ve got time on my hands, you on my mind / Nowhere to spend all my love.” The choice of “you own this time on my hands” is quietly devastating: the speaker gives his all, but his tenderness seems to have no outlet unless the beloved returns. There is no anger here—only a patient, resigned loyalty, as though waiting itself has become a kind of devotion.
Musically, the song’s restraint mirrors its emotional landscape. Williams avoids the grandeur of high drama; instead, he lets vulnerability breathe in the spaces between his notes. It’s this subtlety that makes his singing feel like a conversation across distances, as if he is speaking directly into the listener’s ear—even when addressing someone who is no longer present.
The third verse deepens the ache: each morning, he imagines a future, “empty and as endless as the sky,” but cannot find the strength to rebuild. That image—of infinite space, yet no direction—is one of the most haunting in Don Williams’ catalog. It captures the paradox of hope and despair: wanting to move on, yet tethered by memory and love.
Behind the scenes, this song is a testament to the collaboration between Williams and Martine Jr. Layng Martine Jr., inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, was known for his ability to write deeply human songs that feel both specific and universal. In Time On My Hands, that craftsmanship emerges in full: a simple, intimate narrative that resonates long after the record stops spinning.
Though Time On My Hands was never his biggest hit, it occupies a special place in Don Williams’ legacy—not because of chart glory, but because of its emotional honesty. For those who listen closely, it becomes a quiet refuge—a space where time stretches and memory lingers, and where Williams’ gentle voice offers solace to all of us who have loved, lost, and waited.