Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

Robert Lamm wrote and sang the song, which was the first one recorded for Chicago Transit Authority. Lamm called it a quirky song and said he wanted something that was not ordinary, not blues-based and without "ice cream changes", that would let the horns shine and give Lee Loughnane a solo. The album version opens with a 1:15 free-form piano solo by Lamm, and after the solo a fanfare moves through changing time signatures ahead of the trumpet solo.

It was released as a single in 1970, only after the second album's Make Me Smile and 25 or 6 to 4 had become hits. It reached number 7 in the United States and number 2 in Canada. A live version on Chicago at Carnegie Hall expands the free-form intro into a track of its own, and shorter edits made for singles and radio drop the intro entirely.