The substantive text, by Brian Wren, suggests that all occasions are times for singing. Each stanza ends with the refrain: 'The time for singing has come!' The uplifting music is mostly unison, with an optional descant in the last stanza; accompaniment is keyboard with optional flute. A new melody appears in stanza 3, where the text speaks of 'times when it's hard to sing,' but the refrain once again cheerfully affirms that 'the time for singing has come!' The vocal descant of stanza 5 appears first in the flute and keyboard in stanza 4; bringing out this accompaniment melody in stanza 4 will serve as 'a reminder in advance' for the descant singers in stanza 5. Linking all stanzas, the melodic motive in the introduction reappears in the interludes and coda.