“Born In Time” was first recorded during the sessions for Oh Mercy (1989), but wasn’t included on the album. Dylan later revisited the song during the “Under The Red Sky” sessions and chose to include it there. One outtake each from the two sessions was released on 2008’s The Bootleg Series Volume 8 – Tell Tale Signs: Rare And Unreleased 1989-2006.

The phrase “born in time” is an inversion of the last lines of Dylan’s “Simple Twist Of Fate” (1975)

She was born in spring
But I was born too late
Blame it on a simple twist of fate