Cyndi Lauper's lyric asks, “If you're lost, you can...” and the canonical answer is “look.” The following promise explains the intended meaning: someone who is lost can look for reassurance and find the singer, making “stay,” “wait” and “call” incorrect completions.
“Time After Time” was written by Lauper with Rob Hyman and produced by Rick Chertoff. The writing began with the title, which Lauper noticed in a television listing for the 1979 science-fiction film Time After Time. The song was then developed during the final stages of her debut album, She's So Unusual.
Released in January 1984, the song became Lauper's first US number-one single, spending two weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100. Its gentle synth-pop, soft-rock arrangement contrasted with the more exuberant image associated with some of her other early hits.
The song is often described as a promise of loyalty and emotional availability. A common mistake is to remember its title and substitute “time” for a missing lyric, but the question asks for the verb in the lost-person line. The single canonical answer is “look.”