diff --git a/libs/temporal/bbt_time.cc b/libs/temporal/bbt_time.cc
index c03b9301a1..03b7bf3726 100644
--- a/libs/temporal/bbt_time.cc
+++ b/libs/temporal/bbt_time.cc
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 #include <cassert>
 
 #include "temporal/bbt_time.h"
+#include "temporal/bbt_argument.h"
 
 using namespace Temporal;
 
@@ -116,3 +117,13 @@ std::operator>>(std::istream& i, Temporal::BBT_Time& bbt)
 
 	return i;
 }
+
+/* define this here to avoid adding another .cc file for just this operator */
+
+std::ostream&
+std::operator<< (std::ostream& o, Temporal::BBT_Argument const & bbt)
+{
+	o << '@' << bbt.reference() << ':' << bbt.bars << '|' << bbt.beats << '|' << bbt.ticks;
+	return o;
+}
+
diff --git a/libs/temporal/temporal/bbt_argument.h b/libs/temporal/temporal/bbt_argument.h
index f6adeb4af9..76a1a2e65f 100644
--- a/libs/temporal/temporal/bbt_argument.h
+++ b/libs/temporal/temporal/bbt_argument.h
@@ -45,4 +45,10 @@ struct LIBTEMPORAL_API BBT_Argument : public BBT_Time
 
 } // end namespace
 
+namespace std {
+
+LIBTEMPORAL_API std::ostream& operator<< (std::ostream& o, Temporal::BBT_Argument const & bbt);
+
+}
+
 #endif /* __libtemporal_bbt_argument_h__ */