Ticking

Music by Elton John
Lyrics by Bernie Taupin
Available on the album Caribou

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"An extremely quiet child" they called you in your school reports
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"He's always taken interest in the subjects that he's taught"
    Am                                                                                     Gm 
So what was it that brought the squad car screaming up your drive
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To notify your parents of the manner in which you died

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At St. Patricks every Sunday, Father Fletcher heard your sins
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"Oh, he's unconcerned with competition he        never cares to win"
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But blood stained a young hand that never held a gun
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And his parents never thought of him as their troubled son

F      Am/E  Dm 
"Now you'll never get to Heaven" 
Gm            C                             F               A7 
Mama said Remember Mama said Ticking, ticking
Dm                                             Gm
"Grow up straight and true blue, Run along to bed"
C        C/Bb Am       Gm        F 
Hear it,      hear it, ticking, ticking

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They had you holed up in a downtown bar screaming for a priest
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Some gook said "His brain's just snapped" then     someone called the police
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You knifed a Negro waiter who had tried to calm you down
              C                                           Bb                       F          Bb/F 
Oh you'd pulled a gun and told them all to lay still on the ground

F                                      Bb/F                                F 
Promising to hurt no one, providing they were still
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A young man tried to make a break, with     tear-filled eyes you killed
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That gun butt felt so smooth and warm cradled in your palm
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Oh your childhood cried out in your head "they mean to do you harm"

 F Am/E Dm                                                 Gm 
             "Don't ever ride on the devil's knee" Mama said
   C                          C/Bb   F        A7 
Remember mama said     Ticking, ticking
Dm                                              Gm
"Pay your penance well, my child Fear where angels tread"
C   C/Bb Am       Gm        F 
Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking

F                                                       Bb/F         F 
Within an hour the news had reached the media machine
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A male Caucasian with a gun had      gone berserk in Queens
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The area had been sealed off, the kids sent home from school
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Fourteen people lying dead in a bar they called the Kicking Mule

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Oh they pleaded to your sanity for the sake of those inside
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"Throw out your gun, walk out slow just keep your hands held high"
Am                                                                                         Gm 
But they pumped you full of rifle shells as you stepped out the door
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Oh you danced in death like a marionette on the vengeance of the law

F Am/E Dm                                              Gm
            "You've slept too long in silence" Mama said
C                                F               A7 
Remember Mama said Ticking, ticking
Dm                                                                                     Gm
"Crazy boy, you'll only wind up with strange notions in your head"
C C/Bb   Am       Gm        F 
Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking

F  C/F  Bb/F