Elton John - Ticking lyrics
Music by elton john<br>Lyrics by bernie taupin<br>Available on the album caribou<br><br>An extremely quiet child they called you in your school reports<br>He's always taken interest in the subjects that he's taught<br>So what was it that brought the squad car screaming up your drive<br>To notify your parents of the manner in which you died<br><br>At st. patricks every sunday, father fletcher heard your sins<br>Oh, he's unconcerned with competition he never cares to win<br>But blood stained a young hand that never held a gun<br>And his parents never thought of him as their troubled son<br><br>Now you'll never get to heaven mama said<br>Remember mama said<br>Ticking, ticking<br>Grow up straight and true blue<br>Run along to bed<br>Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking<br><br>They had you holed up in a downtown bar screaming for a priest<br>Some gook said his brain's just snapped then someone called the police<br>You'd knifed a negro waiter who had tried to calm you down<br>Oh you'd pulled a gun and told them all to lay still on the ground<br><br>Promising to hurt no one, providing they were still<br>A young man tried to make a break, with tear-filled eyes you killed<br>That gun butt felt so smooth and warm cradled in your palm<br>Oh your childhood cried out in your head they mean to do you harm<br><br>Don't ever ride on the devil's knee mama said<br>Remember mama said<br>Ticking, ticking<br>Pay your penance well, my child<br>Fear where angels tread<br>Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking<br><br>Within an hour the news had reached the media machine<br>A male caucasian with a gun had gone berserk in queens<br>The area had been sealed off, the kids sent home from school<br>Fourteen people lying dead in a bar they called the kicking mule<br><br>Oh they pleaded to your sanity for the sake of those inside<br>Throw out your gun, walk out slow just keep your hands held high<br>But they pumped you full of rifle shells as you stepped out the door<br>Oh you danced in death like a marionette on the vengeance of the law<br><br>You've slept too long in silence mama said<br>Remember mama said<br>Ticking, ticking<br>Crazy boy, you'll only wind up with strange notions in your head<br>Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking
