Recorded by Johnny Cash
Words and music by Henry Work
INTRO: Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock,
My grandfather's clock; Was too large for the shelf
So it stood ninety years on the floor
It was taller by half; Than the old man him- self
Though it weighed not a penny-weight more;
It was bought on the morn; Of the day that he was born
And was always his trea- sure and pride
But it stopped short - nev-er to go a- gain
When the old man died.
Refrain:
Ninety years without slumbering
(Dah dah dah dah, dah dah dah!) (or Trad. Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock)
His life seconds numbering
(Dah dah dah dah, dah dah dah!) (or Trad. Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock)
It stopped short - nev-er to go a- gain
When the old man died.
My grandfather said that of those he could hire
Not a servant so faith- ful he found
For it wasted no time and had but one de- sire
At the close of each week to be wound
And it kept in its' place; not a frown upon its' face
And its' hands never hung by its side
But it stopped short - nev-er to go a- gain
When the old man died.
Refrain:
Note. The following verse not on Johnny Cash's version.
In watching its pen- dulum swing to and fro
Many hours had he spent as a boy
And in childhood and man- hood, the clock seem to know
And to share both his grief and his joy.
For it struck twenty four when he en- ter'd at the door
With a blooming and beau- tiful bride
But it stopped short - nev-er to go a- gain
When the old man died.
Refrain:
It rang an a- larm in the dead of the night
An a-larm that for years had been *dumb
And we knew that his spirit was *pluming for flight
That his hour for de- parture had come.
Still the clock kept the time; with its' soft and muffled chimes
As we proudly stood by his side
But it stopped short - nev-er to go a- gain
When the old man died.
Refrain:
Ninety years without slumbering
(Dah dah dah dah, dah dah dah!) (or Trad. Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock)
His life seconds numbering
(Dah dah dah dah, dah dah dah!) (or Trad. Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock)
It stopped short - nev-er to go a- gain
When the old man died.
