Title: Ticking

Artist: Elton John
Sequenced by: Glen Breed
© 2002 by G. Breed

Elton John

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

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

"Now you'll never get
to Heaven" Mama said
Remember Mama said
Ticking, ticking
"Grow up straight and true blue
Run along to bed"
Hear it, hear it,
ticking, ticking

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

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

"Don't ever ride on the
devil's knee" Mama said
Remember mama said
Ticking, ticking
"Pay your penance well, my child
Fear where angels tread"
Hear it, hear it,
ticking, ticking

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

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

"You've slept too long
in silence" Mama said
Remember Mama said
Ticking, ticking
"Crazy boy,
you'll only wind up with
strange notions in your head"
Hear it, hear it,
ticking, ticking

Ticking
Soft karaoke
Words
Vocal
Piano RH
Piano LH
B. Vocal R
B. Vocal L
Synth 1
Synth 2
Pad C
Pad L
Pad R

Ticking
By Elton John
from the album Caribou
Sequenced by G. Breed © 2002
www.EltonsCafe.com