st Fret
KEY: Eb/PLAY: D
INTRO: Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock,
D A7 D G
My grandfather's clock; Was too large for the shelf
D A7 D
So it stood ninety years on the floor
A7 D G
It was taller by half; Than the old man himself
D A7 D
Though it weighed not a penny-weight more;
D G D
It was bought on the morn; Of the day that he was born
D E7 A7
And was always his treasure and pride
D (tacet) A7 (tacet) D B7 Em
But it stopped short - never to go again
D A7 D
When the old man died.
D
Ninety years without slumbering
D
(Dah dah dah dah, dah dah dah!) (or Trad. Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock)
D
His life seconds numbering
D
(Dah dah dah dah, dah dah dah!) (or Trad. Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock)
D (tacet) A7 (tacet) D B7 Em
It stopped short - never to go again
D A7 D
When the old man died.
D A7 D
My grandfather said that of those he could hire
D A7 D
Not a servant so faithful he found
A7 D G
For it wasted no time and had but one desire
D A7 D
At the close of each week to be wound
G D
And it kept in its' place; not a frown upon its' face
E7 A7
And its' hands never hung by its side
D (tacet) A7 (tacet) D B7 Em
But it stopped short - never to go again
D A7 D
When the old man died.
(Refrain:)
(Note - The following verse not on Johnny Cash's version.)
D A7 D G
In watching its pendulum swing to and fro
D A7 D
Many hours had he spent as a boy
D A7 D G
And in childhood and manhood, the clock seem to know
D A7 D
And to share both his grief and his joy.
D G D
For it struck twenty four when he enter'd at the door
D E7 A7
With a blooming and beautiful bride
D (tacet) A7 (tacet) D B7 Em
But it stopped short - never to go again
D A7 D
When the old man died.
(Refrain:)
(Key change to E)
E B7 E A
It rang an alarm in the dead of the night
E B7 E
An alarm that for years had been dumb
B7 E A
And we knew that his spirit was pluming for flight
E B7 E
That his hour for departure had come.
E E A E
Still the clock kept the time; with its' soft and muffled chimes
E F#7 B7
As we proudly stood by his side
E (tacet) B7 (tacet) E C#7 F#m
But it stopped short - never to go again
E B7 E
When the old man died.
(Refrain:)
E
Ninety years without slumbering
E
(Dah dah dah dah, dah dah dah!) (or Trad. Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock)
E
His life seconds numbering
E
(Dah dah dah dah, dah dah dah!) (or Trad. Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock)
E (tacet) B7 (tacet) E C#7 F#m
It stopped short - never to go again
E B7 E
When the old man died.
(Tag:)
E B7 E
When the old man died.