Ticking
Elton John
Caribou (1974)

"An extremely quiet child" they called you in your
school report
"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. Patrick's 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 brains 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 in death 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.