Ticky Ticky, Tock

***Songwriter’s Story***

The scene opens in a quiet park, where a young man notices an old man sitting on a bench nearby, studying the world as if he has seen every season it has to offer. As the young observer listens, the old man begins reflecting on the way time once moved slowly when he was a young'un, stretching out like a lazy afternoon and making life feel almost endless. Then came eighteen, the age when childhood gives way to ambition and a boy starts trying to become a man. In that moment, the old man starts tapping his cane and breaks into the refrain, 'Ticky ticky tock, listen to the clock, forever ticking clock,' revealing a lifelong obsession with time's steady march. The chorus becomes more than a melody - it is the heartbeat of the song, a reminder that no one can slow the hands of time, no matter how badly they want to hold on.

As the story continues, the old man looks back on his forties, when life sped up beyond his control - wife, three kids, work, responsibility - all roaring past like a car with a four-barrel carb and an open manifold. He realizes that life slipped by in the very middle of his prime, and now, at seventy-five, his days have settled into routine while the finish line seems to draw nearer faster than the fluttering wings of hummingbirds. Turning toward the young man, he offers the wisdom that sits at the center of the song: throw caution to the wind and live you’re life fully while you still can. Even when he asks the bridge's philosophical question - if he could start anew, what would he do - his answer is that he would do it all the same, because the clock never stops ticking. The final chorus supports that truth: you cannot stop time or bargain with it, so the only real answer is to embrace life completely while it is yours to live. Ticky, ticky tock.

Comments or Thoughts: jfritzws@hotmail.com

Ticky Ticky, Tock

Time has passed me by, in a blink of an eye

Said the old man, on the park bench nearby

As a young’un, time moved unhurried, like a slow burning fire

Eighteen I put away my childhood dreams, time to aspire

Ticky ticky tock, ticky ticky tock

Listen to the clock go, ticky ticky tock

Forever ticking clock

Ticky ticky tock, ticky ticky tock

Ticky, ticky, ticky tock

Ticky, ticky, ticky, ticky tock

The old man said, at forty, time ran uncontrolled

Like a car with a four-barrel carb, and an open manifold

A wife with three kids, I lost my race with time

Life passed me by, right in the middle of my prime

Ticky ticky tock, ticky ticky tock

Listen to the clock go, ticky ticky tock

Forever ticking clock

Ticky ticky tock, ticky ticky tock

Ticky, ticky, tickey tock

Ticky, ticky, ticky, ticky tock

Now days are routine, my cholesterol’s a disaster

At seventy-five, the finish line draws near faster

Life moves fast, like the fluttering wings of hummingbirds

Young man throw caution to the wind, hear my words

If I could start anew, what would I do

I must proclaim, I’d do it all the same

Cause that clock she keeps right on a ticking

Ticky ticky tock, ticky ticky tock

Listen to the clock go, ticky ticky tock

Forever ticking clock

Ticky ticky tock, ticky ticky tock

Ticky, ticky, ticky tock

Ticky, ticky, ticky, ticky tock

Ticky, ticky, ticky tock

Ticky, ticky ticky, ticky tock