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

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

F  Am/E       Dm          
"Now you'll never get to Heaven" 
Gm         C                   F         A7             
Mama said Remember Mama said Ticking, ticking
Dm                                Gm
"Grow up straight and true blue, Run along to bed"
C  C/Bb   Am    Gm          F 
Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking

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

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

F  Am/E       Dm                        Gm  
"Don't ever ride on the devil's knee" Mama said
C                   F         A7     
Remember mama said Ticking, ticking
Dm                                Gm
"Pay your penance well, my child Fear where angels tread"
C  C/Bb   Am    Gm          F 
Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking

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

F                               Bb/F                    F  
Oh they pleaded to your sanity for the sake of those inside
F                                  Bbsus/F  Bb/F              F
"Throw out your gun, walk out slow just keep your hands held high"
    Am                                                           Gm  
But they pumped you full of rifle shells as you stepped out the door
C                                       Bb                         F    
Oh you danced in death like a marionette on the vengeance of the law

F  Am/E   Dm                        Gm
"You've slept too long in silence" Mama said
C                   F         A7  
Remember Mama said Ticking, ticking
Dm                                            Gm
"Crazy boy, you'll only wind up with strange notions in your head"
C  C/Bb   Am    Gm          F 
Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking