F Bb/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 Outro: F - C/F - Bb/F