Grandfather's Clock
The Doc Watson Family Lyrics

My grandfather's clock was too large for the shelf
The grandfather's clock was too big to fit on a shelf and so it stayed on the floor for ninety years.

So it stood ninety years on the floor
For ninety years, the large clock stood on the floor without interruption.

It was taller by half than the old man himself
The clock was half as tall again as the grandfather, who owned it.

And it weight not a penny's weight more
Despite being large, the clock did not weigh any more than a penny.

It was bought on the morn that my grandpa was born
The clock was bought on the morning of the grandfather's birth and was always his treasure and pride.

And was always his treasure and pride
The clock was always a cherished possession of the grandfather.

But it stopped short never to go again
Sadly, the clock stopped ticking and could not be restarted when the grandfather died.

When the old man died
The clock stopped when the grandfather passed away.

Ninety years without slumbering (tic tac tic tac)
The clock continued ticking for ninety years without stopping.

His life's seconds numbering (tic tac tic tac)
The clock kept track of the grandfather's life, marking the seconds as they passed.

At watching its pendulum swing to and fro
The grandfather spent many hours watching the pendulum of the clock swing back and forth.

Many hours he had spent as a boy
As a child, the grandfather spent many hours watching the clock.

As he grew into manhood the clock seemed to know
As the grandfather grew up, he felt like the clock was aware of his life and experiences.

For it sharaed everyu sorrow and joy
The grandfather felt like the clock shared in all of his ups and downs.

And it struck tewntyfour as he entered the door
On the day the grandfather got married, the clock struck midnight as he entered the room with his bride.

With his beautiful and blushing bride
The grandfather's wife was beautiful and blushing on their wedding day.

My grandfather said that of those he could hire
The grandfather thought that none of the people he could hire were as loyal as his clock.

Not a servant so faithful he'd found
The grandfather had never found a servant as faithful as his clock.

For it wasted no time and it had but one desire
The clock had one job, to keep time, and it did it without wasting any energy or time.

At the close of each week to be wound
The clock had to be wound every week to keep ticking.

Yes it kept in its place but not a frown upon its face
The clock never complained about its job, even though it had to stay in the same place all the time.

And its hands never hung by its side
The clock always worked perfectly and never broke down.

Then it rang an alarm in the dead of the night
At the moment when the grandfather passed away, the clock rang an alarm in the middle of the night.

An alarm that for years had been dumb
The clock had not rung an alarm for many years beforehand, but it knew that it was time for the grandfather to pass away.

And we knew that his spirit was pluming for flight
When the clock rang out, the family knew that the grandfather's spirit was ready to leave this world.

That his hour for departure had come
The ringing of the clock signaled that it was time for the grandfather to pass away.

Yes the clock kept the time
The clock continued ticking through everything that happened in the grandfather's life.

With a soft and muffled chime
As the family gathered around the grandfather's deathbed, the clock ticked softly in the background.