Ghost O’Clock

Inspired by the sixth season of the revived “Doctor Who,” the second with Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor. A recurring bit in those episodes was a children’s rhyme with the line “Tick, tock, goes the clock,” which I at first misheard…

Words and music by Joseph Abbott

The molasses-moving minute hand
Just won’t respond to your command
You toss and turn and stare up at the ceiling
You try for sleep but nothing comes
You’re counting sheep and doing sums
You’re on the edge but nothing is revealing

You’re not alive and you’re not dead
The children chant in your head
You’re not sure what they said
It’s ghost o’clock again

You put on the sound of waterfall
It doesn’t really help at all
The river’s song just doesn’t give you ease
So you turn it off and then
The silence starts to fall again
You feel your brain is turning into cheese

You’re not quite alive and not quite dead
There’s children chanting in your head
You’re not certain what they said
It’s ghost o’clock again

INST BREAK

You dreamed about a pyramid
You don’t remember what it hid
The universe was singing at your climb
You had to have a covered eye
You married someone with a tie
And someone tried to wipe you out of time

You’re not feeling quite alive and not quite dead
You can still hear the children chanting in your head
You’re not really certain what they said
It’s ghost o’clock again

And you’re never feeling quite alive and not quite dead
And the children never cease their chanting in your head
But you’re never really certain what it is they’ve said
It’s ghost o’clock, it’s ghost o’clock, it’s ghost o’clock again