CAPO: 1st Fret 
KEY: Eb / PLAY: D 
 
INTRO: Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock, 
 
D                A7             D             G 
My grandfather's clock; Was too large for the shelf 
      D            A7           D 
So it stood ninety years on the floor 
                 A7             D          G 
It was taller by half; Than the old man himself 
          D             A7           D 
Though it weighed not a penny-weight more; 
                                  G               D 
It was bought on the morn; Of the day that he was born 
                       E7       A7 
And was always his treasure and pride 
       D (tacet) A7 (tacet)   D          G 
But it stopped   short  -   never to go again 
         D   A7  D 
When the old man died. 
 
(Refrain:) 
D 
Ninety years without slumbering 
D 
(Dah dah dah dah, dah dah dah!) (or Trad. Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock) 
D 
His life seconds numbering 
D 
(Dah dah dah dah, dah dah dah!) (or Trad. Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock) 
   D (tacet) A7 (tacet)   D          G 
It stopped   short  -   never to go again 
         D   A7  D 
When the old man died. 
 
   D           A7           D 
My grandfather said that of those he could hire 
      D               A7     D 
Not a servant so faithful he found 
                 A7           D         G 
For it wasted no time and had but one desire 
       D             A7         D 
At the close of each week to be wound 
                                 G               D 
And it kept in its' place; not a frown upon its' face 
                     E7          A7 
And its' hands never hung by its side 
       D (tacet) A7 (tacet)   D          G 
But it stopped   short  -   never to go again 
         D   A7  D 
When the old man died. 
 
(Refrain:) 
 
(Note - The following verse not on Johnny Cash's version.) 
 
                   A7    D            G 
In watching its pendulum swing to and fro 
     D            A7         D 
Many hours had he spent as a boy 
                        A7        D             G 
And in childhood and manhood, the clock seem to know 
       D              A7            D 
And to share both his grief and his joy. 
 
                                    G            D 
For it struck twenty four when he enter'd at the door 
                        E7    A7 
With a blooming and beautiful bride 
       D (tacet) A7 (tacet)   D          G 
But it stopped   short  -   never to go again 
         D   A7  D 
When the old man died. 
 
(Refrain:) 
 
(Key change to E) 
 
   E        B7          E           A 
It rang an alarm in the dead of the night 
    E             B7             E 
An alarm that for years had been dumb 
                     B7         E           A 
And we knew that his spirit was pluming for flight 
         E          B7          E 
That his hour for departure had come. 
 
                                         A                E 
Still the clock kept the time; with its' soft and muffled chimes 
              F#           B7 
As we proudly stood by his side 
       E (tacet) B7 (tacet)   E          A 
But it stopped   short  -   never to go again 
         E   B7  E 
When the old man died. 
 
(Refrain:) 
 
E 
Ninety years without slumbering 
E 
(Dah dah dah dah, dah dah dah!) (or Trad. Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock) 
E 
His life seconds numbering 
E 
(Dah dah dah dah, dah dah dah!) (or Trad. Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock) 
   E (tacet) B7 (tacet)   E          A 
It stopped   short  -   never to go again 
         E   B7  E 
When the old man died. 
 
(Tag:) 
         E   B7  E 
When the old man died.