The Hallway Clock

Lyrics

There's a clock in the hallway my grandfather wound
Every Sunday at six, with a patient small sound
The brass pendulum swings through the dust and the light
It has counted our footsteps by day and by night

I used to hurry past it
Late for something I forget

Tick by tick, it keeps the evening slow
Tells me there's no place I need to go
Let the hours settle like the dust on the stair
The hallway clock is keeping time with care

It runs five minutes slow, and we never have fixed it
There's a kind of forgiveness in the way that it's ticked
Coats on the hooks and the boots by the door
The same worn old floorboards that I've known before

Now I stop and listen
To the quiet doing its work

Tick by tick, it keeps the evening slow
Tells me there's no place I need to go
Let the hours settle like the dust on the stair
The hallway clock is keeping time with care

Some days feel too long and some far too brief
Some days hold a joy and some days hold a grief
But the clock does not argue, it only goes on
Through the dark of the winter, the light of the dawn

So I take down the key from its nail by the frame
Turn it slowly and gently, and say his old name
The room fills with ticking, a heartbeat, a prayer
And the house breathes in softly, and he is still there

Tick by tick, it keeps the evening slow
Tells me there's no place I need to go
Let the hours settle like the dust on the stair
The hallway clock is keeping time with care

Tick by tick, tick by tick
Keeping time with care