Keep the Time

[Verse 1: AOR male lead, powerful high vocal, tight punchy drums] Ninety-six steps to the top of the hall Every Sunday mornin' since the day I was tall Forty-one years with the crank in my hand Windin' up the clock for the whole of this land I know every gear by the sound that it makes I know when it's tired and I know when it aches Town grew up underneath it, it never ran slow And they set every watch by the hands that I know [Pre-Chorus: AOR male lead, wide clean guitars] You can call me old, you can call me slow But the hands up there only move when I say so [Chorus: AOR male lead, full power, wide clean guitars] I keep the time When the whole town's waitin' on a sign Every hour, every bell, every line I keep the time [Verse 2: AOR male lead, building, solid bass] Then the council called me in on a cold fall day Gave me a plaque and a handshake and a little bouquet Said Walter, you've earned it, now rest those knees We've put in a motor, it runs on its own with ease So I stayed on the ground and I watched it tick Felt like a stranger in a town I could pick Out of a thousand, with my eyes shut tight But I didn't climb the steps on a Sunday night [Chorus: AOR male lead, full power, wide clean guitars] I keep the time When the whole town's waitin' on a sign Every hour, every bell, every line I keep the time [Bridge: AOR male lead, open-throat scream as midnight strikes] New Year's Eve and the square is packed Two minutes to go and the lights go black Motor goes dead and the hands just freeze And they hear an old man on the steps in the breeze [Verse 3: AOR male lead, powerful high vocal, tight punchy drums] Ninety-six steps and my lungs are on fire Flashlights below me strung out like a wire I grab the old crank and I throw my weight in Feel the gears catch like a long-lost friend Fifty-nine seconds and I'm turnin' it round Every soul in the square is countin' down from the ground Ten, nine, eight, and the hands come true And the bell rings twelve for the whole town through [Chorus: AOR male lead, full power, wide clean guitars] I keep the time When the whole town's waitin' on a sign Every hour, every bell, every line I keep the time [Outro: AOR male lead, full power, tight punchy drums] Forty-one years and one night that I climbed The whole town heard it and the bell came in time Hang up the plaque, put the motor away I'll be on the steps again on Sunday [End]