"An extremely quiet child" they called you in your school reports
  "He's always taken interest in the subjects that he's taught"
  So what was it that brought the squad car screaming up your drive
  To notify your parents of the manner in which you died
    At St. Patricks every Sunday, Father Fletcher heard your sins
  "Oh, he's unconcerned with competition he never cares to win"
  But blood stained a young hand that never held a gun
  And his parents never thought of him as their troubled son
    "Now you'll never get to Heaven" Mama said
  Remember Mama said
  Ticking, ticking
  "Grow up straight and true blue
  Run along to bed"
  Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking
    They had you holed up in a downtown bar screaming for a priest
  Some gook said "His brain's just snapped" then someone called the police
  You'd knifed a Negro waiter who had tried to calm you down
  Oh you'd pulled a gun and told them all to lay still on the ground
    Promising to hurt no one, providing they were still
  A young man tried to make a break, with tear-filled eyes you killed
  That gun butt felt so smooth and warm cradled in your palm
  Oh your childhood cried out in your head "they mean to do you harm"
    "Don't ever ride on the devil's knee" Mama said
  Remember mama said
  Ticking, ticking
  "Pay your penance well, my child
  Fear where angels tread"
  Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking
    Within an hour the news had reached the media machine
  A male caucasian with a gun had gone berserk in Queens
  The area had been sealed off, the kids sent home from school
  Fourteen people lying dead in a bar they called the Kicking Mule
    Oh they pleaded to your sanity for the sake of those inside
  "Throw out your gun, walk out slow just keep your hands held high"
  But they pumped you full of rifle shells as you stepped out the door
  Oh you danced in death like a marionette on the vengeance of the law
    "You've slept too long in silence" Mama said
  Remember Mama said
  Ticking, ticking
  "Crazy boy, you'll only wind up with strange notions in your head"
  Hear it, hear it, ticking, ticking