Lyrics
[Verse 1]
My aunt kept every watch she never wore
Ticking in a drawer she wouldn't open
At ninety-one she finally let me sort them
A carton labelled "After I am gone"
[Pre-Chorus]
She left a note that read begin at noon
Not before not after
She left a note that read begin at noon
And one that simply said it's yours
[Chorus]
I wound the first one on a Tuesday
It ran four hours then it stopped
I wound the second on a Wednesday
It ran till Friday and it stopped
She timed her whole life around a rule she couldn't say
And left me all these little machines to disobey
[Post-Chorus]
Tick tick slowly
Tick tick go
Tick tick slowly
I don't know
[Verse 2]
The third one had a dent the size of a thumb
The jeweler said that kind of mark is personal
A crack a fall a fist a kitchen wall
I never asked her which it was
[Pre-Chorus]
I wore it loose around my wrist
And let it run too fast
I wore it loose around my wrist
And set it back an hour
[Chorus]
I wound the third one on a Sunday
It ran till Tuesday and it stopped
I wore it wrong on purpose
To hear it argue with the clock
She timed her whole life around a rule she couldn't say
And left me all these little machines to disobey
[Bridge]
At the reading they announced her terms
The house to me the clocks to no one
I said I'll take the broken one
They stared I said I'll take the broken one
[Chorus]
So I keep one wound and one unwound
One on the sill one in my coat
I wind the fourth one when I'm happy
I let the fifth one rust and float
She timed her whole life around a rule she couldn't say
Now I don't keep the time
I keep the way