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Clock Don't Negotiate lyrics
Artist-supplied lyric sheet, matched by title. The sheet may differ from this released performance. Production notes and alternate promotional cuts are omitted.
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Intro
Old photos on the table, edges curled from years of waiting on the plan Your chair still at the head, the wood still warm where your hands used to land
Verse 1
Twenty-two with the phone to my ear, telling mama one more year then I rest Bag get right then I'ma slow down, swore it while the tires spinning on the wet Highway took the weekends, late nights turned to mornings that ain't forgive Told my son daddy working, told mama I'm almost there, almost Every later sounded like a deposit, every missed dinner got a promise I meant Now the photos don't blink, the boy in them asking why the chair stay empty at the end
Chorus
Clock don't negotiate, gather now while you can Hands that held you don't wait on no plan Clock don't negotiate, the light still on in the kitchen What you put off for the bag is gone, the bag cant give it back Clock don't negotiate, gather now what you can Chairs don't move but the years sure ran Clock don't negotiate, tell your son before he is a man Time don't punch a clock, it just slip through your hands
Verse 2
Mama last call went to voicemail, I was chasing one more number on the screen Son first steps got recorded on a phone I ain't check for two whole days straight Photos yellowing in the drawer, I kept saying I'd frame them later when the time right Now the frame sit empty, the smile in it don't come back when I call its name at night I told my younger self the lie so smooth it sounded like wisdom in the rearview Now I'm talking to his photo, asking if the bag was worth the quiet that followed through
Bridge
I chose the bag over the moments, told myself it was all for them But the moments don't reschedule, and the them I did it for got older without me in the frame Now the table got three plates in my head, but only one chair pulled out when the house get quiet
Chorus
Clock don't negotiate, gather now while you can Hands that held you don't wait on no plan Clock don't negotiate, the light still on in the kitchen What you put off for the bag is gone, the bag cant give it back Clock don't negotiate, gather now what you can Chairs don't move but the years sure ran Clock don't negotiate, tell your son before he is a man Time don't punch a clock, it just slip through your hands
Outro
Clock don't negotiate, gather what you can
Inside the recording
Old photos on the table, edges curled from years of waiting on the plan Your chair still at the head, the wood still warm where your hands used to land
Clock don't negotiate, gather now while you can Hands that held you don't wait on no plan
Clock don't negotiate, gather what you can
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.