There was a man like you and me, as simple as a man could ever be;
And he was happy as a king, except for one peculiar thing.

He had a clock that worked all right,
It worked all right, but not exactly quite;
Instead of going "tick, tock, tick",
the crazy clock went "tock, tick, tock".

The poor old man just raved and raved, because nobody could say
Why his silly clock behaved that hickory dickory way.
But now a famous man is he, He owns a public curiosity;
From far and wide the people flock To hear the syncopated clock.

Tick-a-tock, tick-a-tock,
There's a zing in the swing of that clock,
Tock-a-tick, tock-a-tick,
Don't you think it's a marvelous trick?

Ting-a-ling, ting-a-ling,
There's a zong in the bong of that ring,
Ling-a-ting, ling-a-ting,
Don't you think it's a wonderful thing?

The experts came to hear and see,
But none of them could solve the mystery.
They called Professor Einstein too,
He said "There's nothing I can do".

But soon the fickle human race will find another freak to take its place,
And one fine day the man will hock the poor old syncopated clock.