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"Grandfather's Clock" (popularly known as "My Grandfather's Clock") is a song written in 1876 by
The song, told from a grandchild's point of view, is about his grandfather's clock.
The clock is purchased on the morning of the grandfather's birth and works perfectly for 90 years, requiring only that it be wound at the end of each week.
The clock seems to know the good and bad events in the grandfather's life; it rings 24 chimes when the grandfather brings his new wife into his home, and near his death it rings an alarm, which the family recognizes to mean that the elderly gentleman is near death and gathers by his bed. After the grandfather dies, the clock suddenly stops, and never works again.
My grandfather's clock was too large for the shelf,
So it stood ninety years on the floor;
It was taller by half than the old man himself,
Though it weighed not a pennyweight more.
It was bought on the morn of the day that he was born,
And was always his treasure and pride;
But it stopp'd short — never to go again —
When the old man died. :Ninety years without slumbering
(tick, tick, tick, tick), :His life seconds numbering,
(tick, tick, tick, tick), :It stopp'd short — never to go again — :When the old man died. In watching its pendulum swing to and fro,
Many hours had he spent while a boy.
And in childhood and manhood the clock seemed to know
And to share both his grief and his joy.
For it struck twenty-four when he entered at the door,
With a blooming and beautiful bride;
But it stopp'd short — never to go again —
When the old man died. :Ninety years without slumbering
(tick, tick, tick, tick), :His life seconds numbering,
(tick, tick, tick, tick), :It stopp'd short — never to go again — :When the old man died. My grandfather said that of those he could hire,
Not a servant so faithful he found;
For it wasted no time, and had but one desire —
At the close of each week to be wound.
And it kept in its place — not a frown upon its face,
And its hands never hung by its side.
But it stopp'd short — never to go again —
When the old man died. :Ninety years without slumbering
(tick, tick, tick, tick), :His life seconds numbering,
(tick, tick, tick, tick), :It stopp'd short — never to go again — :When the old man died. It rang an alarm in the dead of the night —
An alarm that for years had been dumb;
And we knew that his spirit was pluming for flight —
That his hour of departure had come.
Still the clock kept the time, with a soft and muffled chime,
As we silently stood by his side;
But it stopp'd short — never to go again —
When the old man died. :Ninety years without slumbering
(tick, tick, tick, tick), :His life seconds numbering,
(tick, tick, tick, tick), :It stopp'd short — never to go again — :When the old man died.
Original Score
1905 recording from the Internet Archive
{{authority control 1876 songs Songs written by Henry Clay Work Longcase clocks
"Grandfather's Clock" (popularly known as "My Grandfather's Clock") is a song written in 1876 by Henry Clay Work
Henry Clay Work (October 1, 1832, Middletown – June 8, 1884, Hartford) was an American songwriter and composer of the mid-19th century. He is best remembered for his musical contributions to the Union in the Civil War—songs documenting the ...
, the author of "Marching Through Georgia
"Marching Through Georgia" is an Music of the American Civil War, American Civil War-era March (music), marching song written and composed by Henry Clay Work in 1865. It is sung from the perspective of a Union Army, Union soldier who had parti ...
". It is a standard of British brass band
In Britain, a brass band (known regionally as a silver band or colliery band) is a musical ensemble comprising a standardized range of brass and percussion instruments. The modern form of the brass band in the United Kingdom dates back to the ...
s and colliery bands, and is also popular in bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Bluegrass has roots in African America ...
. The ''Oxford English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...
'' says the song was the origin of the term "grandfather clock
A grandfather clock (also a longcase clock, tall-case clock, grandfather's clock, hall clock or floor clock) is a tall, freestanding, weight-driven pendulum clock, with the pendulum held inside the tower or waist of the case. Clocks of this styl ...
" for a longcase clock. In 1905, the earliest known recording of this song was performed by Harry Macdonough
John Scantlebury Macdonald (May 30, 1871 – September 26, 1931), known professionally as Harry Macdonough, was a Canadian-born singer and recording executive. He was one of the most prolific and popular tenors during the formative years of th ...
and the Haydn Quartet (known then as the "Edison Quartet").
Storyline
The song, told from a grandchild's point of view, is about his grandfather's clock.
The clock is purchased on the morning of the grandfather's birth and works perfectly for 90 years, requiring only that it be wound at the end of each week.
The clock seems to know the good and bad events in the grandfather's life; it rings 24 chimes when the grandfather brings his new wife into his home, and near his death it rings an alarm, which the family recognizes to mean that the elderly gentleman is near death and gathers by his bed. After the grandfather dies, the clock suddenly stops, and never works again.
Sequel
Work published a sequel to the song two years after, and again the grandson acts as the narrator. The grandson laments the fate of the no-longer-functioning grandfather clock—it was sold to a junk dealer, who sold its parts for scrap and its case for kindling. In the grandfather's house, the clock was replaced by awall clock
A clock or chronometer is a device that measures and displays time. The clock is one of the oldest Invention, human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month, a ...
, which the grandson disdains (referring to it as "that vain, stuck-up thing on the wall"). However, the sequel never reached the popularity of the original.
The song was covered and translated many times. Versions in other languages may vary; for example, in the Czech version, sung by the country band Taxmeni, the song continues with an additional, joyful strophe, narrating further events in the grandson's life: the birth of his son and the purchase of a new clock on the same day, to maintain the family tradition.
Popularity in Japan
"My Grandfather's Clock" became well known in Japan in 1962 when theNHK
, also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee.
NHK ope ...
children's music program, ''Minna no uta
, literally ''Everyone's Songs'' ( English title: ''Songs for Everyone''), is a five-minute NHK TV and radio program which is broadcast several times daily in Japan. The program started on April 3, 1961. It is one of NHK's long-running program ...
'', broadcast the recording by Tachikawa Sumito. It was accompanied by an animated sequence created by . The song became incorporated into educational settings in Japan ever since. A second version was broadcast on ''Minna no uta'' in 1972, which utilized the same recording, but with a new animated sequence by .
Original lyrics
My grandfather's clock was too large for the shelf,So it stood ninety years on the floor;
It was taller by half than the old man himself,
Though it weighed not a pennyweight more.
It was bought on the morn of the day that he was born,
And was always his treasure and pride;
But it stopp'd short — never to go again —
When the old man died. :Ninety years without slumbering
(tick, tick, tick, tick), :His life seconds numbering,
(tick, tick, tick, tick), :It stopp'd short — never to go again — :When the old man died. In watching its pendulum swing to and fro,
Many hours had he spent while a boy.
And in childhood and manhood the clock seemed to know
And to share both his grief and his joy.
For it struck twenty-four when he entered at the door,
With a blooming and beautiful bride;
But it stopp'd short — never to go again —
When the old man died. :Ninety years without slumbering
(tick, tick, tick, tick), :His life seconds numbering,
(tick, tick, tick, tick), :It stopp'd short — never to go again — :When the old man died. My grandfather said that of those he could hire,
Not a servant so faithful he found;
For it wasted no time, and had but one desire —
At the close of each week to be wound.
And it kept in its place — not a frown upon its face,
And its hands never hung by its side.
But it stopp'd short — never to go again —
When the old man died. :Ninety years without slumbering
(tick, tick, tick, tick), :His life seconds numbering,
(tick, tick, tick, tick), :It stopp'd short — never to go again — :When the old man died. It rang an alarm in the dead of the night —
An alarm that for years had been dumb;
And we knew that his spirit was pluming for flight —
That his hour of departure had come.
Still the clock kept the time, with a soft and muffled chime,
As we silently stood by his side;
But it stopp'd short — never to go again —
When the old man died. :Ninety years without slumbering
(tick, tick, tick, tick), :His life seconds numbering,
(tick, tick, tick, tick), :It stopp'd short — never to go again — :When the old man died.
References
*Zecher, Henry (October 2005). "How an old floor clock became a grandfather". The Pride of Olney (Lion's Club of Olney, Maryland) 30 (76). Retrieved 12 August 2013. on Henry Zecher's personal websiteExternal links
Original Score
1905 recording from the Internet Archive
{{authority control 1876 songs Songs written by Henry Clay Work Longcase clocks