Keep Them Turning

[Verse 1 — ticking percussion, fretless bass]
I set your hands to perfect time
Replace the gears that wouldn't chime
A thousand hours running true
You hear one second slipping through

[Pre-Chorus — ascending harmony]
My watch stopped somewhere back in June
I meant to fix it, meant to soon

[Chorus — soaring, odd-meter hook]
Tick-tock, give it all away
Wind your world another day
Every minute that I borrow
From the life I meant to make
I'd smash the clocks and stop the counting
Let tomorrow come unwound
But little hearts are keeping rhythm
With the mechanisms all around
(Keep them turning, keep them turning)

[Verse 2 — broken beat]
You want the morning moved to three
I change the hands and lose another piece of me

[Bridge — exposed vocal]
If every hour belongs to you
When does my lifetime start?

[Outro — slowing pulse]
Another clock begins to sing
I cannot hear my own heart ring