Jim Page
It’s hard to know what to say
As the world around us fades away
Reason falls on deaf ears
And the Truth dissolves and disappears
As the Clock Winds Down
Warning signs years ago
We did not want to know
All consuming selfish ways
Now there’s a price to pay
As the Clock Winds Down
The ice caps melt The Amazon burns
To the point of no return
The grid goes down Screens go blank
We’ll be walking down the plank
As the Clock Winds Down
See the children take to the streets
When they hear Greta Thunberg speak
Watch the young warriors climb down from the trees
Chain themselves to machinery
As the Clock Winds Down
It’s hard to know what to say
When a child looks up and says
Hey old man, what did you do
We were depending on you
Now the Clock Winds Down
Now the Clock Winds Down
Now the Clock Winds Down
To Zero
Jim Page arrived at Carnsore Point, County Wexford in 1978. He came with the dawn and left on the wind, leaving a basket of good songs in his wake. Some of us sang them. (I sang “Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Russian Roulette” on the 1981 album Moving Hearts). Last time Jim showed up was at a gig in City North, County Meath in March 2020 (my last gig before lockdown). Afterwards we shared a few songs over strong tea – that’s when I first heard “Clock Winds Down”. The inevitable happened. I wanted to cover Jim’s song. He gave me the nod. I’ve messed it around a bit, juggling lines and verses, but Jim is a patient man and the song will always be his.