How dear to my heart are those chimes in the morning
That yank me from bed with melodious thrill
How sweet is the sound of the regular warning
That yells that it's time that I hike to the mill
Without it I'd sleep 'til the sun had arisen
Be late to my job that my boss lets me use
Get canned, perhaps steal, maybe land in a prison
If the chimes didn't hustle me out of my snooze

The faithful alarm clock        
The rattling alarm clock         
The dollar alarm clock 
That rests on my shelf

What a blessing it was when the thing was invented
It beats the slave -driver who came with his stick
It rests on the shelf in the shack that I rented
It never gets hungry, it never gets sick
If overly weary I take a tin bucket
And place the alarm clock down into the thing
When it chimes in the morning it doubles the racket
It would wake up the dead when the two of them ring

The faithful alarm clock        
The rattling alarm clock         
The dollar alarm clock 
That rests on my shelf

Sometimes the good woman gets worn and weary
And says we are hauling too much of a load
I tell her the journey would look still more dreary
If the dollar alarm clock should fail to explode
Then here's to my booster that only needs winding
And here's to the victim that just keeps alive
The boss gets the money and I do the grinding
The clock starts the circus at quarter past five

The faithful alarm clock        
The rattling alarm clock         
The dollar alarm clock 
That rests on my shelf

The faithful alarm clock        
The rattling alarm clock         
The dollar alarm clock 
That rests on my shelf