It’s Time

Keating! The Musical

All lyrics written and copyrighted by Casey Bennetto, 2004.

Annotations written by Loki Carbis, 2009. The assistance and advice of Casey Bennetto in the creation of these annotations is gratefully acknowledged.
This page is intended for informational purposes only.

Keating’s hobby of collecting antique clocks has been the subject of much mockery from both the Opposition and the media, and is often cited as evidence of his perceived ‘elitism’.Keating: I’ve made a habit of collecting clocks
Sleek antiques with ticks and tocks
Didn’t you ever wonder why?
I hear the seconds as a perfect space
Pushed together in relentless pace
The beat of a moment passing by
And every face is like the moon to me
Full of hope and opportunity
Pulled in the orbit of its hands
My tide is high and my chance is nigh
I’ve got to take it and you know why
Somewhere inside you, there’s a man that understands:

‘It’s Time’ was famously the slogan of Gough Whitlam’s Labor Party when they were elected to government in 1972 after a record 23 years in Opposition – a government which Keating was a member of.It’s time! Time, the revelator,
destroyer and creator,
no-one gets to wait on time!
time to start afresh, we
know we’re only flesh and
bones and so it’s precious time!
Whoa it’s time!

The Opposition take a different tack
They wind it down and they turn it back
They don’t like to hear that sound
But time is slipping past them everyday
‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ is a famous story by Oscar Wilde, in which the titular portrait ages and experiences in the place of its subject. When the picture is destroyed, all that it has borne comes flooding back to Gray.Just like the picture of Dorian Gray
And it’s they, they who come unwound

Keating / Hawke: For evolution needs time to move
Just like a drummer beats time to groove
And it never can stand still
Keating: The revolution of a second hand
Is the solution that I must demand
A change is gonna come now,
you know it always will
Keating / Hawke: in time!

Keating: time is of the essence
I know that it’s unpleasant but
no time like the present time!
time won’t be denied and
though you try to hide you
know it’s on my side

Hawke: it’s time!
time to make a break, it’s
time for you to take it,
whip it out and shake it,

Keating / Hawke: time!
Keating: time and time again, you
might have dug the venue,
now you’re on the menu,
time!
Oh it’s time!

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