I always envisioned this as starting in a kind of mellow Al Green world before getting up on its Wilson Picketts by the end. I’m not sure we ever did it justice in that way; mind you, I’m not sure there’s much justice to do to it. Best known (if at all) as “that song between ‘I Remember Kirribilli’ and ‘Ruler Of The Land'”, in the show this is Keating convincing Hawke to honor his promise and stand aside. Hawke acquiesces gracefully, just like in real life.
It's TimeI’ve made a habit of collecting clocks
Sleek antiques with tickets 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!
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!
It’s time!
The Opposition takes 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 every day
Just like the picture of Dorian Gray
And it’s they who come unwound
For evolution needs time to move
Just like a drummer beats time to grove
And it can never stand still
The revolution of a second hand
Is the solution that I must demand
A change is gonna come now, you know it always will…
In time!
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…
It’s time!
Time to make a break, it’s time for you to take it, whip and out and shake it, time!
Time and time again, you might have dug the venue, now you’re on the menu, time!
It’s time!