THE BRAVEST
(Tom Paxton)
Sung by Garrison Keillor (On PHC 10/14/01)

The first plane hit the other tower, right after I came in.
It left a gaping, fiery hole where offices had been.
We'd stood and watched in horror, as we saw the first ones fall,
Then someone yelled "Get out, get out! They're trying to kill us all!"

I grabbed the pictures from my desk and joined the flight for life.
With every step I called the names of my children and my wife,
And then we heard them coming, from several floors below,
A crowd of firefighters with their heavy gear in tow

Chorus:
Now every time I try to sleep, I'm haunted by the sound
Of firemen pounding up the stairs, while we were running down.

When we met them on the stairs, they said we were too slow.
"Get out, get out!" they yelled at us, "The whole thing's gonna go!"
They didn't have to tell us twice, we'd seen the world on fire.
We kept on running down the stairs, while they kept climbing higher.

Chorus

Thank God we made it to the street; we ran through ash and smoke.
I did not know which way to run; I thought that I would choke.
A fireman took me by the arm and pointed me uptown,
Then "Christ!" I heard him whisper, as the tower came pounding down.

Chorus

So now I go to funerals for men I never knew;
The pipers play "Amazing Grace", as the coffins come in view.
They must have seen it coming when they turned to face the fire.
They sent us down to safety, then they kept on climbing higher.

Chorus, (repeat last line)