Tom Paxton - The Bravest lyrics

The first plane hit the other tower, right after I came in It left a fiery, gaping hole where offices had been We stood and watched in horror, as we saw the first ones fall Then someone yelled, "Get out, get out, they're trying to k** 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 up, from several floors below A crowd of firefighters with their heavy gear in tow Now every time I try to sleep, I'm haunted by the sound Of firemen pounding up the stairs, while we were running down And 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 Now every time I try to sleep, I'm haunted by the sound Of firemen pounding up the stairs, while we were running down Thank God, we made it to the street, we ran through ash and smoke I didn't know which way to run, I thought that I would choke A fireman took me by the arm and he pointed me uptown And, "Christ", I heard him whisper, as the tower came roaring down 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 Now every time I try to sleep, I'm haunted by the sound Of firemen pounding up the stairs, while we were running down Of firemen pounding up the stairs, while we were running down