Hartfordtown 1944

It was a dry and dusty summer day

When that wagon train pulled in

Just three hours 'til the matinee

Was scheduled to begin

As the razorbacks unloaded the flats

A crowd did gather to see

The elephants tow the wagons back

To that empty lot on Barbour Street

And the canvasmen they dug right in

'Til on that spot where nothing had been

You could see the bigtop from miles around

When the circus came to Hartfordtown

The circus it was front page news

Back in Nineteen Forty-Four

Everyone was grateful for any excuse

To forget about the war

The sun beat down on the menagerie

In the cages the animals paced

There was orangeade and cotton candy

And a smile on every kid's face

Each mother and father, each boy and girl

They couldn't wait to see the greatest show in the world

You could barely hear the orchestra, they cheered so loud

When the circus came to Hartfordtown

There were polar bears and panther cats

With great big fangs and claws

And the lions did a balancing act

To jubilant applause

Then a spotlight played on a platform set

So high up in the air

That everybody held their breath

And they prayed a silent prayer

All eyes were glued to the man on the wire

So nobody knew when the tent caught fire

Too slowly it dawned on the sold-out crowd

When the circus came to Hartfordtown The fire drew air and began to climb

The audience jumped from their seats

There was a stampede for the exit sign

And some fainted from the heat

There were heroes who did their best to help

The children escape the flames

And the others who managed to save themselves

They survived but were never the same

And some still remember how the animals cried

But there weren't any animals inside

Over 100 people trapped as the tent burned down

When the circus came to Hartfordtown

As a boy I lived on Barbour Street

Four blocks from that circus show

And I begged my parents, I got down on my knees

But they would not let me go

For they had grounded me, two weeks straight

Now I can't even remember why

But I know the first time I ever prayed

Was when I saw that black smoke in the sky

And the war it was over in a year I guess

But the people in my town didn't cheer like the rest

It still breaks our hearts to remember now