Mark Erelli - Hartfordtown 1944

It was a dry and dusty ^Fsummer ^Cday When that wagon train pulled ^Gin Just ^Cthree hours 'til the ^Fmati^Cnee Was scheduled ^Gto be^Cgin As the razorbacks un^Floaded the ^Cflats A crowd did gather to ^Gsee The ^Celephants tow the ^Fwagons ^Cback To that empty lot on ^GBarbour ^CStreet

And the ^Amcanvas-^Fmen they ^Cdug right ^Gin 'Til ^Amon that ^Fspot where ^Cnothing had ^Gbeen You could ^Csee the big-top from ^Fmiles a^Cround When the circus came to ^GHartford^Ctown

The circus it was ^Ffront page ^Cnews Back in Nineteen Forty-^GFour ^CEveryone was grateful for ^Fany ex^Ccuse To forget a^Gbout the ^Cwar The sun beat down on the me^Fnage^Crie In the cages the animals ^Gpaced There was ^Corangeade and ^Fcotton can^Cdy And a smile on ^Gevery kid’s ^Cface

Each ^Ammother and ^Ffather, each ^Cboy and ^Ggirl They ^Amcouldn't wait to ^Fsee the greatest ^Cshow in the ^Gworld You could ^Cbarely hear the orchestra, they ^Fcheered so ^Cloud When the circus came to ^GHartford^Ctown

There were polar bears and ^Fpanther ^Ccats With great big fangs and ^Gclaws And the ^Clions did a ^Fbalancing ^Cact To jubi^Glant ap^Cplause Then a spotlight played on a ^Fplatform ^Cset So high up in the ^Gair That ^Ceverybody ^Fheld their ^Cbreath And they prayed a ^Gsilent ^Cprayer

All ^Ameyes were ^Fglued to the ^Cman on the ^Gwire So ^Amnobody ^Fknew when the ^Ctent caught ^Gfire Too ^Cslowly it dawned on the ^Fsold-out ^Ccrowd When the circus came to ^GHartford^Ctown

The fire drew air and be^Fgan to ^Cclimb The audience jumped from their ^Gseats There was a ^Cstampede for the ^Fexit ^Csign And some fainted ^Gfrom the ^Cheat There were heroes who did their ^Fbest to ^Chelp The children escape the ^Gflames And the ^Cothers who managed to ^Fsave them^Cselves They survived but were ^Gnever the ^Csame

And ^Amsome still re^Fmember how the ^Canimals ^Gcried But there ^Amweren't ^Fany ^Canimals in^Gside Over ^C100 people trapped as the ^Ftent burned ^Cdown When the circus came to ^GHartford^Ctown

As a boy I lived on ^FBarbour ^CStreet Four blocks from that circus ^Gshow And I ^Cbegged my parents, I got ^Fdown on my ^Cknees But they would not ^Glet me ^Cgo For they had ^Cgrounded me, ^Ftwo weeks ^Cstraight Now I can’t even remember ^Gwhy But I ^Cknow the first time I ^Fever ^Cprayed Was when I saw that black ^Gsmoke in the ^Csky

And the ^Amwar it was ^Fover in a ^Cyear, I ^Gguess But the ^Ampeople in my ^Ftown didn’t ^Ccheer like the ^Grest It still ^Cbreaks our hearts to re^Fmember ^Cnow When the circus came to ^GHartford^Ctown