"July 6th" lyrics - JOHN AND MARY

July 6: the end of the war was in sight
And in Hartford the circus tents glowing if just for one night
'44: a world torn apart at the seams
But a three-ring performance tonight to a land make-believe
And all eyes were moving as one
At marvels from faraway lands
But no eyes had noticed the child, happy to just be there in the stands
Eyes so wild
Working men as honest as summer days long
Had been saving for weeks for this night that now finally had come
Times like these can make you forget all that's lost
Yellow ponies parading as flaming batons skyward tossed
But no one could ever explain
How everything just fell apart
How heaven was turned into hell
Or just how a fire could start
Over six thousand people were panicking, screaming
And clawing their way to the gate
And by morning the death angel's toll had reached one sixty-eight...
Families came, a listing of victims they'd read
All so senseless and tragic this wake of a human stampede
All but one identified there cold as stone
All but one had been claimed by their loved ones and taken back home
A young girl lay silent and still
As if she were trapped in a dream
The newspapers posted her face
A face that nobody had seen
Not a soul
The photograph taken was printed in papers, Seattle clear to Maine
And no person on earth would admit just to knowing her name
Not a friend, not her school
Playmates gone, neighbors none
Not one clue