They hit the button one fine day;
Smoke and fire rained every which way.
The deadly fumes our lungs attacked,
And the air, 'twas only black, black, black.

Some tried in vain to hide underground,
Others covered their ears to block the sound.
And me? I watched as the sky fell in,
Knowing we pay the price for our sin.

Sirens wailed as medics tried to help,
But they also were hit and most died with a yelp.
Soon the streets were all but deserted,
The ground was torn up, the earth inverted.

Finally, the chaos around me grows silent;
The atmosphere is no longer so violent.
My throat is so dry, I barely can talk,
And ashes line the path that I walk.

For hours (or days?), I walk down the road
By hunger and thirst, my footsteps are slowed.
No sign of life appears anywhere,
'Hello?' I call into the dusty air.

That's when you suddenly dare to come out
From behind the rubble, lonely as I no doubt.
We walk on together, your stride matching mine
Alone in a world we could redefine.

My heart grieves for the damage around us
But it also sings for the fact that we found us!
Even as particles fall from above,
Fire and ash cannot choke love.

Out here, the destruction becomes more apparent:
Each corpse a reminder of a world gone errant.
As we trudge through a neighborhood that still burns
I hear a familiar sound for which my heart yearns.

From a house that is missing most walls and its roof,
Come musical notes, and that is all the proof
That I need, and my will to live stays on.
It's the end of the world, still the music plays on.

Amidst bombed-out houses and burning grass
You sweep off your cap with a bit of class.
The scratchy record keeps spinning, faintly,
As you waltz into the wasteland with me.
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