Hartfordtown 1944

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[Verse 1]
                       F      C
It was a dry and dusty summer day
                             G
When that wagon train pulled in
     C                    F   C
Just three hours 'til the matinee
              G    C
Was scheduled to begin
                    F          C
As the razorbacks unloaded the flats
                      G
A crowd did gather to see
    C                 F      C
The elephants tow the wagons back
                     G       C
To that empty lot on Barbour Street


[Verse 2]
        Am     F        C         G
And the canvas-men they dug right in
     Am      F          C        
'Til on that spot where nothing 
   G
had been
          C                    F  
You could see the big-top from 
    C
miles around
                        G       C
When the circus came to Hartfordtown


[Verse 3]
                  F          C
The circus it was front page news
                       G
Back in Nineteen Forty-Four
C                         F     C
Everyone was grateful for any excuse
           G        C
To forget about the war
                           F   C
The sun beat down on the menagerie
                         G
In the cages the animals paced
          C             F         C
There was orangeade and cotton candy
               G           C
And a smile on every kid’s face


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[Verse 4]
     Am         F            C   
Each mother and father, each boy 
    G
and girl
     Am               F     
They couldn't wait to see the 
           C           G
greatest show in the world
          C                        
You could barely hear the 
       F          C
orchestra, they cheered so loud
                        G       C
When the circus came to Hartfordtown


[Verse 5]
                           F       
There were polar bears and panther 
C
cats
                         G
With great big fangs and claws
        C           F         C
And the lions did a balancing act
       G      C
To jubilant applause
Then a spotlight played on a 
F        C
platform set
                  G
So high up in the air
     C         F          C
That everybody held their breath
                  G      C
And they prayed a silent prayer


[Verse 6]
    Am        F            C     
All eyes were glued to the man on
     G
 the wire
   Am     F             C        
So nobody knew when the tent 
   G
caught fire
    C                       F     
Too slowly it dawned on the 
   C
sold-out crowd
                        G       C
When the circus came to Hartfordtown


[Verse 7]
                        F      C
The fire drew air and began to climb
                               G
The audience jumped from their seats
            C                F    
There was a stampede for the exit 
C
sign
                 G        C
And some fainted from the heat
                                F  
There were heroes who did their 
     C
best to help
                        G
The children escape the flames
        C                     F   
And the others who managed to save
     C
 themselves
                       G        
They survived but were never the 
 C
same


[Verse 8]
    Am           F            
And some still remember how the 
  C       G
animals cried
          Am      F   C         G
But there weren't any animals inside
     C                         F  
Over 100 people trapped as the 
         C
tent burned down
                        G       C
When the circus came to Hartfordtown


[Verse 9]
                    F       C
As a boy I lived on Barbour Street
                             G
Four blocks from that circus show
      C                        F  
And I begged my parents, I got 
        C
down on my knees
                   G      C
But they would not let me go
             C            F       
For they had grounded me, two 
  C
weeks straight
                          G
Now I can’t even remember why
      C                     F    
But I know the first time I ever 
C
prayed
                          G        
Was when I saw that black smoke in 
    C
the sky


[Verse 10]
        Am         F         C   
And the war it was over in a 
    G
year, I guess
        Am           F           
But the people in my town didn’t 
C              G
cheer like the rest
         C                   
It still breaks our hearts to 
   F      C
remember now
                        G       C
When the circus came to Hartfordtown