One Foot in the Black
A song inspired by (and written for) wildland firefighters, who bust ass every summer fighting forest fires that seem to get bigger and bigger every year.
Vi: It’s the second week of May, the grass is starting to turn
It 's six weeks since the last substantial rain
All around the west, the hills are starting to burn
This year it was California first once again
Every morning ‘round 8, the crews are running the hills
Doing jumping jacks and flipping tires
Thunderclouds on the horizon, it’s just a matter of time
'Till we're out there on the lines fighting fire
Chorus
Put on your green and yellow and grab your favorite tool
They’ll be bringin’ round lunch in a paper sack
Put your head upon a swivel and keep improving the line
And always keep one foot in the black
VII: It may start with dry lightning on the edge of a cell
It may sleep in the duff for a day or two
The lookout calls in the smoke, they'll notify the FMO
And he’ll send out a twenty-person crew
So jump in the rigs and head out to the scene
Get out and take a good look around
Size up the fire, notify dispatch over the wire
We’re on the line with tools in the ground
Chorus
Put on your green and yellow and grab your favorite tool
They’ll be bringin’ round lunch in a paper sack
Keep your head on a swivel and keep improving the line
And always keep one foot in the black
Bridge
If those first lines they don’t hold, and the flame lengths start to grow
Sounds like a freight train at the top of the watershed
Then it’s time to call off the attack, and pull your forces back
And be safe when the dragon rears its head
​
'Cause a blowup took fourteen on Storm King in ‘94
Nineteen lost on an Arizona mountainside
So keep an eye out for each other remember your sisters and the brothers
Who didn’t make it out alive .....
Chorus
Put on your green and yellow and grab your favorite tool
They’ll be bringin’ round lunch in a paper sack
Put your head upon a swivel and keep improving the line
And always keep one foot in the black
​
(c) Jens Lovtang 2015