Sirens by White Trash Folk
Lyrics and Music © Rick Shelton

We stood on the edge of town
I’ll never forget the sound
Of the sirens and screams
As that old barn burned down to the ground
And the embers fell like summertime snow all around

All the people stood side by side
And I wept when my mama cried
And she said, “It’s okay my son,
There was no one trapped inside.”
But as the people around me fell to their knees
I knew that mama lied
Ain’t it funny how the peacocks scream just like people
As they burn alive

In the paper that Sunday
A list of all the lives and history now blown away
And their memories slowly start to fade
Like ashes on the weeping wind of yesterday

I was walking on the edge of town
I’ll never forget the sound
Of the sirens and cries
As that ambulance raced down
To your street and it parked outside your house

I remembered in seventh grade
We had a Valentine’s Day date
And we took so much shit
For being from different race
I told you to never give a damn about
Any of them in the first place

At your funeral that Sunday
Your grandmother and I spoke of how you passed away
You let them get in your head
Smoked a whole pack of Reds, then passed out in your bed
Asthma got you again
Now your memory slowly starts to fade
Like ashes on the weeping wind of yesterday